Pete and John started out right. They gave Matt Flynn 16 mil to start in the offseason and by week 1, gave the job to a rookie.
Was seen as an 'egg on face ' move at the time, but it was pretty ballsy.
100% though, Pete lost that edge.
Agree 100 percent with this. Pete was not the same guy he was when he first came in here. He made some bold moves when he first came here that looked like they bordered on insanity. When he gave Russell Wilson the job as to a sub 6 foot third rounder rookie, I thought that we were cooked. Especially when I watched his tape, I wasn't sure his skills would translate to the NFL -- especially with his unorthodox style.
Really, save for Earl all of the LOB players broke long held NFL conventions. Big corners used to be frowned upon. It used to be thought that because they were big that they had stiff hips and would be exploited for not being as agile. Both Sherman and Browner were far outside the conventions at the time.
Kam Chancellor was looked at as being a tweener. Many pundits predicted that he would be a better fit as LB prospect rather than a safety. Well, Pete Carroll exploited that tweener nature. He often times line up at the LOS and functioned as a fourth linebacker, only he still could cover. The range Earl Thomas had allowed Chancellor to really play to his tweener nature.
Pete Carroll pulled many moves that pundits thought were insanity the first few years. Consistently our offseasons were labeled as the worst, especially the 2010 offseason were we even cut some of our more productive players such as Darrell Tapp. I remember people freaking out when we got rid of Tapp, people were ready to claim Carroll's head. He immediately cut guys like Houshmanzedeh, a player that had a productive season the year prior. We traded for undersized pass rushers like Chris Clemons who was only a situational pass rusher and had him play like a 3-4 linebacker. We moved Red Bryant to DE in a system that was supposed to be 3-4. We had a record 200+ transaction during Carrolls first season and that continued into the next.
Carroll was ruthless and we as fans were anxious. The moves made no sense to most of us, even some of the more analytical guys on places like youtube, ESPN, NFL Network, etc were baffled at some of these moves. In addition to this in the draft we took guys WAY higher than anyone mocked them. People were wondering why vet WR's like Branch and Housh were flat out cut or traded and replaced by the likes of MIKE WILLIAMS, a player that was out of the league for YEARS.
Carroll lost his edge for sure, he used to be ruthless and forward thinking. He became more preoccupied with starting established vets over young players, he became more inclined to play things safe. The same thing could be said for Billichick.
Gone was the guy that refused to give the job back to Drew Bledsoe, a man that just signed a record setting 103 million dollar contract that offseason. All of this in favor of a 7th round rookie with questionable arm talent and zero athletic abilities. A QB that had a marginal career at Michigan with a few big moments. That guy started over an established vet with quite a strong resume, even when he was healthy, even after Tom Brady's first few starts were a disaster. Most coaches would've handed that job right back to Bledsoe, but not Bill.
Unfortunately, both Bill and Carroll became overly cautious and dull with older age.
