The Seattle Seahawks are starting a new era.
The Seahawks are surprisingly moving on from Pete Carroll as head coach after 14 seasons with the franchise. While Carroll will remain as an advisor, the decision to have Carroll step down is one of the biggest moves the franchise has ever made.
Carroll will certainly go down as the best head coach in franchise history, having won a Super Bowl during the 2013 season while leading Seattle to another one during the following year. His quarterback during those years and for a decade straight, Russell Wilson, didn’t take long to chime in on the announcement that his former head coach will be stepping down.
Wilson and Carroll were remarkably successful together, establishing themselves as one of the greatest quarterback-head coach duos in NFL history. During their time together, the Seahawks went 104-53-1, posting the second-best record of any team in the NFL, right behind the New England Patriots.
During Wilson and Carroll’s tenure together, the Seahawks missed the playoffs just two times.
While there’s little doubt they’re one of the greatest quarterback-head coaching duos ever, the split was not pretty.
Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos in a high-profile trade during the 2022 offseason that saw the Seahawks net two first-round picks and two second-round draft picks along with several veteran players as quarterback Drew Lock, defensive tackle Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant.
Reports came out following Wilson’s trade to the Broncos that he had wanted Carroll replaced as head coach with Sean Payton — his eventual head coach in Denver.
“Convinced that Carroll and Schneider were inhibiting his quest to win additional Super Bowls and individual awards, Wilson asked Seahawks ownership to fire both of them, according to league sources who spoke to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details. Wilson also had a preferred replacement in mind: Sean Payton, who had recently stepped down from the New Orleans Saints.”
