Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has questioned the team’s decision to move him into an advisory role, saying the franchise’s hierarchy is not comprised of “football people”.
Seahawks owner Jody Allen announced the end of Carroll’s 14-year tenure as head coach on Wednesday, after the team missed the postseason for the second time in three campaigns.
Carroll oversaw 10 playoff trips in his 14 seasons at the helm, leading Seattle to victory over the Denver Broncos at Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 before losing the following year’s showpiece game to the New England Patriots.
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At an emotional news conference on Wednesday, Carroll claimed he had “competed pretty hard” to remain head coach and said the specifics of his new advisory position were yet to be finalised.
In the final instalment of his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710-AM, which aired on Friday, Carroll shared more details of his end-of-season conversations with the team’s hierarchy.
Asked what had been up for discussion in those meetings, Carroll said: “What is the essence of the adjustments that are necessary?
“That’s where maybe we don’t see eye to eye, because I see it one way and I think I’ve got a way to fix it and I’m not going to halfway fix it, I’m trying to fix it so it’s perfect.
“I’ve got real precise and specific thoughts and they may not see it that way, they may not agree with it, they may not see that’s the right answer.
“The difficult part is, if you guys could know, it’s really hard because they’re not football people. They’re not coaches, and to get to the real details of it is really difficult for other people.”
A unique character, a true competitor, and a player’s coach.
There’s no one quite like you, Pete. pic.twitter.com/MjcvsW7bMX
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 12, 2024
Seattle’s 9-8 record saw them narrowly miss out on the NFC’s final wild-card place to the Green Bay Packers, but Carroll always expected to have his position challenged at the end of the campaign.
“Every year it feels like you’re going to be challenged by opinions that are media opinions, because what else do people have when you’re outside of the game?” Carroll said.
“How could you know other than what you guys talk about on the radio and what the articles say and what the pundits are drawing conclusions on?
“That’s why you have to go in realising that’s what you’re dealing with and then try to talk it through to get to the essence of stuff.
“That’s always going to be a challenge because when you don’t have legitimate dyed-in-the-wool football people calling the shots, then you have to try to make sense of it.”
General manager John Schneider is leading the search for Carroll’s successor, and an outside appointment is anticipated with the Seahawks having no obvious head coaching candidates on their existing staff.
Grateful. pic.twitter.com/PDI5j2prhD
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 12, 2024
