By: Eric Yin
Look, last year’s story was a fairy tale. Backup Geno Smith outplaying Russell Wilson in week 1. John Schnieder pulling off a draft heist, getting arguably the offensive and defensive rookies of the draft. And of course Pete Carrol at the helm, leading the team to the playoffs. Last year was an amazing narrative and story.
Here is the reality: last year the Seahawks faced one of the easiest strength of schedules and barely sneaked into the playoffs. In the last seven years since the Legion of Boom disbanded, the Seahawks have fielded a below average defense. As of week 15, the Seahawks field the 25th ranked defense, and it’s looking worse by the week. (As of editing this, the Seahawks have given up 200 yards rushing to the Steelers and are eliminated from the playoffs).
This is concerning. Pete Carroll is a defensive coach. That is supposed to be that side of the ball and his specialty. In a league tending towards young offensive coaches and quarterback whisperers, Carroll is among the few defensive head coaches left. The issue is that his defenses have largely sucked. We’ve rotated coordinators, changed schemes, drafted top tier players, and acquired high-end talent through trades and free agency. None of this has helped the defense get better. In fact, Carroll’s defense has continually trended downward despite it accumulating great talent on paper.
Don’t get it wrong, Carroll has been a great coach for us. He brought me the happiest moment of my life when the Seahawks demolished the Broncos in MetLife Stadium back in 2013-2014. We’ve had unprecedented success under Carroll (winningest team in the NFC over the past decade. In fact, the only team with a better record than the Seahawks in the past decade are the Patriots (yes, the dynasty Patriots that won three and went to five Super bowls in the last decade). Put that in perspective. The Seahawks, a historically poverty franchise, were a blue blood team for a decade. Carroll brought that success to Seattle, and he’s the mastermind behind the Legion of Boom, the greatest defensive secondary in NFL history.
I can give Carroll his flowers, but can still say his time has ran up. This team should be better. This defense should be better. And there’s no one to point to but the head coach who has consistently been at the head of these poor defenses. Yes, I am grateful to have had Pete and he is the best coach in Seahawks history. Simultaneously, at the present I truly believe in my heart that Pete Carroll is no longer the premiere coach he used to be.
Getting rid of Pete is no guarantee we will win more in the future and I understand that. But I still believe change is necessary. Our team is too talented, and has suffered from the same problems for too long. I cannot believe that sticking to the same method will yield a different result. Maybe we get a horrible coach, but maybe we get someone who can breathe a breath of fresh air into our stale organization.
Either way, I’m ready to write Pete Carroll off and move onto a new era of Seahawks football. And if the fan turnout indicates anything, it seems like most of us are ready to move on too.