By: Eric Yin
Last time I wrote on this blog, Carroll had yet to be fired. And to be quite honest, I don’t believe anyone in the Seahawk fanbase truly thought he would be fired. Carroll had just come off a playoff appearance with Geno Smith as his quarterback, and was coaching one of the younger teams in the NFL. In week 9 just this season, the Seahawks were leading the NFC West and were the #2 seed in the NFC.
Even after losing to the Steelers in week 17, and almost losing to the Cardinals in week 18, most fans thought Carroll was coming back. Hell, Carroll himself thought he was coming back. He basically said as much in the post-game press conference, announcing his desire to come back.
Seems like, however, that Jody Allen had more bite than we expected. Just a day after Carroll asserted how he was confident he would return, Jody Allen politely “fired” Carroll. And now, we begin our head coach search. Carroll is far from the only tenured coach to get fired. Just a day prior, Mike Vrabel got fired from the Titans, Bill Belichick got the axe in New England, and Nick Saban retired from head coaching Alabama. For nearly the entire season, it seemed like this would be a down year for head coaching positions and candidates. Now, basically out of nowhere, many elite-tier coaches and teams are open for hire.
This isn’t even considering playoff teams that will only fire their head coaches after the season. Mike McCarthy with the Cowboys, Nick Sirriani with the Eagles, Sean McDermott with the Bills, and Mike Tomlin with the Steelers are all on the hot seat. An early playoff exit or disappointing performances for any of these teams could result in an opening. (As of editing this, the Cowboys were blown out 48-32 by the Packers and Mike McCarthy is almost certainly going to be fired). So while the Seahawks currently are one of the better landing spots for potential head coaches, there will likely be multiple elite playoff teams needing new head coaches for the next season.
That is to say, don’t be too surprised if we end up with the short end of the stick and don’t land the big fish like Jim Harbaugh or Mike McDonald. So while I am optimistic we will be able to get one of the better coaches on the market, don’t hold your breathe for too long Seahawk fans. Let’s not get our expectations up too much, only to be disappointed when we hire Dan Quinn as our head coach.