RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Pete Carroll’s mantra was “always compete,” — it was the title of a book, after all.
And he did right up to the point where the ownership of the Seattle Seahawks decided it was time for a new voice to be in charge following 14 seasons.
After bringing the Seahawks two NFC championships and the team’s only Super Bowl title, Carroll will no longer be the head coach in Seattle following the longest stretch of success in franchise history.
The decision seems less a firing and more a separation, but one the 72-year-old Carroll was at least somewhat forced to accept following discussions with ownership. Carroll will move into an undefined advisory role within the organization, according to Wednesday’s statement from owner Jody Allen.
But it’s clear that Carroll wanted to continue in the role he had and see if he could produce one more title team.
“I competed pretty hard to be the coach, just so you know,” Carroll said during an emotional farewell news conference. “I just wanted to make sure I stood up for all of our coaches and the players and the things that we had accomplished. Not just so we could be the coach still, but so we could continue to have a chance to be successful and keep the organization going. That’s what I was fighting for.
“In that regard, that’s what I was representing in our discussions,” Carroll continued. “And we got to a good part, good, clean spot where it made sense, and I went along with their intentions.”
With staff from throughout the facility, assistant coaches and a few current players filling the auditorium, Carroll spoke for more than 30 minutes through a mix of tears and laughter about a tenure that will be difficult for any coach to match in the future.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve had this run. I really am. This level of consistency that we’ve demonstrated is such that it makes you proud,” Carroll said.
Carroll will step aside as the most successful coach in franchise history, but with an unsatisfactory conclusion after several seasons of middling results, including a 9-8 record and no playoff berth in his final season.
He’ll forever be lauded as the first coach to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle with the Super Bowl 48 victory over Denver. Carroll finished with a 137-69-1 record in the regular season with the Seahawks. He led Seattle to five NFC West titles and 10 playoff victories.
But Carroll and the organization never fully recovered from what happened in the Super Bowl 49 and Russell Wilson’s goal line interception in the final seconds. The core that took Seattle to those title games eventually unraveled and while Carroll tried several different reboots, the Seahawks never again found that level of talent and chemistry to experience another title and wash away the memories of that painful loss.
Seattle also plateaued toward the end of Carroll’s time, finishing with a losing record in 2021 followed by consecutive 9-8 seasons while falling short of becoming more of a contender in the NFC West.
The postseason was another problem. Seattle has not advanced past the divisional round since the 2014 playoffs and lost in the wild-card round in three of its past four postseason appearances.
“We lost our edge, really, the edge to be great, which was really how we ran the football and how we played defense. It wasn’t as good as it needed to be,” Carroll said.
