In the strangest turn of events in the ever entertaining coaching carousel of the NFL, Pete Carroll has emerged as the replacement for Jim Mora in Seattle. Yes – that Pete Carroll. Over the weekend, Carroll handed in his resignation to USC and signed a five-year deal worth $35 million with Paul Allen and the Seahawks. This will be Carroll’s second stint as an NFL head coach, with his first effort being for the New England Patriots from 1997-1999.

The curious thing about this coaching change is that Mora was practically groomed to replace Mike Holmgren. In fact, there was a clause in his contract that he was going to take over for Holmgren once he eventually retired. Well that happened, and Mora’s Seahawks struggled all throughout 2009. Injuries and inconsistency are to blame more than anything, but it should be noted that Seattle improved to 5-11 SU after finishing 4-12 SU in Holmgren’s final stand.

The Seatle Seahawks also went 6-10 ATS this year, posting a winning record of 5-3 ATS at Qwest Field, while going 1-7 ATS on the road.

Carroll hadn’t really been part of the rumored rotation that included the decorated threesome of Gruden, Cowher and Shanahan. Everyone in the football universe naturally assumed that he was more than comfortable with the God-like praise he received on an annual basis while leading USC, a Pac-10 juggernaut up until this season. Rarely do coaches migrate from situations like what Mack Brown enjoys in Texas, Saban flourishes in with the University of Alabama or what Carroll had in USC.

Of course, leaving USC so suddenly has left the Trojans scrambling. They have a fleet of high school recruits to answer to, as many of those athletes signed their letters of intent to be tutored by Carroll. For the interim, they have no idea who’s going to coach the Trojans in 2010. Sounds like prime opportunity for Oregon or Stanford to seize control of the Pac-10, doesn’t it?

The ripple effect in the NFL started when Holmgren elected to sign with Cleveland instead of returning to Seattle. That forced Seattle’s owner, Paul Allen, to target someone he felt he could trust; somebody that had clout and prestige that Mora didn’t have yet. Seattle has landed their man, and the gravity of his decision is pulling other coaches to the Northwest.

Jeremy Bates, the quarterback coach in Denver for the past two years had a choice to matriculate to Chicago as the offensive coordinator, but instead jilted the Bears to join Carroll in Seattle. It is rumored as well that a slew of USC coaches will follow their leading man to Washington state to help the rebuilding project of the Seahawks.


This move also drastically affects the NFL draft. All the signs are pointing to Matt Hasselbeck either retiring or leaving the team, and Carroll will take one look at Seneca Wallace and then go back to the drawing board. That will make the Seahawks’ sixth overall pick a doozy. They can either elect to go after USC’s star safety Taylor Mays, or they can choose to go with one of the five quarterbacks worth a look in the first two rounds. How weird would it be for Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame to end up under Pete Carroll? If you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em, I guess.

The Carroll signing will also affect the status of USC alumni such as Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. Familiarity is key in the NFL, and all too often coaches try to secure players that they know very well. Nobody knows Leinart better than Carroll, and nobody has made Reggie Bush more productive.
Both players are going to be free of their contracts within the next two years, and a reunion of sorts in Seattle is going to be very intriguing. The Saints would be hard pressed to justify a big contract for Reggie with so many needs across the offense, and Arizona seriously has to sit down and figure out if Matt Leinart is the true heir apparent for Kurt Warner’s suddenly immediate retirement.
Carroll’s head coaching record in the NFL is 33-31 SU, and his last stint including him filling the legendary shoes of Bill Parcels in New England. In 1997, Carroll won the AFC East and in 1998 his Pats were bounced in the wild card round. In 1999, the Patriots missed the playoffs and Carroll was fired by the Krafts.
His second tour as an NFL head coach won’t be as daunting as filling the void of Parcells. However, it’s already had tremendous affects throughout the league. I understand why he’d want to leave USC. After all, he’d been there for ten years and won a BCS championship, two national titles, seven Pac-10 Championships, six BCS bowl victories and produced three Heisman winners. When you’ve basically done everything at the college level, and the team’s going through an obvious rebuilding phase, a new challenge is refreshing. Of course, $35 million guaranteed is nice too.
Still, as much as I favor Carroll for making this decision, I’m hard pressed to believe that Jim Mora did that poorly as a head coach. From all reports, the players responded to him, and there weren’t that many coaches that had to deal with the amount of injuries that Mora had to. With many teams opting for continuity instead of change at the coaching position, the Seahawks have gone in the exact opposite direction.
What’s even more intriguing is that they’ve hired a head coach before they’ve even figured out who’s running the front office.
The Seattle mystery is unraveling, but the dust is nowhere close to settling. Welcome back to the NFL, Pete.


This information is provided in partnership with BetUs Sportsbook

More ...