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What should Pete Carroll’s role be in playcalling?

Sep 20, 2018, 12:30 PM | Updated: 1:07 pm

Seattle Seahawks, Seahawks, Pete Carroll...

Pete Carroll's Seahawks finished 10-6 and returned to the playoffs this season. (AP)

(AP)

Among the biggest critiques of the Seahawks’ offense following consecutive losses to the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos is that their playcalling has drifted away from the run.

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Some of the blame certainly falls on new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. But head coach Pete Carroll also owned up to the mistake during his Wednesday press conference, blaming his own impatience.

“I’ll just take it,” Carroll said. “My impatience a little bit, you know, figuring that we should be on the board more than we had and just got to throw the ball up more than I want to. I’m over that.

“Both games were so close throughout,” Carroll continued. “We were close enough that we could have done whatever we wanted to all the way down to the end of it. I just got a little bit impatient (and) threw the ball a bit more than we needed to. So you look back, and that’s with limited opportunities because we weren’t converting. It just kind of works together. I’m just owning up, but that’s what I would say is the issue with that. I need to be a little less impatient. I’m a little bit, tend to be that way, you know?”

The Seahawks finished with just seven carries apiece for lead back Chris Carson and first-round pick Rashaad Penny against Denver. They opened their first drive in Chicago with three consecutive runs by Carson; however, the team didn’t run at all in the third quarter and Carson didn’t touch the ball in the second half.

During the Blue 42 segment of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk, host Brock Huard said Carroll needs to limit his role in play calling and empower his new offensive coordinator.

“Get out of the headsets,” Huard said. “You want to talk and get into your coordinator’s ear about game management, fine. You want to always be thinking a series ahead. Like, ‘Hey, this is four down territory,’ ‘hey, let’s really try to control the clock here,’ ‘hey, here’s what I’m thinking.’

“But you can’t get in there and start making the call or dictate the personnel to get the ball. And Coach Carroll alluded to that in some ways Wednesday and certainly took ownership of some of the missteps on Monday night.

“I’ll say this about Pete: this has nothing to do with his football acumen, which is phenomenal. I actually tie this back, a little bit, to Russell Wilson and his receivers. You’ve got to show and express to (your offensive coordinator) the trust and confidence you have in him. This year Coach Carroll doesn’t have someone like Darrell Bevell, who he knows well and who worked with him for seven plus years. (Brian Schottenheimer) is a guy who was brought in earlier this year after Bevell was fired.

“Say what you want about Darrell Bevell, but his offense has owned every record in this record book and they won a title and had a great relationship and rapport with Russell. But you’ve got Schottenheimer here now, (and) he needs to be empowered. Carroll doesn’t need to come in and intrude; just empower him. Give him the reigns and just remind him, ‘We are a run first team, you will never get demoted and never questioned for running the football in this place — that’s who and what we want to be.’”

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