Will Pete Carroll coach again? What he said

Jan 13, 2024, 6:33 PM | Updated: Jan 14, 2024, 3:35 pm

Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks talks with a referee on Nov. 30, 2023. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

(Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks will have one less gum-chomping man roaming the sidelines next season as the team has moved on from longtime head coach Pete Carroll.

ESPN’s Schefter on if two big-name coaches could be in play for Seahawks

Carroll, 72, has been removed from his role as head coach, with the organization moving him to an advisory post and giving general manager John Schneider full control over football operations.

Carroll’s departure on Wednesday kicked off a wild 24 hours of legendary coaching news, as Alabama head coach Nick Saban retired that afternoon and the New England Patriots announced Thursday that Bill Belichick won’t be back next season.

“It’s really unique and surprising. I can’t imagine how that happened. I really can’t,” Carroll said of that coincidence Friday during his final Pete Carroll Show on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk. “I thought they were joking with me when they said Nick retired on that day. And then I saw Bill was (doing a press conference) with (Patriots owner) Robert Kraft … Pretty amazing.”

Carroll again reiterated that he will not have any role in helping the Seahawks find their next head coach.

“This is totally on John. I’m not gonna be the centerpiece at all,” he said. “This is totally on John to do that. I’m just here to support him as best I can because I love him and I want him to be successful. Whether I was part of the organization or not, I would be there for John if he needed me.”

On Monday during an earlier Pete Carroll Show, he said he wanted to remain the Seahawks’ head coach. Carroll mentioned that again during his farewell press conference on Wednesday.

Does that mean Carroll sees himself coaching again?

“I don’t know. I’ve got plenty of energy for it and thought and willingness, but I can’t imagine that there’s a place, the right one,” he said. “I don’t know. I’m open to everything but I’m not holding my breath on that. There’s a lot of world out there and I’m excited about challenging and going after it. If that happens, that happens. We’ll see. I really don’t know what to tell you about that yet.”

Co-host Brock Huard said he thinks Carroll would be a great commissioner for college football, which Carroll scoffed at.

“Commissioner? You gotta be kidding me,” he said. “I’d be more likely to coach girls flag football.”

Listen to the full Pete Carroll Show in the video near the top of this post or in the audio player here.

What about UW?

With Saban retiring from Alabama, the Crimson Tide needed a new head coach. That resulted in the UW Huskies joining the Seahawks in an offseason coaching search as Alabama hired Kalen DeBoer away on Friday, just four days after he coached Washington in a National Championship loss to Michigan.

Before Carroll’s very successful 14-year run with the Seahawks, he won two national championships at USC, building a college football powerhouse with the Trojans.

If Carroll wants to coach, could staying in Seattle by leading UW be a fit for what likely would be his final head coaching opportunity?

Huard, a former UW Huskies quarterback and current FOX college football analyst, discussed that Friday with Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

“He said a line to us this morning and it was like, ‘I just don’t know if there’s that place,'” Huard said of Carroll. “That’s where Seattle 14 years ago for him was that one place.”

If there’s mutual interest, Huard does think Carroll could be mighty successful with the Huskies.

“He’d be an unbelievable fundraiser, he’d be an unbelievable igniter,” Huard said. “He’s got a couple boys that are aspiring coaches themselves in (Seahawks offensive assistant) Nate Carroll that right now is likely out of a job and a son, Brennan, that’s doing amazing things at (the University of) Arizona (as offensive coordinator) … But could that be the appeal? Like, ‘You know what? I’ll take this job, I’ll raise all this money.’ That’s a big part of it. And ‘I’ll create an immense amount of exposure. And oh, by the way, I’ll give my boys an opportunity to coordinate and maybe take their next steps in their career.’ I don’t know.”

Huard’s belief that Carroll may coach again changed from Wednesday, when Carroll held a farewell press conference at Seahawks headquarters, to Friday.

“Maybe on Wednesday, when I saw Pete bouncing around the stage and the juice and the energy and (saying), ‘I want to coach,'” he said. “The Pete we talked to this morning, maybe the realization that, ‘Geez, I don’t know if I’m ever going to find something like I just had in Seattle. And if anything, I better take some time to not just jump right into that next gig.'”

Listen to the full Bump and Stacy conversation with Brock Huard in the podcast at this link or the player here.