Ex-NFL OL Geoff Schwartz: Why Seahawks’ Pete Carroll isn’t going anywhere

Since Seattle’s 28-23 playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, there has been discussion amongst Seahawks fans on social media that it may be time for the team to move on from longtime head coach Pete Carroll.

Huard: Seahawks need ‘ballhawk’ at corner

Carroll took over as head coach in 2010 and has led the Seahawks to its best run in the franchise’s history, going 100-59-1 in the regular season, making the playoffs eight times in his 10 seasons and winning Seattle’s first Super Bowl and coming a yard away from winning a second.

But while many teams have adopted more pass-heavy and analytical approaches to the game, Carroll has kept doing what’s made him successful both in Seattle and at USC, where he won two national championships. That has been run-first offenses that try to limit the amount of possessions each team has in a game. He also hasn’t been as aggressive on fourth down as some would like.

That style of offense has led to slow starts, especially in 2019. Seattle played in 18 total games this year and had a lead or were tied at halftime just six times. All but one of their 12 wins were by one score.

What happened in the second half of those wins was usually star quarterback Russell Wilson was asked to take the game over and lead comeback efforts after the sluggish offensive starts. That was on display in the team’s loss to Green Bay, as they entered halftime down 21-3.

Should the Seahawks “modernize” their offense and let Wilson pass more early in games? Or should they go even further and move on from Carroll as head coach?

ESPN Radio and Sirius XM host Geoff Schwartz, a former NFL offensive lineman, joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore to break down why Carroll will stay with the Seahawks going forward.

Schwartz said moving on from Carroll could lead to a year or two of instability, but the upside could be getting over the hump of the divisional round of the playoffs the Seahawks have been stuck in for the last few seasons. He also said that because of the way the team is constructed and operates, especially on offense, that the team is unlikely to appear or win a Super Bowl.

Despite the shortcomings in his eyes, Schwartz doesn’t see Carroll going anywhere.

“I think it’s hard to fire Carroll right now and I don’t think I could advocate for that,” Schwartz said. “The players obviously love playing for him, there’s something about the way he coaches and the way he motivates and develops talent to get them in a position every year to get in the playoffs. I think it’s too harsh to do that, but I do think something to think about is do you need a more progressive coach to help Russell Wilson?”

Schwartz thinks, like many, that Seattle should have a different style of offense to better utilize Wilson’s ability, but he doesn’t think that’s what will happen since Carroll is running the show.

“How many 70-year-olds are going to change what they’re doing that’s been successful for so many years?” Schwartz said. “He won a Super Bowl and was one yard away from another Super Bowl … They win at least nine games every year that he’s the coach, they make the playoffs. He’s not going to change. But again, I think it’s a team-building philosophy issue too, right? You’re drafting first-round running backs, you’re drafting bigger defensive ends, you’re drafting guys that don’t really fit how the way modern football is being played right now. So it’s not going to change until he’s gone and I don’t think he’s leaving anytime soon.”

A big issue with trying to move on from Carroll is who you would get to replace him.

“When you fire a coach, you have to replaced him with someone better,” Schwartz said. “You’re not really getting better than Pete Carroll if you fire him unless you just go young and you hope that the hotshot play caller turns out to be a home run hire … if we fire Carroll, we won’t get anyone better than him. Why would we do that?”

Listen to Schwartz’s discussion with Bob, Dave and Moore at this link or in the player below.

Follow 710Sports.com’s Brandon Gustafson on Twitter.

Seahawks rookie report card: How 2019 draft class graded out

Follow @TheBGustafson