Pete Carroll has come up as a 49ers DC option, per report

Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is clearly interested in returning to the NFL sidelines. Now we might find just how far that interest goes.

Rost: Two recent reports about Seahawks OC search stand out

Carroll has been a candidate in the head coach searches for both the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders. The Bears have filled their vacancy with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, while the Raiders had yet to name a new coach as of late Wednesday afternoon.

But if Carroll doesn’t land a job as a head coach, there may be one more option for him – as a defensive coordinator. With the Seahawks’ biggest rival.

Buckle up.

In an article by longtime Bay Area sports reporter Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard published Wednesday, he wrote that the 49ers have considered talking to Carroll about running their defense. The reason? They already run the “Seattle style” defense Carroll is known for, and if they can’t hire back Robert Saleh, one of Carroll’s old assistants in Seattle who was 49ers DC from 2017-20, it sure would make sense to then bring in Carroll.

NFC West Check-In: 49ers interview Robert Saleh for his old job

“As the 49ers anxiously wait for the outcome of Saleh’s interview with Jacksonville for the Jaguars’ head-coaching vacancy, I’ve heard that Carroll’s name has come up inside 49ers HQ as an interesting idea, at least,” Kawakami wrote.

So that means the 49ers are in a waiting game in a couple of ways, dependent on how Saleh and Carroll’s pursuits of head coach positions go.

Should Saleh, who was Jets head coach from 2021-24, end up with the Jaguars, and then the Raiders go a direction other than Carroll, the big question then would be if Carroll is eager enough to return to coaching that he would do so as an assistant coach – for the team he butted heads with more than any other during his 14 years with the Seahawks.

Then again, it would give the 73-year-old Carroll the chance to get the last word against the franchise that let him go a year ago.

Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

Report: Pete Carroll lands another interview for NFL head coach job

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