On a day in which some NFL head coaches might see their tenures end, Pete Carroll isn't fretting his future in Seattle following Sunday's 38-30 season-ending victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
"No," he said when asked if he had any questions about his future in Seattle. "I'm in great shape."
Speculation surrounding Carroll's future has lingered as a rough season turned sour with back-to-back losses to wipe away playoff hopes in December. But a big buyout on his contract extension signed in 2020, coupled with a rousing end of the season, including Sunday's road win in Arizona, has the Seahawks gearing up for another possible run in the Carroll-Russell Wilson era.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday on Good Morning Football that the Seahawks don't plan to fire Carroll because of the 7-10 record put up in 2021. Still, Carroll and the rest of the Seattle brass are set to meet with owner Jody Allen and discuss the plan for the future. If they're all on the same page, added Rapoport, then they'll give it another go. If not, Allen will have the first big decision of her ownership to make.
Carroll was asked Sunday what he expects from the conversation with Allen.
"Like we've always had," Carroll said. "Really pointed at figuring things out. She's very analytical and she wants to make sure that we're doing everything that we can possibly do to get everything right. She's a terrifically competitive person in that regard and she doesn't want any stone unturned. Exactly the way I look at it. I just feel so connected to that thought that that's what we do, but to have your owner talk that same way, that's a competitive perspective.
"It goes back to the old line we used to have: We're in a relentless pursuit of finding a competitive edge in everything we're doing. That's what is. That's what she represents. So we'll try to do a great job of exchanging the information and setting the course for making sure that we give ourselves the best chance to be champions."
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported on Sunday that the Seahawks have no plans to trade Wilson this offseason and are proceeding as if he'll be the club's starter in 2022.
All season the assumption has been that Wilson would request a fresh start, either by demanding a trade to a team of his choice or with a new coach in Seattle.
Perhaps the offense coming to life in the final two weeks -- as Wilson got further away from the finger injury that derailed his season -- has the QB thinking they could make it work for another run.
With a 112-73 record in 12 years in Seattle, Carroll is coming off his worst season with the club and his first 10-loss campaign since his first year as a head coach with the New York Jets in 1994. Nevertheless, the 70-year-old believes the Seahawks have the pieces in place to make a quick turnaround from the cellar of the NFC West.
"We've been so close throughout the whole season," Carroll said. "The biggest difference that everyone had to suffer through was the close games that we didn't win because we've been winning those games for years. ... That's the whole season, that's it. You can look at all the millions of things, criticize this and that. That's where it really went to, and there's reasons why.
"It's clear, we just didn't finish the game when we needed to, and it's always been such a huge point of emphasis to show that we understand how to get that done. It was really frustrating this year with one game, then another game, and another one."
As long as Allen agrees with that assessment and the plan moving forward under Carroll and GM John Schneider, it seems as though Seattle is ready to run it back in 2022.
