For Pete's sake
It's no surprise the success of Seattle's coach gets overlooked. The reason that happens, however, has changed.
Only three NFL coaches have a longer tenure than Pete Carroll1.
Only four franchises have won more games than the Seattle Seahawks have since hiring Carroll in 2010 and the New England Patriots are the only franchise with more playoff berths in that time.
Yet I am always something less than surprised when I see Carroll omitted from lists enumerating the league’s top coaches, such as this one from Pro Football Focus. In fact, the only reason I noticed this one was because my former co-worker Brock Huard called the author out by name, asking if he’d forgotten about the Seahawks coach.
Nope, responded the author, “I didn't forget! Last year was a lot of good, but defense EPA/Play allowed (his expertise) was still not great for the third year in a row. I recognize 2022 was a special season getting the best out of that group on offense, and he was on the right side of the Wilson decision. Won't take anything away from the coaches I had in the Top 10, but perhaps I should have taken his full tenure into account more. He was right there for me. Never meant to come off as a Pete hater.”
The responses to the comment were about what you’d expect, pointing out the explanation didn’t exactly wash when you looked at the inclusion of, say, Mike Tomlin at No. 3. But this isn’t about Trevor Sikkema, specifically, nor about Pro Football Focus.
It’s about the continuing and enduring reluctance to include Carroll as one of the very best coaches in the league in spite of a mountain of evidence that confirms this point.