GLENDALE, Ariz. — Amid speculation about his future with the Seattle Seahawks, coach Pete Carroll on Sunday expressed his hope that he will be back with the team in 2022.
After the Seahawks ended their disappointing season with a 7–10 record in a 38–30 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Carroll was asked if he had any questions on his mind as to whether he would be a part of the team's future.
"No," he said. "I'm in great shape."
Carroll, 70, is under contract through the 2025 season after signing a five-year extension in 2020. But the Seahawks' worst season in more than a decade has also fueled public speculation, according to sources, over uncertainty among members of the organization. Will he come back or not? The Seahawks' 10 losses are the most since 2009, a year before Carroll and general manager John Schneider were hired.
Carroll, who has the final say on team personnel decisions, reports to ownership, as does Schneider. Jody Allen is the de facto owner of the team, assuming the role when his brother Paul Allen died in 2018.
Carroll was asked how his conversations with Alan would go in the coming days.
"As we have always done," Carroll said. "Really pointed to figure things out. She's very analytical and she wants to make sure we're doing everything we can to fix everything. She's a very, very, very kind person in this regard." perfect person and she wants no stone unturned. Just as I see it. I just feel so attached to the idea that this is what we do, but to talk to my boss the same way, it's a Competitive perspective.
"It goes back to the old line we used to have: We're in a constant quest to find a competitive edge in everything we're doing. That's it. That's what it represents. So we'll try to do a great job." The task of exchanging information and setting the course to ensure that we give ourselves the best possible chance of becoming champions."
Carroll closes the line of questioning on Allen when asked how she sees the team's season going.
"I don't know," he said. "That's it. I'm not going to talk about it anymore. She can speak for itself. She's been with us the whole time. She's been awesome. I'm not going to give you any inside scoop, right? So don't ask."
Allen has not given any media interviews while largely out of public view since assuming his role.
Carroll's 128 regular season and playoff wins are the most by any coach in Seahawks history. This includes the franchise's lone Super Bowl title. He is ranked 19th in NFL history with 162 combined wins, including his previous head coaching stints with the New York Jets and New England Patriots.
The details of his contract beyond his length are not known, but it is believed that he is one of the highest paid coaches in the NFL with an annual salary of over $10 million. Head coaches' contracts are usually guaranteed, meaning the Seahawks could be on the hook for around $50 million, which is believed to be on Carroll's deal if he was fired. , depending on whether he has an offset in the deal and was hired elsewhere.
The Seahawks' season saw Russell Wilson suffer a finger injury that sidelined the star quarterback for three-plus games and seemed to have affected his accuracy upon his return. They went 3-5 in fixed games of eight points or less, after leading a combined 18-5 in such games the previous two seasons.
"We've been so close all season," Carroll said. "The biggest difference that everybody had to deal with was the close games we didn't win because we've been winning those games for years... that's the whole season, that's all. You can look at all the millions of things, this and that." Criticize that. It's really gone there, and there are reasons for that.
"It's clear, we didn't finish the game when we needed to, and there's always been such a huge emphasis on showing that we understand how to do it. This year was really disappointing with one game, then Another game, and another."
The Seahawks won four of their final six games, beating the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions, as well as the playoff-bound San Francisco 49ers and Cardinals. Carroll joked that there wasn't going to be a parade for the Seahawks' win over Arizona, a reference to how he said the team was treating these final two weeks like the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.
"It's really important," he said of his strong ending. "It's an important step. We need to respond to it and feel right about it. Our guys know how we can play. Unfortunately it took too long."