Seattle Seahawks: Pete Carroll Deserves Credit for Team's Success

Pete Carroll is coming off his best year ever as an NFL head coach. The Seattle Seahawks went 11-5, and made it to the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs. It was a place that many questioned Carroll could ever get to in the NFL, but so far he’s proved the doubters wrong.

When Carroll took over in Seattle three years ago, the team was in a bad place, only winning four games the season prior. In fact, it was the worst record the team had posted since 1992. Carroll had just skipped town from Los Angeles, and decided to return to the pros, with fairly low expectations.

The first two years weren’t anything fancy, as the team finished 7-9 both seasons. Somehow though, in Carroll’s first season the team happened to get into the playoffs, and actually defeated the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round. Never before had a team won their division with a losing record, but it happened for Carroll and the Seahawks in 2010.

Fast-forward to 2013, and the Seahawks are no longer just worried about having a winning record or making the playoffs, it’s now all about winning a championship. The bar has been raised in a big way in Seattle, and Pete Carroll has had a lot to do with it.

For starters, I think he brought a winning attitude with him from USC. All those years of winning, have to rub off on a guy. Carroll changed the culture of the locker room in Seattle, and just by that alone, he’s set himself up for success.

Who’s decision was it to make Russell Wilson the starter well before the 2012 season? That’s right, Pete Carroll. You just have to give it up to his ability to spot a star like Wilson. The Seahawks paid big money for Matt Flynn to come in and be their quarterback, and that ultimately didn’t figure into Carroll’s decision. He made the right decision by putting the best player on the field, and we all saw how it worked out.

So with arguably the league’s best defense, a highly intelligent young quarterback, and a new weapon in Percy Harvin –  Carroll’s Seahawks are ready to roll in 2013. He could easily lead this team to 12 or 13 victories, and to places that no one predicted he would make it to in the NFL.

 

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