Former Seahawks HC Pete Carroll all in favour of Bears’ job
After a yr away from the NFL, former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is able to get again on an NFL sideline, and he has his eye on a particular sideline. There are at the moment three jobs that shall be interviewing candidates for subsequent season: the Bears, Jets, and Saints. In line with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it’s the job in Chicago that Carroll has his eyes on.
Carroll has taken breaks from NFL teaching jobs up to now to a lot success. After his first stint as a head for the Jets, on account of promotion from defensive coordinator, ended unceremoniously after one yr, Carroll rebounded as a defensive coordinator for the 49ers earlier than incomes his second head teaching job with the Patriots, whom he took twice to the playoffs and with whom he by no means had a dropping document. Regardless of the surface-level success in New England, workforce proprietor Robert Kraft fired Carroll after a late-season slide price them a playoff spot in 1999.
Carroll then selected to develop into a head coach on the collegiate stage, versus returning to the NFL as a defensive coordinator once more. After a tough 6-6 inaugural yr as a university head coach with USC, Carroll shortly turned the Trojans right into a powerhouse program, profitable the convention seven straight years and profitable back-to-back nationwide championships in 2003 and 2004, to not point out simply lacking out on a three-peat after falling to Vince Younger and the Longhorns in 2005.
Carroll turned his faculty success into one other alternative to educate within the NFL, touchdown the job in Seattle that he held for 14 years. In all that point, Carroll solely had three dropping seasons (twice going 7-9 and as soon as going 7-10), amassing a career-record in Seattle of 137-89-1. He made the playoffs 10 instances and twice made it to the game’s season finale, profitable the franchise’s solely Tremendous Bowl title. When the Seahawks narrowly missed the postseason final yr as a result of a tiebreaker, Carroll and Seattle mutually agreed that he would step down from his publish as head coach.
Practically a yr later, Carroll is able to put his hat again within the ring. The query is: the place might he go? This yr’s crop of head teaching candidates has been deemed as a weaker class, particularly after one of many stronger candidates, former Patriots head coach Invoice Belichick, made the choice to take a head teaching on the collegiate stage with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Schefter’s report claims that Carroll is within the Chicago job, however is he match?
The Bears have made it identified in preliminary conversations about who will exchange Matt Eberflus that they’re hoping to carry somebody in who can develop and mildew rookie No. 1 choose Caleb Williams. Whereas Williams shares a USC reference to Carroll, the 2 had been by no means there on the similar time. Moreover, Carroll’s defensive-minded background would require him to return in with a plan on which assistants he might herald to develop Williams. The Bears’ supposed desire leads many to imagine that an offensive-minded coordinator like Kliff Kingsbury or Ben Johnson can be a greater match, particularly since Kingsbury was a mentor of Williams at USC simply final yr.
So, if not Chicago, what metropolis appears to make extra sense as Carroll’s subsequent vacation spot? The Jets have a historical past of hiring defensive-minded head coaches, in addition to a historical past of hiring guys named “Pete Carroll.” They simply fired a former defensive coordinator in Robert Saleh, however their foray with Adam Gase, a former offensive coordinator, was temporary and unsuccessful. Earlier than that, was a defensive coordinator in Todd Bowles and, earlier than him, Rex Ryan, who led the workforce to their final playoff look and back-to-back AFC Championship Sport appearances. There could also be a little bit of dangerous blood over his firing the primary time round, however over the past 30 years, he might have let bygones be bygones.
The Saints are the opposite choice, although a number of extra pop up on the finish of the season. Regardless, Carroll is able to take a stab at one other NFL job, and although he appears to favor Chicago early on, he might need to preserve his choices open and discover the opposite positions obtainable.
