Pete Carroll's Record Without Russell Wilson is Embarrassing

While most players and/or coaches on professional sports teams tend to move around, some stick together for years or even decades. Notable combos include Brady and Belichick, Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan, and Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger. 

One such duo that doesn’t get discussed as much as some others are the combo of Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. The pairing has been under discussion more and more recently after Wilson missed his first start since 2012 and Seattle has taken a dive. The Seahawks are just 2-5 on the season and there have been those calling for a changing of the guard as far as head coaching goes. But, is this fair to Carroll? Is he really as successful as he is just because of one player? Going over the numbers, it turns out, he might just be. 

Even Carroll himself admitted after last night’s loss that if he didn’t have Russell Wilson, he probably wouldn’t have been there a long time. Considering his head coaching career before Seattle consisted of three seasons with the Patriots and one with the Jets, he is probably correct. So, just how ineffective is Carroll as a coach without a future Hall-of-Famer under center?

The last time Carroll won a game as a head coach without Russell Wilson came on December 18th, 2011 against the Chicago Bears. 2011 was also the last time that the Seahawks had a losing season, finishing with a 7-9 record. They finished with an identical 7-9 record in 2010. This is noteworthy because those are the first two seasons that Pete Carroll coached this team. Back when Matt Hasselbeck was their starting quarterback. 

To find a winning season from a team that Carroll coached that didn’t have Wison involved, we have to go all the way back to the 9-7 New England Patriots of 1998. Carroll's worst season to date was his debut as a head coach with the New York Jets back in 1994 when he led the team to a 6-10 record. 

Carroll ended his postgame interview last night by saying that it will be really fun to have Wilson back playing football again for the Seahawks this season. If history is any indication, Carroll better hope this happens before the Seahawks fall any further out of the playoff race. If not, this might be the time to shuffle the deck and start over.

Wilson was the subject of several trade rumors during the offseason and this could be a perfect time to rebuild with a new coach and quarterback heading into 2022. As they say, all good things come to an end.