Could Pete Carroll stick it to the Seahawks by taking DC role with division rival?
While many expect former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll to transition to a front-office job with his former team, some have wondered if Carroll’s heart is still in coaching.
The 72-year-old Carroll hasn’t announced any plans as of yet, and now he’s being linked to a coaching vacancy that could ruffle the feathers of the Seahawks faithful.
During an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” last week, San Francisco 49ers play-by-play voice Greg Papa suggested that Carroll could be a strong fit for the team's open defensive coordinator position over other intriguing candidates like ex-New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
“I think Pete Carroll would be more of a natural fit because with Belichick, he likes to vary his fronts — it would be a very different defense,” Papa said. “What’s the best defense to run for Fred (Warner), Dre (Greenlaw), Nick (Bosa), Charvarius Ward, Deommodore Lenoir and Talanoa Hufanga? That’s who you’re trying to serve. The defense that the 49ers are running since Kyle (Shanahan) has been the head coach is Seattle's defense. [Carroll’s] the guy who did it.”
Unlike recently fired Steve Wilks, Carroll, who coached the Seahawks from 2010 until 2023, is already quite familiar with the 49ers defensive players and the schemes and concepts they run under head coach Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco also runs a 4-3 defense similar to the one Carroll implemented in Seattle.
If Carroll were interested, the fit also makes sense from a logistical perspective as well. A San Francisco native, Carroll was the 49ers defensive coordinator from 1995 to 1996 before he left to become the head coach of the New England Patriots.
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