Pete Carroll is undeniably the greatest head coach in Seahawks history. One day he will likely go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame even if he never coaches another game at this level. While there's no questioning his legacy, it is fair to question some of the quirks and habits that he developed over the years.
Perhaps the most frustrating was Carroll's obsession with close games, exemplified by the questions he posed to his locker room after a fourth-quarter comeback, such as: can you win the game in the first quarter? and so on - until he reached the crescendo, screaming CAN YOU WIN THE M-Fing GAME IN THE FOURTH QUARTER?!?!
While it sounds good after pulling off a miraculous comeback such as last season's improbable victory over the Eagles, there were also plenty of games when Seattle's slow starts wound up costing them what should have been a win. Over and over during the Legion of Boom years the Seahawks fell behind early when facing inferior competition, and they weren't always able to pull off those emotional comebacks.
It seems that new head coach Mike Macdonald has a completely different approach, and it's one that should serve the team well moving forward. Here's what he told reporters after Monday's training camp practice about his game philosophy.
Mike Macdonald, the anti-Pete Carroll on his overall game philosophy: You need to start fast, need to close the game out, and stay strong in the middle. #Seahawks
— Aaron Levine (@AaronLevine_) July 30, 2024
Truly radical stuff.
While it's an obvious thing to say, in practice Macdonald can depart from his predecessor by encouraging offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb to be aggressive early in neutral situations and not call quite so many running plays on first down, among other things. Defensively Madonald can help by moving away from Carroll's super-conservative, heavy zone instincts and finding ways to manufacture pressure beyond the usual four-man rush.
Some Seahawks fans will no doubt insist that the team was wrong to move on from Carroll, short of a Super Bowl winning season in the next couple of years. However, this simple philosophical statement proves that it was the right call. Fans can love Carroll and everything he did for the franchise and also understand that it was time to move on.
