The Seahawks held a record-setting Broncos offense to eight points in a 43-8 smashing 10 years ago, and their follow-up effort produced an overtime walk-off to complete an NFC championship comeback over the Packers. A less healthy Seahawks defense could not hold up against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX, with one play call — the pass that led to Malcolm Butler‘s seminal interception, eschewing a Marshawn Lynch carry from the 1-yard line — remembered as the tipping point in that Super Bowl and for both franchises in the 2010s.
While the Seahawks never made it back to a Super Bowl under Carroll, Wilson’s progression into a Hall of Fame-caliber passer helped keep the team in contention for several years. Carroll guided the Seahawks to 10 playoff appearances and five division titles in his 14-season run. The team’s blockbuster Wilson trade in 2022 brought back major assets that have been used on potential cornerstones. After a surprise playoff berth in 2022, which featured a shocking Geno Smith re-emergence, the Seahawks disappointed this season by finishing 9-8 and missing the postseason.
During the Legion of Boom’s heyday, the Seahawks became the first franchise since the 1950s Browns to lead the NFL in scoring defense in four straight seasons. Bradley, Quinn and Kris Richard resided as Seattle’s DCs during that period, with Richard Sherman (Round 5, 2011) and Earl Thomas (Round 1, 2010) becoming Canton-caliber DBs and Kam Chancellor (Round 5, 2010) working as a co-anchor of the group. As that storied secondary splintered, along with the losses of Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, the Seahawks steadily regressed defensively. Wilson’s two extensions made it more difficult for the Seahawks to retain their defensive core after the team used its QB’s rookie deal to load up the roster in 2013 and ’14. By 2018, only Wagner and K.J. Wright remained.
Under Clint Hurtt over the past two seasons, the Seahawks finished no higher than 25th in scoring or total defense. This certainly became an issue for the defensive-minded head coach, whose unit crashed to 30th in total defense (28th in DVOA) in 2023. Carroll had fired Ken Norton Jr. after a four-season DC run, but the unit has worsened in the two years since. While Smith did not match his Comeback Player of the Year season, the team’s offense outshined the Carroll- and Hurtt-managed defense. This almost definitely has contributed to the Seahawks’ course change.
Carroll’s latest HC contract runs through 2025. He also held final personnel say, though he and GM John Schneider — brought in together in 2010 — worked collaboratively throughout this successful era. Carroll finishes his Seahawks HC career at 137-89-1. His AFC East years round the record out to 170-120-1.
The Panthers, Chargers and Commanders have requested meetings with Quinn, who turned the Cowboys’ defense around quickly. Those clubs now have clear competition, though it remains to be seen which other candidates Seahawks ownership has in mind. But the next era will be unmistakably different. The franchise picked up its first championship and tripled its Super Bowl appearance count under Carroll, whose high-energy style led to him being viewed as one of this NFL period’s defining figures. In an offseason in which Belichick is also expected to go, the NFL will look considerably different by the time teams reconvene for the 2024 season.
