It’s still taking some getting used to, but former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is now in charge of the Las Vegas Raiders. After running out the remainder of his Seahawks contract in an advisory role, Carroll jumped at the chance to return to coaching.
Carroll is slowly but surely doing more media rounds after staying out of the spotlight last year, and his latest stop is on Marshawn Lynch and Michael Robinson’s ‘Get Got Pod’ podcast. I must admit that Carroll is not the easiest person to transcribe (neither for humans nor AI), but I’ve pulled out some snippets of interest to Seahawks fans.
On staying in contact with his former players, including Earl Thomas
“I kind of keep track with everybody as best I can, and for those guys just to be available if they’ve got questions, they got thoughts, they got whatevers. I’m not expecting that I got any jewels of wisdom for them. I just want to support them and love them up as they’re going through it, but it was my gift—they gave the gift to me that to kind of just stay with them you know.
“What happened and what you guys know too, because we’ve been through this together and when we go through this thing together, you know there’s a connection that’s made that doesn’t fall away. It doesn’t go apart unless you’re talking to Earl [Thomas] or something like that. I still love Earl, he doesn’t love me.”
On his Seahawks departure
“There came a time late in that last season with about four or five games to go and I went into John [Schneider]’s office. I said, ‘John you know we’re coming up the end of the season here,’ and at the time we didn’t know you know how good we were going to do, because we won four or five of the last six or something like that.
“And I said, ‘You know there’s a lot of changes that are coming potentially, and you and I aren’t looking at these changes probably the same way.’ I thought we were really close [to contending], and I love Bobby [Wagner], and I love Quandre [Diggs] and [Tyler Lockett] and all the guys. I wanted to keep going with those guys and I knew that he was likely thinking differently (he was).
“I had always been in charge the whole time and I had always said to John that when I leave I’m hoping that I’ll be able to help you be the general manager and have this be your gig. So I said, “This may be that time. Maybe why don’t you talk to ownership and see if you’re sitting in the right spot where they would give you the chance to do that, then maybe it’s time for to move it on.” And so that was really the conversation.
“I couldn’t quit on the fellas, you know. So I just had to kind of eat it—you know how it came across—you’re asking me still you didn’t know what happened. But John and I, we had been partners in this thing and to me that head coach/general manager thing is by far the most crucial relationship in the NFL, maybe most professional sports. I always wanted John to be the best GM in the NFL or in professional sports, and I was going to promote him to be that. That was the way we were getting married in a sense in this job. Nobody would know who’s calling the shots or who how we did it; it was just going to be the Seattle way.
“And so it worked you know it worked great for us and we had a blast doing it. But I kind of had that promise all along that you know someday you’ll be the guy and I’ll be getting out of here knowing it was going to come sometime. So it just kind of worked out where they were okay about it. Jody [Allen] didn’t like the thought of firing me and so we worked out a thing where we talked about consulting and that kind of stuff, but soon as they started going, I couldn’t. It was too creepy for me to be around that building and be close to those guys.”
On reuniting with Geno Smith
“Geno to me is like getting Marshawn. Because there’s a connection of the impact that the guy can have on everybody else. The years we spent together, the years when he wasn’t playing, were the most significant years to me because he exemplified this mentality that I had never seen anybody else.
“He thought every play he was getting he was going to be in. And somehow he held on to that kind of focus. He didn’t lose it, he didn’t ever waver. Every play that the other guy was taking it might be his last play and he needs to be ready to go. He’d been through some pain and some hardship and stuff like that but by the time we got him he he came with this mentality that—anyway so when he finally got a chance he did great. you know and a lot of people were surprised shoot he was Comeback Player of the Year the first year that he that he started after Russell left. So to get him to come too was just so significant.”
On his relationship with Russell Wilson
“We’re doing fine. Like I told you guys, I I stay in contact with the guys as best I can. Russ was one to call you. And so I heard I’ve heard a lot from him and I stayed in contact with him throughout, with the same thought of just trying to help him—Geno and I were talking last year—just trying to help and be there for him and continue to support them. Nobody knows those guys as well as I do. So if I could be there for him or answer some questions or kick him in the butt or whatever.
“Really there was a chance that with Russ coming up in free agency that, you know, we need a quarterback so there was conversation you know in that shorter amount of time there before we got Geno that there could be a shot.”
There’s a ton more in here, including Michael Robinson seemingly revealing that DK Metcalf wanted to go to the Raiders before he was dealt to Pittsburgh. Watch the full podcast in the video below, which starts with Marshawn saying, “They call came from your nuts though, you feel me?”