Pete Carroll's legacy is more than 1 play-call, but will that Super Bowl goal-line decision keep him from Hall of Fame?
With one different play-call, Pete Carroll might walk into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You know what play-call it was.
Carroll's time as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks ended Wednesday after a great 14-year run, as the team announced it had "amicably agreed" that Carroll wouldn't be the head coach anymore but would stay in an adviser role. That shocking news started an examination of Carroll's legacy — and his not giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the goal line in 2015.
It's maybe the most infamous play-call in NFL history. In Super Bowl XLIX, the Seahawks were down to the 1-yard line in the final minute and looking to take the lead. Instead of giving it to Lynch, Seattle called a pass. It was picked off on a great play by New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler. Nine years later, we're still talking about the call and debating it. That debate will go on forever. It changed NFL history.
But that play shouldn't define Carroll's great career.
Pete Carroll became a legend in Seattle
Carroll steps away as Seattle's head coach with a good case for the Hall of Fame, even without that Super Bowl XLIX win. If we counted his time in college, his case would be even stronger.
Carroll came to Seattle after a great, memorable stretch as USC's head coach. He assembled some of the most talented rosters in college football history. He won two national championships at USC and fell just short of another in a loss to Vince Young and Texas in perhaps the greatest game in college football history. Of course, Carroll's time at USC is also known for controversy. One of those national championships and Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy were vacated due to Bush's accepting gifts from an agent. Carroll went 97-19 at USC, though the official record was 83-19 after the vacated wins. Carroll left for the NFL before the sanctions came down.
Seattle will be forever grateful. Carroll won 147 games with the Seahawks, including 10 playoff wins. While everyone is quick to bring up the Super Bowl the Seahawks lost, they won Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos. The Broncos came in with Peyton Manning and the highest-scoring offense in NFL history, and Carroll's "Legion of Boom" defense almost shut them out. The 43-8 win was one of the most dominant performances in NFL history.
Carroll maintained the Seahawks as a winning organization for most of his time in Seattle, even if the Seahawks never got back to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks lost double-digit games just once in Carroll's 14 years, going 7-10 in 2021. This past season, the Seahawks missed the playoffs but barely, posting a 9-8 record. In two seasons, the Seahawks missed the playoffs despite winning nine games. The Seahawks traded nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson and then immediately made the playoffs with Geno Smith. Carroll had some excellent seasons with the Seahawks, made the playoffs in 10 of 14 seasons and avoided a prolonged stretch of losing. Is that enough for the Hall of Fame?
Carroll has a case for the Hall of Fame
If Carroll makes the Hall of Fame, Mike Shanahan might lose his mind.
Shanahan and Carroll, who also coached one season with the New York Jets and three with the New England Patriots before going to USC, each have 170 regular-season wins. Carroll has a better winning percentage (.586 to .552), but Shanahan has one key edge: a second Super Bowl ring.
Mike Holmgren might be mad, too. There are 19 head coaches with a Super Bowl ring and a winning percentage better than Carroll's. Eight are in the Hall of Fame, seven are still active, three had fewer than 115 wins, and then there's Holmgren. Holmgren has 161 regular-season wins, a Super Bowl ring and a better winning percentage than Carroll (.592 to .586), but he couldn't win a second title in two other trips to the championship game.
There's also Tom Coughlin. He had 170 regular-season wins, same as Carroll, and a second Super Bowl ring. He isn't in the Hall of Fame and was passed over as a coach/contributor finalist for this year's class.
Shanahan, Holmgren and Coughlin are examples of how Carroll could fall short, though Carroll, like those three, has a case to make it in. His sustained run with Seattle was impressive. A second Super Bowl might have sealed it. With just one, he'll be right on the fence. Most coaches who have a Super Bowl ring, at least 150 wins and a winning percentage comparable to Carroll's are in the Hall (or not eligible yet), but not all of them have made it.
Carroll was quirky and unconventional, but he also won. He lifted a franchise that had never won a Super Bowl to new and historic heights. He'll be remembered forever in Seattle. It'll be debated if it all was good enough to get him a spot in Canton.
