Former Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said in a recent interview that while he still feels capable of jumping back into coaching, that’s not something he’s pushing for at the moment.
“Well, you know, I get asked a lot, so I’m pretty familiar with answering that I could coach tomorrow,” Carroll said Tuesday on 93.3 KJR. “I’m physically in the best shape I’ve been in a long time. I’m ready to be ready to do all the activities that I’m doing and feeling really good about it. I could, but I’m not desiring it at this point.”
Carroll was asked if he would be open to coaching in 2025, and while he didn’t rule it out, he also said he’d be content if this was the end of the line for him in the NFL.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m not really uh, I’m not waiting on it at all. I’m going ahead and I got other things that I want to do that I’m excited about, and I’m going to see how all that goes. I’m not thinking that it’s uh, that I’m holding my breath and that kind of thing. So, if it’s been 40-something years, 48 years or whatever coaching and that’s it, I feel OK about that.”
Carroll stepped down at the end of last season into a senior advisor role with the team, though it was pretty clear that ownership was ready for a change and Carroll would have remained head coach if he had his preference. He mentioned he’ll be teaching a class at USC this fall.
Carroll added he’s tried to stay away on purpose aside from a chance meeting with new HC Mike Macdonald to give him space to make his mark on the squad.
“I haven’t talked to those guys at all,” he said. “I ran into Mike in the parking lot one day and it was a great chance to just give us alone to meet, say hey, and kind of get greeted and on we go. I have not had much to do with them in any way. And really, I’m just watching the games a little bit when I see ’em on TV, I’m not paying that much attention to it. It just feels like it’s the right thing.
“With purpose, I’m staying away from it. Yeah, and I’m not visiting with them at all.”
Carroll, 72, was hired as the Seahawks head coach back in 2010 and was in the role for 12 years. He was previously the head coach at USC and had a stint in the NFL as the head coach of the Jets and Patriots in the late 1990s.
Since taking the job in Seattle, Carroll led the team to a record of 227-137-1 in 14 seasons to go along with 10 playoff appearances, two trips to the Super Bowl and a championship in 2013.
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