'It's Time to Keep Moving': Pete Carroll Talks Seahawks' Defensive Coaching Changes, Offseason Approach

Fielding questions from the media at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll discussed the team's defensive coaching changes, the importance of improving their pass rush and more.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Learning and being willing to adapt is imperative for players, coaches and teams as a whole to stay relevant in the NFL. Only some can withstand a seemingly inevitable fall from grace, but not without change. More often than not, that change is accompanied by difficult decisions that put long-lasting relationships to the test. 

Heading into his 49th year coaching football, Pete Carroll is more than familiar with this harsh reality. He's had to part ways with close colleagues and legendary players over the last half-century. Some relationships fracture but can be mended over time, though others may suffer damage one or both sides deem irreparable. 

Coming off the worst season of his 12-year tenure with the Seahawks, the 70-year old head coach recognized that change—and the consequences borne by it—had become necessary once more. As a result, a 15-year working relationship and friendship dating back to Carroll's days at USC was ended when Seattle fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. on January 18. 

Norton spent six years on Carroll's staff at USC before following him to the Pacific Northwest in 2010, serving as the Seahawks' linebackers coach before landing a defensive coordinator gig with the Raiders in 2015. Three years later, the four-time Super Bowl champion reunited with Carroll and helmed Seattle's defense through the 2021 campaign. 

Unfortunately, Norton's unit struggled—sometimes at a historically poor rate—to hold up the defensive standard Carroll's Seahawks had set for nearly a decade. Thus, the decision to part ways became fairly easy, though the act of it was anything but. Nevertheless, while acknowledging the cruciality of the move, Carroll made it clear there is no love lost between him and his longtime cohort, who has since joined UCLA's coaching staff as a linebackers instructor.

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"I've been edging for some time now to make some adjustments as we go," Carroll noted in his first media appearance since Norton's exit. "Which is always what we're doing; and how many adjustments, how big, how significant they are are the ones that can determine your effectiveness, and sometimes you have to make these kinds of decisions and let somebody go. But I love [Norton]."

Along with Norton, passing game coordinator Andre Curtis was also let go. His spot was later supplemented with former Alabama and Vikings defensive backs coach Karl Scott, while the role vacated by Norton was filled with the promotion of assistant head coach and defensive line coach Clint Hurtt. In addition, former Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai—a colleague of Hurtt's from his time in Chicago—was brought aboard as a defensive associate head coach. 

Together, the trio offer a wealth of knowledge learned under the likes of coaches Nick Saban and Vic Fangio—something Carroll feels was important to bolster his staff with. Carroll will lean heavily on that experience as the defense further emphasizes some of the 3-4 principles and match coverage approach it implemented towards the end of 2021. 

"He's been a big factor of our staff since he's been with us," Carroll said of Hurtt. "He's been a guy I've leaned on all the time. ... He's a great thinker, he's tough, he's creative, he's got a deep background in an area—the reason that I liked hiring him when we did was because of the people that he had worked with and worked under, and it gave him a really diverse approach to the game and he learned real well. ... There's going to be a strong influence on our side of the ball on defense that will take us to some places that I've been really hoping to get to. We've been making our moves subtly, but we can make it more significantly and I think our players are gonna really like it."

Personnel-wise, more difficult decisions await the Seahawks in the coming weeks. Although they're currently projected by OverTheCap.com to have the eighth-most salary cap space in the NFL at $34.8 million, they have several key free agents—particularly on the defensive side of the ball—whom they would like to retain, which may eat a significant portion of their available funds. 

Two of the more noteworthy names in Seattle's impending free agent class are cornerback D.J. Reed and safety Quandre Diggs. The latter is currently recovering from surgery to repair a broken leg suffered late in the team's season finale against the Cardinals, though Carroll expects him to be fully healed before training camp. Both sides have reportedly begun contract negotiations and still have a little under two weeks to hammer out a deal before free agency kicks off on March 14. 

One player Carroll is confident will still be in Seattle for the 2022 season is linebacker Bobby Wagner. Following a late-season knee injury and some signs of regression for the surefire future Hall of Famer, it's been speculated that the team could move on and move third-year man Jordyn Brooks to the heart of its defense. Cutting Wagner, who's set to earn $20.3 million next season, would net the team $16.6 million in salary cap space. But such an outcome doesn't appear to be something Carroll and company are considering at this time, though the possibility of a restructure could be on the table. 

"We expect to play with Bobby," Carroll stated. "We love playing with Bobby. He's been a great player; had another great season. At this time of year, there's a lot of guys that are in a position where we gotta figure out where everybody fits together and Bobby's been such a steady part of it. We'd love to be able to play with him, so we'll work towards that if we can do that and we'll do it."

Keeping their own is not going to be enough to bounce back from a disappointing 7-10 season, and Carroll and the Seahawks know that. While he wouldn't offer specifics on how they will go about it in the new league year, Carroll pointed towards pass rush—both out on the edge and on the interior of their defensive line—as an area in need of vast improvement. In 2021, the team finished tied-22nd in the NFL with 34.0 sacks on a modest 276 pressures, per Pro Football Focus.

"Really, everything we do is designed in rushing the passer because it all happens right there," Carroll noted. "And so, everything we can do to make advancements is what's at hand. ... The idea [of Seattle's schematic changes] is to really accent the edge rushers and try to get more out of those guys to accent what the guys are doing inside. So we're gonna continue to develop."

Mentioning Carlos Dunlap, Darrell Taylor and Alton Robinson by name, Carroll feels the Seahawks already have some pieces in place to fit their approach for 2022. Still, he understands that group will need to be bolstered for the results he and the team desire.

"That's what the draft is about and what free agency is about and we're gonna try to keep going," Carroll continued. "... That's always our intention is to improve that. But also, we're gonna focus on trying to develop our inside rush, too, in our guys. We play pretty big—we got big dudes that play and stop the run and do a great job in there. And they're not expected to be big factors in the pass rush; we'll take whatever we can get from them. But we need to continue to develop that and that's a big area of focus for us."

Carroll, general manager John Schneider and their staff will spend the next week dissecting hundreds of prospects at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. Fortunately for them, interior and exterior pass rush is arguably the greatest strength of this year's draft class. 

Generally speaking, this offseason aligns well with Seattle's needs in what Carroll considers a "big-time year" for the organization. That should be encouraging for fans to hear, as well as the notion that, contrary to popular belief, he is very much willing to adapt in order to return to prominence in the NFL. 

"We've been a little bit arrogant over the years, the way we play defense," Carroll admitted. "Because we've been able to do it and just go ahead and play the way we want to play. It's not that time right now. It's time to keep moving and keep growing."