If Pete were to step down today...

[DavidSeven]

If Pete left, it'd be Dan Quinn or Tom Cable. I think both those guys are capable of putting a Lombardi in the case.

That's probably what USC fans thought about Kiffin and Sark (pre-UW)...

Tom Cable coached a pretty good Raiders team, did he not?

And Quinn would already be familiar with his defense.

In your example, both those guys built programs on their own. That wasn't the question.

Yeah, that's fair. It'd certainly be an easier task than what Kiffin and Sark had to do. But like Kiffin, I think you'd see one or two really competitive seasons and then potentially a drop off a cliff. It'd be the "coattail" effect like w/ Switzer -- I'm just not convinced the new guy could take them all the way to the Lombardi right away. Can the new guy outsmart Harbaugh and his staff in a playoff game? Can they outwit Jeff Fisher in a crucial division game? I think this is what would separate a "competitive" season from a "championship" season. Not to take anything away from Quinn or Cable (excellent assistants) -- it's just that their head coaching prowess is still mostly unknown at this point.

 

[Mr.Hawkbrah]

Unless I'm unaware of something, just cause pete leaves doesn't mean we won't continue to be Draft savvy. If anything it might be easier for js and Co to find gems with full control. And this is no slight to pete, a lot of it has to do with how good a coach he is but we don't exactly out smart people.. The opposing team pretty much knows what we're going to do every week, we're just better at it than them. Not to mention rw is about as good a leader as you'll ever find, pete or no Pete our team is fighting for 1st place for the next ten years imo. I just think our chance at a dynasty and more super bowls is more likely with him here.

 

[Lords of Scythia]

Russell was JS's pick. With the Schneid and our current core superstars, we'd be a monolith for a decade. You should start a thread about what happens if Schneid takes off.

 

[DavidSeven]

Unless I'm unaware of something, just cause pete leaves doesn't mean we won't continue to be Draft savvy. If anything it might be easier for js and Co to find gems with full control. And this is no slight to pete, a lot of it has to do with how good a coach he is but we don't exactly out smart people.. The opposing team pretty much knows what we're going to do every week, we're just better at it than them. Not to mention rw is about as good a leader as you'll ever find, pete or no Pete our team is fighting for 1st place for the next ten years imo. I just think our chance at a dynasty and more super bowls is more likely with him here.

The simplicity of our game-to-game schemes is overstated IMO. Look at the San Francisco game. We used Bennett and Avril as dual DEs coming off the strongside and flushed Kaep to his left where he was contained by one of our LB spies. We dropped a safety/nickel corner in a blind spot on the weak-side because we KNEW San Francisco would try to exploit that area based on what we showed on tape (think back to Kam's interception/Thurm's near interception). This is NOT the same look we give to any other team. It was specifically designed to stop San Francisco. We run Cover-3 on everyone, but that doesn't mean there aren't a million other things that are schemed up based on the opponent.

As far as our drafting prowess, how many of our current superstars came out of the Pac-10, grew up in SoCal, or were scouted/evaluated by Carroll in some other way before they made it to the NFL? Think about it. Right now, it's impossible to separate the contribution we're getting from either Carroll or Schneider in that department. The system works because both of them are involved.

 

[DavidSeven]

Russell was JS's pick. With the Schneid and our current core superstars, we'd be a monolith for a decade. You should start a thread about what happens if Schneid takes off.

Dalton was his pick a year earlier. It was Whitehurst the year before that. The right checks and balances are just as important.

 

[Mr.Hawkbrah]

Unless I'm unaware of something, just cause pete leaves doesn't mean we won't continue to be Draft savvy. If anything it might be easier for js and Co to find gems with full control. And this is no slight to pete, a lot of it has to do with how good a coach he is but we don't exactly out smart people.. The opposing team pretty much knows what we're going to do every week, we're just better at it than them. Not to mention rw is about as good a leader as you'll ever find, pete or no Pete our team is fighting for 1st place for the next ten years imo. I just think our chance at a dynasty and more super bowls is more likely with him here.

The simplicity of our game-to-game schemes is overstated IMO. Look at the San Francisco game. We used Bennett and Avril as dual DEs coming off the strongside and flushed Kaep to his left where he was contained by one of our LB spies. We dropped a safety/nickel corner in a blind spot on the weak-side because we KNEW San Francisco would try to exploit that area based on what we showed on tape (think back to Kam's interception/Thurm's near interception). This is NOT the same look we give to any other team. It was specifically designed to stop San Francisco. We run Cover-3 on everyone, but that doesn't mean there aren't a million other things that are schemed up based on the opponent.

As far as our drafting prowess, how many of our current superstars came out of the Pac-10, grew up in SoCal, or were scouted/evaluated by Carroll in some other way before they made it to the NFL? Think about it. Right now, it's impossible to separate the contribution we're getting from either Carroll or Schneider in that department. The system works because both of them are involved.

dude i love pete dont get me wrong at all, back when i was younger i was arguably on the usc bandwagon.. of the less douchey variety of course lol liked pete for forever. i just think with the core and leadership we have right now, plus an awesome FO its feasible we could realistically still kick major a** with him gone. plus like you said, its impossible to know whos pulling the majority of the weight from the personnel side, one could easily take your argument and say maybe pete loses his edge once his former recruited prospects are all already gone (not my assumption to be honest), but realistically its very possible we can keep churning out major talent. im not arguing coaching doesnt matter at all and im not saying this applies to us currently, but great talent can easily make a coach look better than they really are. so basically im just looking at it as the glass is half full, not that your wrong, im just going to enjoy the ride and assume we can maintain it for the foreseeable future until proven otherwise.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

Russell was JS's pick. With the Schneid and our current core superstars, we'd be a monolith for a decade. You should start a thread about what happens if Schneid takes off.

After listening to the Steve Largent interview, he sure gives "props" to John Schneider for his leadership and judgment.

 

[Penman96]

Quite right to point out we would still have Schneider, and we also have Paul Allen and unlimited money to sign any coach who would project the mentality of Pete Carroll. I think Pete's greatest success is the atmosphere and attitude he's installed...he's a brilliant psychologist as well as a coach.

And he knows how to keep rebuilding from scratch, as proven at USC. Even though he had massive roster churn his programme was successful year after year. That same mindset keeps us young, hungry, and aggressive.

From an x's and o's perspective he's pretty simple old school, but by God these players would run through a wall for him.

That would be what the team would need as a replacement.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

The critical part would be keeping John Snyder here after Pete leaves.

If we do that, the whole 'coat tail' theory wouldn't really factor in very heavily. It's not as if the GM duties would fall to a head-strong, egotistical, micro-managing owner. Chances are that Paul Allen will stick with the same, collaborative approach to GM and HC interaction that we have now. I trust they would choose their new HC carefully based on who's comfortable and functions well in that setting.

Anyhow, equating our organization to that circus Jerrah runs is way off the mark, IMO. We're built to weather the storm. I would think the way the Rooney family runs things is a much closer comparison, and it's pretty much what our current model is based upon. Our horizontal organizational structure fosters collaboration and a degree of redundancy, so it's pretty hard for a wheel to fall off.

 

[Kaiser]

The talent is still there, but the team would be lacking its peteness, and therefore fail.

 

[seahawks08]

Petes philosophy is what makes this organization succeed, without him we will fade as most of the players look forward to play for him. Otherwise even if we draft well coaching them up and motivating them is key for the players to succeed. I think nobody else commands and gets the respect more than Pete.

 

[Mr.Hawkbrah]

Petes philosophy is what makes this organization succeed, without him we will fade as most of the players look forward to play for him. Otherwise even if we draft well coaching them up and motivating them is key for the players to succeed. I think nobody else commands and gets the respect more than Pete.

Who looks forward to playing for the grinch in sf or ne? I'd say their teams still pretty good. Just cause one method Of coaching is preferable doesn't mean others don't work. At the end of the day these guys are professional athletes, most of these guys got there cause of their love of winning and being competitive. We have a fo that we have no reason to not trust their ability to Draft and all the money and talent to recruit a top quality coach. For those reasons I don't agree with you.

 

[morgulon1]

I think they would be competitive. How long? As Hawks46 said, that depends on John Schneider. Much as I like Pete and would hate to lose him, IMO it would be much worse to lose Schneider.

This opinion has been brought up a couple of times and I cant say I disagree. If JS were to go back to Green Bay, I think I'd
be devastated. He IMHO is just as important to what PC does with coaching. Finding players that no one else felt were other-
wise any good. Misfits, also rans, underacheivers, never waseseses. He has a unique eye for talent that fits the system that Pete
runs. A lot of these players would possibly struggle playing elsewhere but bring a quality to Seattle .

Browner, Clemmons, Malcom Smith, heck I could list a lot of people here.

But I won't.

 

[CANHawk]

What a fun/horrible topic...

If everything stays the same and you just plug in a new HC (or better yet promote from within), I say we could definitely remain in that championship conversation for another year or two (championships are never guaranteed). Schneids will keep the team talented I have no doubt, and the remaining coaches will be able to carry on with Pete's gameplan. I think you'd start to notice after a few years after the culture starts to morph away from what Pete's built. Of course it totally depends on who takes over, but Pete just has a special way of keeping all those very powerful and very different personalities working together and focused on the goal. It takes a special person and Pete would be severely missed.

 

[Kennedyin92]

As cheesy as it sounds, I believe Pete Carroll's "Win Forever" philosophy is a big reason why we finally won the big game.

 

[morgulon1]

Nice post Kennedyin92, I'd love to have been there to hear PC get the team ready mentally for the SB48. But it just wasn't one week. On the podium
receiving the Lombardi PC said something to the effect of " this started 4 years ago and the players never took a step back or to the side". So yes,
it HAD to be PC's philosophy.