Pete Carroll is one of the best coaches of his generation, and a recent report indicates the one-time Super Bowl champion wants to lead the Chicago Bears. After coaching in some capacity from 1973 to 2023, Carroll spent the 2024 season as an advisor to the Seattle Seahawks while watching first-year head coach Mike MacDonald guide his former squad to a 9-7 record. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the former head coach wants to return to the sidelines, and the Chicago Bears are his preferred landing spot.
Former Seahawks Super-Bowl winning HC Pete Carroll has expressed interest in the Bears HC job and would like to return to the sideline next season, league sources tell ESPN.
Carroll is one of four head coaches to have led teams to both a national championship and the Super… pic.twitter.com/qs6g4v1lTA— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 25, 2024
While he’s best known for his time with Russell Wilson in Seattle, Carroll has a long, extensive resume as a head coach. After a disastrous one-year stint with the New York Jets in 1994, Carroll eventually became the Patriots head coach from 1997 to 1999 and found continued success with USC from 2001 to 2009. His resume is impressive, but will the Bears consider hiring Pete Carroll? If the answer is ‘no’, he might have to settle for a team like the New Orleans Saints.
Pete Carroll Wants to Coach Bears, Might Settle For Saints
Three teams have already fired their head coaches, but that number will grow following the end of the regular season. The Bears should be one of the most attractive landing spots, as they have a talented roster led by 2024 first-overall pick Caleb Williams. While Williams hasn’t played as well as fellow rookies Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye, the USC product is still a promising player who should improve under better coaching.
Pete Carroll is a good head coach, but he’s probably not the Bears top choice. Pairing Williams with an offensive guru like Ben Johnson or Liam Coen could lead to an explosive offense for the next decade. If the Bears prefer to go with the proven veteran, then they’ll probably go with Mike Vrabel, as the former Tennessee Titans head coach is 24 years younger than Carroll.
While Pete Carroll isn’t the top head coaching candidate on the market, he’s far from the worst. While the Bears will probably land their preferred candidate, a team like the New Orleans Saints could settle for their second or third choice, which could afford Carroll another shot as a head coach.
Saints Purgatory
The New Orleans Saints are stuck in a state of eternal purgatory. Mortgaging the future for the final years of the Drew Brees Era made all the sense in the world, as quarterbacks of his caliber come around once a generation. However, continuing to push the chips to the center without an elite quarterback and well-constructed roster has left the Saints in a perpetual state of mediocrity. The team has yet to make the playoffs since Brees called it a career, but they still try to tread water with endless restructures and short-term answers like Derek Carr.
Dennis Allen may be gone, but all signs point towards General Manager Mickey Loomis putting off a true rebuild once again. Put simply, coaches like Johnson and Vrabel won’t want to sign here, as the best-case scenario for a team like this is an early playoff exit. They’re not nearly as attractive as the Bears, but Pete Carroll could settle for the Saints if he truly wants another head coaching job.
Main Photo: Michael Chow – USA Today Sports
