Pete Carroll on Damage Control with Seattle Seahawks After Awful Call

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on February 2, 2015

What in God’s name was Pete Carroll thinking?

I juggled a few different ways to open this column, but couldn’t avoid coming back to the core question at hand. Just what exactly was the Seattle Seahawks coach thinking when, at the doorstep of what was more than likely a sure victory in the Super Bowl, he decided to run a pass play which will live in infamy.

By now everyone knows what happened. With seconds remaining and the Seahawks at the goal line down by four, Carroll decided against giving the ball to arguably the best option you could have in this situation – running back Marshawn Lynch – and instead had quarterback Russell Wilson throw a pass. The New England Patriots picked it off, took home the Super Bowl trophy and sent Seattle into the locker room wondering what the heck just happened.

There’s been plenty out there in terms of criticism for Carroll, and for good reason, mainly since the play just doesn’t make any sense. If you’re going to pass, at the very least run a play action fake to Lynch. Send the defense collapsing after him as a distraction while Wilson rolls out of the pocket. Just do something, anything besides just a basic slant route up the middle.

But I digress. I’m hardly the only armchair-quarterback calling out an NFL head coach for what appears to be nationally-recognized bad idea. Unfortunately for Carroll, though, said disapproval hasn’t been contained to just the media. Multiple Seahawks players reportedly voiced their disapproval in what could only be described as a heated locker room while the Patriots celebrated on the field.

Granted frustration will always be at its peak immediately after a backbreaking loss like this, it’s clear Carroll has his work cut out for him when it comes to damage control. He has himself a roster full of doubters, and he has to attempt to regain their trust after easily one of the most questionable calls in Super Bowl history.

“We had it,” Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin said. “I don’t understand how you don’t give it to the best back in the league on not even the one yard line. I just don’t understand.”

This was just one of many responses from multiple baffled Seattle players who were wondering why they weren’t celebrating back-to-back championships. Reporters from inside the locker room claimed there were plenty of people ripping the final call of the game. In fact, according to NFL.com’s Michael Silver, one player even anonymously suggested the idea of not giving the ball to their running back was some sort of conspiracy theory about the coaching staff wanting Wilson to be the hero of the game instead of Lynch.

As you can see, Carroll doesn’t rank too highly among his team right now. And, because of the grand stage on which he made such a crucial mistake, it’s likely going to be a long time before any of this changes.

To his defense, Carroll did own up to calling the ill-advised play after the game. If he’s going to start rebuilding belief within his team, not deflecting a bad decision and admitting to it instead is a good place to begin.

However, consider how often Carroll and his players are going to deal with this one single play. Think about how many times they’ll see it on highlight reels, how frequently they’ll be referred to as being on the losing end of such a controversial moment. Consider how many times these players are going to be asked questions along the lines of “do you think it was the right call?”

Ponder all of this and tell me something like this doesn’t fester within the locker room. Carroll’s decision-making has planted seeds of doubt within a room full of players who were robbed of the greatest glory in their sport. The constant questions and reminders they’ll have to endure for the foreseeable future will only give those seeds room to grow.

No matter what the circumstance is, having players openly disagreeing with their head coach is never something a team needs. It creates doubt and dissention; it can lead to players second-guessing play-calls or decisions from the man in charge. This may all sound a little drastic, but not when you consider the circumstances.

Remember, this wasn’t a dumb play-call costing the team a win in Week 6. This was a chance at a Super Bowl ring. Many players make it an entire career without ever seeing the Super Bowl anywhere else except on TV. Knowing how difficult a task it is to even show up to the biggest game of the year, there’s no way the majority of the roster won’t be spending the entire offseason thinking “maybe if we would’ve just handed it off to Lynch…”

Something like this won’t go away by Carroll telling his team, “hey guys, my bad.” He has to convince them they can trust his decision-making again. They need to be reassured he can make the right call when the game is on the line. Unfortunately for Carroll, Patriots corner back Malcolm Butler celebrating his game-winning interception will be the lasting image of his latest crucial call for quite some time.

If there’s any bright side to all of this, it’s that Carroll and his players have plenty of time now to get away from all of this and let it simmer. As mentioned, things are always going to be more contentious moments after such a gut-punching event occurs. Perhaps the time away from football will be just what Carroll needs before regrouping with his players and getting them all back on the same page.

At the same time, the road back won’t be easy for Seattle’s coach. With this likely being the first of many days in which his players have to be reminded about their coach’s bad call costing them a Super Bowl, this mental gaffe on the NFL’s biggest stage will undoubtedly gnaw at the team. Until he can prove this was just a one-time occurrence, Carroll is going to be the focus of team-wide doubt.

Players and coaches alike around the NFL use the offseason to heal and recover from a grueling year on the field. For Carroll, his sole task after an epically questionable decision is proving to his players they can trust him again.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook.