Adam Schefter appeared on ESPN and confirmed that former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was interested in the Chicago Bears position that was vacated when Matt Eberflus was given his pink slip 12 games into No. 1 overall pick Caleb Wiliams’ rocky rookie season.
Schefter said Carroll, 73, is “interested in the Chicago Bears job, but has not spoken to the team.”
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 Says Pete Carroll, 73, Interested In Chicago Bears HC Job
Chicago is one of three NFL teams as of now that have head coach vacancies, but that number is expected to increase.
“Pete Carroll clearly is interested in returning to the sidelines this upcoming season,” said Schefter who admits that the lure of helping Caleb Williams reach his full potential, same way he did with Russell Wilson many moons ago, is why the Bears job is attractive to Carroll.
“You saw Bill Belichick take a year off and then go back to coaching,” Schefter said.
I think Pete Carroll really wants to get back to coaching. Chicago would interest him, but I think there will be other jobs. I know Pete is interested in coaching. think he’d like to talk with some NFL teams that have openings.”
The Bears are all about finding the right coach to help Williams develop into the franchise quarterback the city so desperately needs.
“It’s a huge hire for the future of Caleb Williams,” Shefty added.
Detroit Lions Ben Johnson Might Be Right Fit In Chicago To Develop QB Caleb Williams
Rumor has it that Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson, currently the toast of the NFL, is interested in the Chicago Bears job and Schefter says he’s “sure they’re gonna request to interview Johnson and I’m sure that he’s gonna talk to them.”
But Carroll reportedly wants in as well. Carroll had just four losing seasons in 18 as a head coach, including 14 with the Seahawks while leading them to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances. If he has the energy and desire to return to the sidelines, then why not?
Could Pete Carroll be returning to the NFL to become head coach of Chicago Bears and at 73 can he develop Caleb Williams same as he did Russell Wilson? (Photo: Getty Images)
“I get asked a lot, so I’m pretty familiar with answering that I could coach tomorrow,” Carroll said on 93.9 KJR last August. “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.”
Pete Carroll Allowed Greatest Super Bowl Play-Calling Blunder In NFL History: Hurt Russell Wilson Legacy
This was said before this NFL season kicked off. Now Carroll is feeling the itch. If I’m any NFL team, I don’t touch him. Carroll has gotten plenty of passes in his career and probably stayed in Seattle a couple of seasons too long. He left in 2023, eight years after he blew Russell Wilson’s chance at history because they didn’t want Marshawn Lynch to be the hero.
It was an unforgivable level of corporate pettiness and, as a fan, I personally could never be OK with Carroll leading anybody’s franchise after that.
One X user brought up that very point when expressing his disdain for Carroll:
“This would be a bad hire. The man defending trusting Wilson to pass when he has Beast Mode in the backfields. One Super Bowl win with how talented that Seahawks team was.”
Malcolm Butler's goal-line interception in Super Bowl XLIX.
Bill Belichcik has a 24-year -old girlfriend and returned to coaching at age 73, but it wasn’t the NFL. He gets a country club type deal over at UNC where the football expectations are never that high and basketball results rule the social media banter around campus.
Can Pete Carroll Make Caleb Williams Russell Wilson 2.0?
Carroll is talking about coming in and helping to guide a fragile but talented player who, like many talented Bears quarterbacks of the past, is already at a career crossroads with the first season not even already completed.
The Bears have struck out finding the perfect combination of quarterback, head coach and offensive coordinator that can produce the results they want.
Pete Carroll has been living off the Legion of Boom and the fact that he was the one who saw the potential greatness in the third-round pick Russell Wilson, a 5-foot-11 QB considered undersized entering the league. Wilson entered the league with Andrew Luck and RG3 and outlasted all of them. On Christmas Day Wilson’s Steelers team clinched a playoff spot in a loss to Patrick Mahomes’ 15-1 Kansas City Chiefs.
Chicago Bears Should Choose Ben Johnson To Develop Caleb Williams
As far as the magic Russ and Pete made for a minute, that was then and this is now. The Bears need someone young and innovative, not old and eccentric. Ben Johnson would be a much better pick because he fulfills the play-calling side of the game as well. Johnson is the benefit of the “next best thing” epidemic that engulfs the NFL every season. A young offensive coordinator who has had a few years of success with a quarterback is touted an offensive genius and then awarded a head coach position.
However, Johnson will have Caleb Willians, tons of cap space and a new stadium groundbreaking coming in the future. GM Ryan Poles needs to hit big with his choice, but he can’t speak with Johnson until after the regular season.
Some fans say bringing Carroll in wouldn’t surprise them considering how Chicago has failed to execute crucial hires in the past.
“Would totally be a Kevin Warren move,” said one X fan, showing little confidence in the Bears president. “I just want an offensive young head coach who’s gonna stay a lot longer. I just don’t know how long he has in em’. I wouldn’t be totally mad at it.”
Until then the organization should be doing its due diligence to zero in on a young head coach who can grow with Williams over the next five to 10 years. The Bears can’t be sure Carroll is up to the task. Does Chicago want a coach that’s going to be damn near 80 years old in five seasons?
Former NFL HC Chuck Pagano Says Pete Carroll Is a Good Choice For Any Team
It doesn’t seem like the greatest of ideas. However, one former NFL head coach with 36 years of experience, 18 in college and another 18 in the NFL, thinks Carroll is the perfect fit for what Chicago needs.
Chuck Pagano appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” and said the Bears need to get Carroll in for an interview:
They should get “anybody like Pete Carroll,” Pagano said. “If Bears GM Kevin Warren over there, I’m reaching out there just to gauge. I’ve got a Hall of Fame coach, I’ve got a Super Bowl winning coach. I’ve got a guy that won and won and won,” said Pagano, reinforcing why the Bears should at least give Pete a look.
Some fans agreed.
Seems like there’s an extremely high chance the bears actually bring in a good hire. Vrabel, Johnson, Carroll etc will get a lot out of this roster
Caleb Williams has talent, but there’s also a consensus among football experts that he has a lot of fundamental things to clean up and needs to be under the correct tutelage.
The Bears are preparing to host Carroll’s former Seahawks team Thursday night in Chicago. The success Carroll had with those teams is a distant memory now with Geno Smith leading the way and first-time head coach Mike Macdonald. Like Seattle, Chicago needs a younger vibe.
