Here’s some quotes former Seahawks head coach Jim Mora, Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke and receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Leiweke: “We’ve made a tough decision today. It became apparent after conducting an extensive internal audit, that a new direction was needed to provide an opportunity for the organization to be successful. Today’s decision, while difficult, is part of the process in building a franchise with a new vision in 2010.”
“Jim is truly a stand-up man, who gave his full effort to our franchise. We thank Jim and his family for their commitment to our community and for their contribution to the Seahawks.”
Mora: “This team, more importantly this community, means so much to me that it hurts not being able to see this through. I am disappointed I did not get the chance to complete my contract. This is a tough business that sometimes demands immediate gratification.”
And from Houshmandzadeh, who was interviewed on ESPN: “You never, ever think that this would happen after one year. I just hope I’m a part of turning things around. I respect Caoch Mora, I can’t believe it down like this.”
I think this had to happen and am excited. However, there is a part of me that feels for Mora. His home and childhood team, would have been a nice story. But it was pretty clear, from where I sit, he was in way over his head. This isn’t make believe, can’t always get the fairy tail ending.
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Pete Carrol is the rumor.
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He has a .500 record as an NFL coach.
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ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the Seahawks have made USC’s Pete Carroll their No. 1 target to replace fired head coach Jim Mora, and that the sides have “strong mutual interest.”
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Chris Mortensen is reporting Seahwaks are interested in USC head coach Pete Carroll. Maybe the Reggie Bush stuff is gonna hit the fan and he wants out.
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I was just watching top 10 Nfl coaches that should of stayed in collage and he ws on that list.
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No on Pete Carroll…absolutely not!!
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Rotoworld-
“Now this is interesting. Seahawks owner Paul Allen undoubtedly has the money to lure Carroll away, and Mortensen says talks have gotten so hot and heavy that he’d be “surprised” if Carroll isn’t Seattle’s next coach. ESPN’s Adam Schefter also says he’d heard recently that Carroll wanted back into the pros. Carroll, 58, has been in at Southern Cal since the 2001 season. According to Mortensen, the Seahawks are interviewing Vikings DC Leslie Frazier only as a formality to satisfy the Rooney Rule.”
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Yeah, there’s a part of me that feels for Mora too. Hopefully all the players will comment like TJ did – no reason whatsoever to kick a guy when he’s down.
Why no on Carroll? The guy took USC to the top of college ball and kept them there. What’s with the strong negative reaction?
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Pete Carroll is a lot like Mora. Lot of rah rah B.S. but a much better coach, IMO. (Not sure what that says)
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Well, where are all the “Leiwieke won’f fire his mountain hiking buddy” conspiracy theorists now? You know who you are, you filled enough blog comment slots with that.
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I think the only reasonable reason for firing Mora should be to bring in someone “proven.”
I don’t see how signing a guy that has coached college ball the past few years or a DC from Minnesota would solve our problem immediately!
If Bill Cowher is interested in the Buffolo job, he sure as hell would be interested in coaching Seattle – as much as I hate anything Steeler connected, you could not complain with signing a coach of that stature!
Dungy – if he has the itch to get back would be great too!
We just need a Coach that will have the instant trust of the team, P. Carroll or Frazier would not provide that in my opinion.
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Carroll has his detractors – but he’s a star. Remember that LA has no pro team – and so USC basically has the stature of an NFL team down here – and he is a big figure at the top of that pyramid. Plus, he’d have a ton to prove this time around in the NFL.
It’s an aiming high choice, that’s for sure.
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All I wanted for Christmas was a new head coach. It came late, but at least it came. I don’t really feel sorry for anyone that loses their job after what happened this season. I honestly can’t believe that the Hawk’s did it though. I heard a lot of “football people” saying that you had to give him another year or two but I saw what I needed to see. Those were mostly people that said Tyrone Willingham deserved more time (1 to 2 years before they finally canned him) also so I had a feeling they were wrong. I guess they have to say things like that so they will come on the radio or TV shows. Thank you Paul Allen or whoever it was that took a stand for the fans. Now go out and hire a badass coach/gm and get this thing fixed.
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It would be funny if Carroll came to Seattle, and Mora ended up coaching USC. Mora probably would be a better college than pro coach – I agree they are similar in nature.
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Leslie Frazier was only asked to interview because of the Rooney Rule.
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Williams wrote on 12/5/09:
“That statement, along with the fact that the team retained Ruston Webster as the interim general manager and the rest of the scouting department, seems to suggest that the organization believes minor tweaking and not a major overall is needed.”
How’s the “minor tweaking” going?
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If interviewing Frazier to satisfy the Rooney Rule is true, why not interview a minority candidate that can immediately interview with you instead? Doesn’t make sense that they would pick one that is coaching a playoff team.
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I’m not on the Pete carrol bandwagon but…..
let me point out 4 rookies from this years NFL ranks. Cushing, Matthews, rey (i cant spell his last name) and Sanchez..
and you say this guy cant coach? for the Trekkies among us let me offer a translation.
Belicheck drowning in Brown
Dungy at the walls of onebucplace
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maybe Carroll will only agree to come if he’s the GM too.
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As Lou Holtz once said:
“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.”
Just in case anyone in the Seahawks organization was not adequately motivated, I think they are paying attention now.
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“Yeah, there’s a part of me that feels for Mora too. Hopefully all the players will comment like TJ did – no reason whatsoever to kick a guy when he’s down.”
Unlike Jim Mora who regularly threw his players under the bus.
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There’s no question that there is a housecleaning going on. I’d like it to include Tod Leiweke, but like Meatloaf said, two out of three ain’t bad. Ruskell’s gone, Mora’s gone. Pretty soon the deadwood that Ruskell accumulated will be gone.
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“It would be funny if Carroll came to Seattle, and Mora ended up coaching USC. Mora probably would be a better college than pro coach – I agree they are similar in nature.”
Well, South Florida fired their coach, so good there Jimbo.
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I read that Carroll is know for his aggressive playing on offense (sounds good) and his bend but don’t break defense.
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Seahawks are a joke now.. Well, more of a joke, I guess. At least if they kept the same head coach there may have been a slight hope of not having to go into full “rebuild” mode, but I guess it was unavoidable. Hope everyone’s prepared for season after season of terrible front office mistakes and poor on-field performances..
Just a thought.. If we have another 4-11 season, are we gonna fire the coach and GM again?
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Why is anyone surprised? The fans called for a complete overhaul of the Hawks. The “suits” can’t do that so they do the easy thing–fire the coach. Not that he doesn’t deserve it, mind you. He was a rah rah guy that obviously did not have the respect of the players. He spent the entire season telling the world what wonderful players he had and they let him down.
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I’d say that there is pretty much a complete overhaul of the Hawks going on. Leiweke is there, but the GM and coaching staff are gone. And the purge of players that don’t perform/injury prone/make too much money for what they provide is going to be next. To me, that’s an overhaul.
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good move hawks!!!
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My vote goes for Jon Gruden. Carrol is an excellent USC coach but would be just like Mora in the NFL in over his head.
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Carroll went to the playoffs his first two years at new england, (remember this was before the Pats were the dynasty they are now), and he was fired after an 8-8 season. Hardly terrible. Carroll was fired in 94 after one year by the jets for being 6-10.
I wouldnt mind trying out carroll. What if Carroll comes the the seahawks, sark and holt back to SC, and Jim Mora to UW ( remember why he was fired from ATL, because he said coaching UW was his dream job).
Freedom_x said: Well, where are all the “Leiwieke won’f fire his mountain hiking buddy” conspiracy theorists now? You know who you are, you filled enough blog comment slots with that.
Freedom_x, i actually heard that the decision to fire mora was directly from Paul Allen and Leiweke actually wanted to keep Mora.
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If Paul Allen forced Leiweke to fire Mora, then I’d expect Leiweke to be following Mora before too long. If there was a person I believed in, and wanted to keep, and my boss forced me to fire that person for reasons I didn’t agree with – I’d probably quit myself (especially if I were a guy like Leiweke, who obviously has a lot of career options.)
Until I hear it from an authoritative source, I cast doubt on the Allen theory. Either way, it doesn’t wash for the conspiracy theorists. Either Allen is really on top of things and in control (washing out the “Leiweke as Rasputin puppet master theory”) or Allen delegated to Leiweke (in which case Allen wouldn’t interfere.)
If Allen wasn’t paying attention to the team then suddenly jumped in – maybe because he was reading comments on the TNT Seahawk blog – then I really think the Seattle franchise is screwed. That’s the worst type of interference – a guy who doesn’t pay attention then suddenly jumps in thinking they know what to do.
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There are reports that the Seahawks have been talking to Carroll for some time now, so this isn’t a sudden move on Paul Allen’s part.
I’ve also seen reports that Carroll and Leiweke are kindred spirits in a lot of ways. So even if Leiweke liked Mora a lot, maybe he likes Carroll even more.
This has certainly been an interesting day in Seahawks land! Maybe someday some enterprising reporter will tell us the inside story on what’s really been going on in the front office. Until then, all we have is speculation and I would caution fans not to get too carried away with their conspiracy theories.
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They need to revamp the whole team, you can polish a turd and guess what it is still a turd.
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