Pete Carroll had ultimate compliment for Russell Wilson

Pete Carroll was an extremely successful college football coach at USC before becoming an extremely successful NFL head coach with the Seattle Seahawks. Despite proving himself in college, Carroll does not have a big head, at least not publicly.

Carroll’s Seahawks have played their last two games without star quarterback Russell Wilson, who is out following finger surgery. They lost both games, as well as the game where Wilson got hurt, and are now 2-5.

When asked after Monday night’s loss to the Saints how much the Seahawks miss Wilson, Carroll put it into perspective.

Pete Carroll on how much Seahawks miss Russell Wilson. “I’ve been here a long time and if we didn’t have Russell I probably wouldn’t have been here a long time.”

— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) October 26, 2021

“I’ve been here a long time and if we didn’t have Russell I probably wouldn’t have been here a long time,” Carroll said.

He’s exactly right. Though Carroll is a great coach, success in the NFL begins and ends with how good your starting quarterback is. And Wilson is a Hall of Fame-level quarterback.

Carroll has coached the Seahawks since 2010 and went 7-9 in both seasons before Seattle drafted Wilson. They have won at least 10 games in every season since Wilson joined the team, except for in 2017, when they went 9-7.

Carroll is a great, defensive-minded coach, but he knows where his bread is buttered, and isn’t shy about saying so.