Amid widespread reports that USC coach Pete Carroll has agreed to coach the Seattle Seahawks, Peter King of NBC (who is sitting with his laptop on the couch across from me in the green room next to Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison) reports via Twitter that Carroll will meet with the Seahawks on Sunday or Monday in the L.A. area.
King also reports that the Seahawks and Carroll want to get a deal done within 48 hours at the latest, due to the damage that has been done to the Trojans’ recruiting class. The formal meeting with Carroll could be aimed at creating the perception that the Seahawks did their due dilgence before hiring Carroll — especially since the Seahawks spent more than four hours with Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Regardless of how it all turns out, the Seahawks look bad (more on this to come in the near future) due to their efforts to satisfy the Rooney Rule only after they settled on Carroll as the next head coach.
does he really need the job of President as well? It’s not like the Seahawks are going to pay him 7 million to force him to play a bunch of players he doesn’t want.
the best situation for Carroll is to get a GM he can work with.
They want Carroll and the h–l with the Rooney Rule
“Regardless of how it all turns out, the Seahawks look bad (more on this to come in the near future) due to their efforts to satisfy the Rooney Rule only after they settled on Carroll as the next head coach.”
Amongst those of us who recognize the Rooney Rule as the reverse-racist sham it really is, the Seahawks are coming out of this smelling like a rose.
The Rooney Rule is a complete joke.
The rooney rule is a stupid rule anyway. Lezlie Frazier wasted four hours because the Seahawks needed a minority to interview. Why waste people’s time? If they know who they want, let them hire them.
This just in: Leslie Frazier received his rejection letter.
Dear Leslie,
Thank you for applying for the position of Head Coach. We feel that matching the right individual with the right job is essential, so we consider applications very carefully. After reviewing your experience and background, we have decided to pursue other candidates whose qualifications more closely match the needs of our position.
We have saved your information in our database and will contact you if jobs matching your qualifications open. We also invite you to visit our website http://www.seahawks.com regularly to apply online to other jobs that may interest you. New opportunities are posted every day.
Have a good day and please do not reply to this email.
Rather than waste your time writing about a rule no one cares about (Rooney) you’re better off writing a story about how this is a disastrous move for the Seahawks and how Carroll will revert to his losing ways in the NFL.
I’m all for the spirit of the Rooney rule. But what are the Seahawks supposed to do in this situation? Clearly Lezlie Frazier is an excellent DC, but he’s not Pete Carroll.
I think Peter King should stop using the line “sham of an interview.” It’s disrespectful to both Frazier and the Hawks, which is an excellent organization (yes I’m biased, so what).
Now Pete can legally pay his players.
When the Saints cut Reggie Bush after the season, it will be interesting to see if Pete Carroll goes after him.
More importantly, will there be a live blog this weekend?
R8R_BOB – Funny! We’ve all seen that before.
I am so tired of teams having to go through this before choosing the guy they target from the beginning. Get rid of the rule and let teams take the person (reardless of race, religion or sex) they feel is the best fit for their team.
Way to give them a pass a$$hat, I want to see your post on why they would even be interested in a coach who was pretty bad the last time he coached in the NFL.
You know just like the post where you pretty much said Shanny was a bad coach and the Skins were dumb to go after him.
You got called out on your lies so get over it you little wiesel.
mr_snrub says: January 9, 2010 7:30 PM
“Rather than waste your time writing about a rule no one cares about (Rooney) you’re better off writing a story about how this is a disastrous move for the Seahawks and how Carroll will revert to his losing ways in the NFL.”
Amen to that!! Why doesn’t he use his “expertise” to analyze the very questionable merits of hiring Carroll? But, you are incorrect that nobody cares about the rule. Lots of us care, because we see what a farce it is and want it abolished or at least drastically modified.
The Rooney rule is a joke. Race does not matter in this league, who can honestly believe that when the majority of football players are black.
If a team wants to hire a specific coach right out of the gate, then let them…everyone needs to stop placating to the few idiots that are hurting the cause they’re trying to advance. These kinds of rules create animosity in places where it didn’t exist before.
For example, when the 49ers hired Mike Singletary…they didn’t interview anyone else for the job. That’s not fair to all the white coaches out there. There were a ton of coaches, both black and white more qualified than Singletary…so why weren’t any of them interviewed? Rules should not be created to favor only one side…which the Rooney rule does.
Since Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer how many former college coaches can everyone name that have tried and failed in the NFL?
Here is partial list
Nick Saban
Bobby Petrino
Steve Spurrier
Carroll leaving USC before Reggie Bush, USC, and Pete get called into court, Hmmmm.
The Rooney Rule needs to go. Last time I checked we live in the USA so an owner should be able to hire whomever they want – since they are forking over the cash. The NFL is way past the Rooney Rule. Hire the best you can get. I’d be insulted if someone was “forced” to interview me for a job to meet an outdated minority rule.
Seattle is not one of my least favorite teams anyway so this only lowers my opinion of the Seattle or Pete Carroll. Mr. Carroll had everything going for him at USC. A very disappointing development for me.
This episode with the Rooney rule only tarnishes Roger Goodell’s image again.
GO STEELERS!
Florio enough with your Rooney rule campaign unless you are willing to call for it to complete its place as an absurd rule by requiring teams to interview not only an african american, but also a woman, hispanic, jew, muslim, scientologist and all other non-white christian male sub cultures.
Isn’t it racist to think only a man can coach an NFL team, and further only either a white or black man?
You can’t tell an owner who to hire when he is paying that man $3+ million per year. With that money, you have to expect the businessman to choose the best man for the job regardless of creed.
The Rooney rule does not mandate the team hire a minority candidate. It only requires that a minority candidate be interviewed unless an internal candidate or an external minority candidate has already been named as the successor to the open position. There is nothing wrong with this.
On the other hand, it’s pretty clear that the Seahawks wanted Pete Carroll before they fired Mora, since they apparently talked to Carroll about the position before Mora was fired. In this instance, with all of this publicly known, such an interview becomes a mockery, conducted in a purely pro forma fashion. If the Seahawks already have a clear idea of the direction they want to head, they should be allowed to pursue it. The Rooney rule only makes sense when the team doesn’t know precisely who it wants as a replacement. Once again, the Rooney rule DOES NOT tell the team who to hire.
As far as Casey’s comments:
1. No one is telling the Seahawks, or any other coachless NFL team, who to hire, just who to interview.
2. The Rooney rule refers to minority candidates, not simply African-American candidates.
3. It’s not racist to think only men can coach NFL teams, since women are not a different race. Sexist would be the term you are looking for.
4. Yes, it probably is sexist, but at this point in time I would guarantee there aren’t any women with the necessary experience. One doesn’t step into a head coaching position at any level without some experience with the sport, and while there are some girls who play HS football, they are few and far between. Moreover, I don’t see a large number of women clamoring for the right to interview for these positions. If there were qualified women wanting these jobs, they should be considered.
On the other hand, for a very long time there were qualified minority candidates who were denied the right to even try to get one of these jobs.
5. I don’t think there is any evidence suggesting that there are individuals prohibited from interviewing for NFL head coach positions because of their religious beliefs.
You might try thinking your position out, Casey, before so thoroughly sticking your foot in your mouth.