The Seahawks fired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer on Tuesday. Russell Wilson made clear Thursday he’s just the quarterback and would have preferred Schottenheimer’s return.
“I get paid a decent amount but coach [Pete Carroll] makes those decisions,” Wilson said, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune.
Wilson answered “no” twice when asked if he was in favor of Schottenheimer’s departure after three seasons. The team cited “philosophical differences” as the reason for the firing.
“I think that it wasn’t my decision to change ‘Schotty,’” Wilson said. “But I think that coach Carroll made that decision. I think that I trust his decision. But at the same time, obviously Schotty and I have been so close. I mean, he’s going to be a tremendous coach somewhere else.
“But what I am in favor of is our football team getting better. If you ask me what’s really important it’s winning championships. That’s what I’m in favor of. I think what’s really critical is whatever decision -- whether it’s the offensive coordinator or the guys that we sign or draft to every decision throughout the season, the offseason, everything else -- the philosophy, the most important thing is it’s about this winning process, and doing everything we make sure we do that. That’s what I’m always of favor of, is winning. So coach Carroll decided it was time to make a change. Listen, he has been doing this a lot longer than I have. So you have to trust his decision.”
Wilson, though, wants a say in who the Seahawks hire to replace Schottenheimer.
“I think that’s super important,” Wilson said. “I think that coach Carroll and I, we have to be on the same wavelength. We’ve been able to talk obviously over the past three days, coach Carroll and I, about a lot of different things and everything else and really trying to figure out ‘OK, you know how far can we go? Where are we going? What’s the plan?’ and all that stuff. And so I think a lot of it is for me and coach to hopefully be able to partner on the thought process of the next person and really that person really to be able to help impact this football team, this organization, really be a great coach for us and help be a part of leading us to the promised land, obviously.”
The Seahawks averaged 34.3 points per game through the first eight games. They averaged 22.8 points the rest of the season.
After being an MVP candidate the first half of the season, Wilson averaged 223.5 passing yards per game and threw 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions in the final 10 games, including the wild-card loss.