Friday morning’s unexpected, but not really all that surprising, bombshell comes from TheAthletic.com, which has reported that former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson asked ownership to fire coach Pete Carroll and G.M. John Schneider in February 2022.
Wilson’s expected, and definitely not surprising, response has landed on Twitter.
“I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and drafted me as well,” Wilson said. “I never wanted them fired. All any of us wanted was to win. I’ll always have respect for them and love for Seattle.”
While it’s entirely possible that Wilson never said, “Fire Pete and John,” it’s also possible that he made it clear that the status quo, following the 2021 season, was no longer sustainable. That something needed to change. That the current regime wasn’t using him the way he wanted to be used.
That he needed a new coaching staff and front office. And that, unless the Seahawks planned to hire a new coach and a new G.M., Wilson needed a new team.
Think of how the conversation between Wilson and owner Jody Allen may have gone. It’s not a stretch to envision Wilson making his case that it’s time for him to have a new coach and that, unless it happens here, he needs to go somewhere else.
While he made have never ordered (or at least attempted to order) the proverbial Code Red, he may have implied that the only way to get him to want to stay would be to get him a new coach and a new G.M.
Consider Jody Allen’s comment from the aftermath of the Wilson trade: “Russell made it clear he wanted this change.”
What change did he want? A new city? A new fan base? A new helmet?
Or a new approach, with a new coach and a new G.M.?
So, no, Wilson may have never said, “Fire them.” Wilson also may have said and done enough to not have to utter the words.
He “made it clear he wanted this change.” And at the heart of that change were the people who ran the team. Who designed the offense. Who weren’t using him the way he wanted to be used.
And while the first year of the Wilson experiment in Denver didn’t go as planned for Wilson, he now has one of the four coaches he was willing to work with two years ago, when his agent took the unprecedented step of publicly listing four teams to which Wilson would accept a trade -- the Bears, Raiders, Cowboys, and Saints.
The Saints, who were coached at the time by new Broncos coach Sean Payton.
And if, moving forward, it’s going to be either Wilson or Payton out in Denver, don’t bet on the Broncos firing another coach before getting another quarterback.