Next for the Seahawks, Carroll

With the resignation of Pete Carrol at USC and know being announced as the next head coach for the Seattle Seahawks, one has to wonder how much "power" Carroll will have in the organization.

I'm not so sure he'll have total control. Seattle has the "been there, done that" tag when the Mike Holmgren era began in 1999. That was not a good strategy for the long haul. As a Seahawks fan, I questioned the move then and I question the possibility of Carroll getting that now. To me, you have to have a seaparate GM and coach and they must find a way to work together. Mike Sando of ESPN.com has the very same take on the situation.

The house cleaning in Seattle has not gone without it's questions. Why is Carroll leaving USC? Does he know that USC is facing major penalties from the NCAA and he's taking this time to "get out of Dodge"? Was Carroll actually forced out due to those same possible sanctions? Was firing Jim Mora after only one year fair? Did Mora lose the Seahawks locker room?

We most likely will never know the answer to any of those questions. But that's for another day.

What will Carroll do with a team that has lost a step or two to the rest of their division? That's the real question that must be answered. Obviously, the Arizona Cardinals are now the class of the NFC West considering they're the back-to-back division champs.

First, get a GM that knows how to properly evaluate talent. As Sando points out, Floyd Reese (right) seems like a logical fit. As a GM for the Tennessee Titans, Reese worked along side of Jeff Fisher. Reese knows how that type of "checks and balances" works within a front office. Reese served this past season as the Senior Football Advisor for the New England Patriots. Reese had a front seat for how the Patriots run their organization and that may translate into a return as an NFL GM. He's also highly respected in NFL circles. That brings credibility if Reese were to be named as Seahawks GM.

Upon announcing that Carroll would be the next Seahawks head coach, Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke offered this as posted on seahawks.com:

“We now turn our full attention to the hiring process for a general manager. Our intended structure is for Pete and the new GM to work in a collaborative capacity on football matters.”

Almost sounds like an Reese endorsement, doesn't it?

Next, the success of an NFL head coach is highly predicated on the effectiveness of his assistants. Select good assistant coaches, Pete. Carroll is taking Jeremy Bates (left) from his USC staff to serve as offfensive coordinator. It was Bates that helped develop Bears QB Jay Cutler when they were together in Denver. Cutler had mild success in Denver and a lot of that has been attributed to Bates. With Bates going to Seattle, that means that Gregg Knapp is now out.

But there are many more positions to fill, and Carroll has to be "spot on" with his hires. Don't rule out the possiblity that the new GM may provide a bit of aid since Carroll has been out of the NFL for a while. Don't forget that Vikings DC Leslie Frazier was brought in to interview for the head coach position. While many say this was merely to satisfy the Rooney Rule (and it sure does look like it), was it an audition for bigger and better things that could head Frazier's way? I'm just asking.

Finally, Carroll must earn respect from the Seahawks roster. For some odd reason, it appeared that Jim Mora never did. If the reports are true that Mora did lose the locker room, he surely wasn't being respected. This may be the hardest step in the process. We all know Carroll has massive charisma, but well will that translate to an NFL locker room? Some are already suggesting that it won't. Getting in good with QB Matthew Hasselbeck is just a suggestion, Pete.

On the surface, it looks like Seattle made a "knee jerk" reaction in dismissing Mora, giving him only one season.

The Seahawks brass had to have their eyes on Carroll for a long time to pull such a reaction.