If greatness is measured by wins, longtime Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is off the charts by the standards of the Emerald City’s sports scene.

The organization announced that Carroll would move into an “advisor role” with the team Jan. 10, ending his 14-year run as head coach. Carroll’s illustrious tenure was not only the longest of any coach in Seahawks franchise history, but included a Super Bowl victory and the highest career win percentage as well (.586).

To put into perspective just how successful his career was, consider that the Seahawks had a franchise win percentage of .479 in 2009 just before Carroll’s hiring. As of today, that number is up to .516.

Pete Carroll quite literally turned the Seahawks franchise into a winning one.

That tenure started with great uncertainty though. After 4-12 and 5-11 finishes in 2008 and 2009, Seattle looked like a far cry from their 2005 NFC Champion team. Carroll, who was coming off one of the hottest collegiate coaching careers ever at the University of Southern California (albeit not without its recruiting controversies) and two national championships, would be hired just days later with a reeling franchise to fix.

Carroll, who doubled as the team’s vice president of football operations, and John Schneider, the general manager who was hired in tandem with Carroll, would need to draft effectively to get the franchise back on track. That they did, as they would build a potential dynasty in their first three drafts.

In 2010, they drafted the best safety duo of the decade, taking free safety Earl Thomas in the first round and strong safety Kam Chancellor in the fifth. But one of the most notable moves Schneider and Carroll made in their entire partnership was trading for future All-Pro running back Marshawn Lynch.

They would make the playoffs with just a 7-9 record that season and lose in the second round, but excitement around the team grew.

From there, the Seahawks continued one of the most entertaining rebuilds the league has ever seen. In 2011 they drafted future 10-year starting linebacker K.J. Wright in the fourth round, but the steal of the draft was future three-time All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman. The nucleus of what would become one of the most feared secondaries in NFL history in Thomas, Chancellor and Sherman was rostered in just two drafts.The “Legion of Boom” era loomed.

After missing the playoffs, Carroll and Schneider were faced with a pivotal 2012 draft. They drafted linebacker Bobby Wagner and quarterback Russell Wilson in the second and third rounds, respectively. Carroll seemed pretty content with his decision to draft two future hall of fame players back-to-back, tweeting, “QB Russell Wilson & LB Bobby Wagner — 2 extraordinary (and fast) playmakers! Can’t wait to see them in @Seahawks uniforms!”

Wilson and Wagner were both stars in their rookie seasons, with Wilson making the Pro Bowl and Wagner amassing 140 tackles. The 2012 season was the most successful the team had seen in years, as they finished 11-5. Although their run ended in the divisional round, the Seahawks had established themselves as the next team in line to contend with the best scoring defense in the league. 

When it came to roster building, Carroll revealed that was no coincidence in a 2023 interview with Sherman on his podcast.

“Everybody had a commonality about the competitiveness. That’s what I was l looking for—I wanted the guys that would compete their a– off no matter what,” Carroll said.

After another dominant defensive season and standout performances from Wilson and Lynch offensively, the Seahawks would reach Super Bowl 48 in 2013. Seattle would dismantle the Denver Broncos 43-8, claiming the city’s first championship.

Carroll had brought a team from the brink to NFL immortality in just four seasons.

In 2014, the Seahawks would return to the big stage in Super Bowl 49, this time facing Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. With the game on the line, the Seahawks would find themselves at New England’s 1-yard line. Rather than handing it to their wrecking ball back in Lynch, the Seahawks decided to throw a slant, which was picked off—ending the game in heartbreak.

Although Carroll never called plays offensively for the Hawks, he reflected on how narrow the margins are in the NFL in an interview with TODAY after the game.

“It was the worst result of a call ever. The call would have been a great one if we catch it, it would’ve been just fine and nobody would’ve thought twice about it.”

To this day, Carroll still gets a lion’s share of the blame for the play call, and to be fair to his critics, the team never recovered completely from the lows of such a deflating defeat—they’ve yet to return to the Big Game.

After the Legion of Boom all but disappeared after the 2018 season, Carroll switched gears. Wilson went from more of a game-managing role to a fully-fledged MVP candidate. And although he never received an MVP vote, Wilson’s efficiency and high TD totals kept the Seahawks in the playoffs for all but two seasons from 2016 to 2021. 

Over the 2022 and 2023 drafts, they would refresh the roster. But most importantly, Carroll trusted backup QB Geno Smith with the keys to the team after Wilson departed. Smith would have an MVP-caliber season in 2022 and, along with the young talent on the roster, the Seahawks made the playoffs in a year where they were projected to be a bottom five team.

Although they would miss the playoffs in 2023 at 9-8, it seemed like Carroll was on the precipice of a second act when the team decided to part ways with him. With many of the starting pieces on the team being so young, you figure it’s a matter of time before they put it all together.

From his constant and overt gum-chewing on the sideline, to playing ball with his players at practice despite his age, to his (sometimes obnoxious) 24/7 enthusiasm, Pete Carroll has built a culture of excellence in Seattle that will be tough to match. In his final press conference, Carroll emphasized how much the role meant to him.

“It’s been an honor and a thrill to be a part of this program. And I’ve loved every minute of it, and you’ve watched me love it,” Carroll said. “It won’t ever happen automatically, there’s a lot of work to be done and all of that, but the (franchise’s) future is bright.”

While the Seahawks continue to search for Carroll’s successor, fans can look back on the career of the city’s greatest coach.