Pete Carroll, John Schneider Aim to Make History Rebuilding Seahawks Around New QB

Coaches and general managers rarely stick together more than a decade in the NFL. As Schneider and Carroll enter their 13th draft together in Seattle with the roster in reset mode, the odds are stacked against them trying to find a worthy successor to Russell Wilson.

As former Falcons coach Jerry Glanville once famously declared, the NFL stands for "not for long." Players on average only last in the league for 3.3 years and for most coaches and general managers, the expiration date typically doesn't last much longer in a bottom line-driven business.

While the majority of NFL players don't hang around long enough to play a decade in the league, it's almost as rare for coaches and general managers to stick around that long. Franchises such as the Browns, Jaguars, and Giants have changed coaches over the past decade like most humans change socks, making changes seemingly every year, while general managers get cycled through in similar fashion when they fail to build playoff-caliber rosters.

According to a report from Business Insider back in 2016, the average NFL head coach lasts 4.3 years. In most cases, when the coach gets a pink slip, so does the general manager with teams typically looking to fill both positions with replacements at the same time.

Back in 2010, that's exactly what the Seahawks did. After relieving coach Jim Mora and general manager Tim Ruskell of their duties, owner Paul Allen aggressively pursued USC coach Pete Carroll and began interviewing general manager candidates who would work well with him. Ultimately, with Carroll hired as coach and vice president of football operations, former Packers executive John Schneider returned to the Pacific Northwest to take over as general manager.

At first, many questioned the viability of a Carroll/Schneider partnership, particularly with the former being granted personnel authority. But with the two men working collaboratively, Seattle quickly built a perennial contender through several excellent drafts, including landing future Hall of Fame quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner in the 2012 NFL Draft.

With Wilson and Wagner arriving as the final pieces of the puzzle alongside other rising stars such as safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Richard Sherman, the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII convincingly over the Broncos in 2013. One year later, they came up a few yards short of a repeat, and over the past 10 years, they made the postseason eight times with four NFC West titles and two NFC championships.

Through it all, Carroll and Schneider have remained the key cogs of Seattle's football operations. Entering rare territory, they will conduct their 13th draft together later this month, joining an exclusive group of coaches and general managers who have been tied to the hip for more than a decade with the same franchise.

NFL Head Coach/General Manager Pairings With 10-Plus Seasons Together

Team	Coach	General Manager	Years Together (Record)	Super Bowls Won	Notable Quarterbacks
Dallas Cowboys	Tom Landry	Tex Schramm	29 (250-162)	2	Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Danny White
New England Patriots	Bill Belichick	Bill Belichick	22 (254-99)	6	Tom Brady, Mac Jones
Pittsburgh Steelers	Chuck Noll	Art Rooney Jr.	16 (149-85)	4	Terry Bradshaw
Cincinnati Bengals	Marvin Lewis	Mike Brown	16 (131-122)	0	Carson Palmer, Andy Dalton
Pittsburgh Steelers	Mike Tomlin	Kevin Colbert	15 (154-85)	1	Ben Roethlisberger
New Orleans Saints	Sean Payton	Micky Loomis	15 (152-89)	1	Drew Brees, Jameis Winston
Miami Dolphins	Don Shula	Mike Robbie	12 (115-68)	0	Bob Griese, Dan Marino
Seattle Seahawks	Pete Carroll	John Schneider	12 (119-73)	1	Russell Wilson

Since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970, not counting Bill "Darth Sidious" Belichick running a one-man empire with the Patriots since 2009, only seven pairs of coaches and general managers have worked together for 10 or more consecutive seasons. Only two of those duos - Dolphins coach Mike Shula and general manager Mike Robbie as well as Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and general manager/owner Mike Brown - didn't capture at least one Super Bowl victory.

Starting their tenures at the same time in 1960, Tom Landry and Tex Schramm turned the Cowboys into America's Team winning 250 games and two Super Bowls in an unrivaled 29 seasons working in conjunction. Chuck Noll and Art Rooney Jr. helped lead the Steelers to four Lombardi Trophies in 16 years together, while Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert have won one in 15 years at the controls for the same franchise. Sean Payton and Micky Loomis also found great success with the Saints winning 152 games and a Super Bowl in 15 seasons.

Stacking up favorably, Carroll and Schneider have led the Seahawks to 119 regular season victories in their first 12 seasons running the show and led the franchise to their first Super Bowl victory. But coming off the worst season of their respective tenures and after jettisoning both Wilson and Wagner last month, the stakes couldn't possibly be any higher for them heading into this draft.

With the durable, ever-so-reliable Wilson under center, Seattle hasn't had to worry about quarterback concerns and with his presence, the team has consistently won 10 or more games a year. The former third-round pick out of Wisconsin shattered franchise record books with 292 passing touchdowns and 37,059 passing yards in 10 seasons with the team while making nine Pro Bowls and earning Second-Team All-Pro honors in 2020.

But now that Wilson has taken his talents to the Mile High City, Carroll and Schneider will be charged with finding the Seahawks next franchise quarterback, likely drafting one in the next two years with three first-round picks and four second-round picks in their arsenal. This year, that could mean selecting Liberty's Malik Willis or Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder among other candidates. Or they could wait until Ohio State's C.J. Stroud and Alabama's Bryce Young become draft eligible next year.

Based on historical precedent, unfortunately, the odds are stacked against them regardless of what they opt to do.

What do the majority of the aforementioned longest-tenured coach and general manager pairings have in common? They enjoyed great stability at the quarterback position with minimal changes at the most important position in pro sports. And when that stability was gone, one or both left their positions in quick order.

When Noll and Rooney ran the Steelers, Terry Bradshaw starred for all four Super Bowl champions and played 14 seasons for the franchise. When his career came to an end after the 1983 season, the team struggled to replace him and failed to hit double-digit wins in any of Noll's final eight seasons on the sideline. By 1987, Dick Haley had replaced Rooney as general manager and the team still didn't have a long-term answer at quarterback.

Since Tomlin supplanted Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher, Ben Roethlisberger has been the starting quarterback each of the past 15 seasons and recently retired, creating major questions at the position. Colbert will step away after the 2022 season, marking the end of a fantastic career for the executive, but he will have a chance to potentially make his mark one last time drafting a successor for Big Ben.

Even the Cowboys, who did well with Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, and Danny White orchestrating the offense to keep the franchise in the playoff hunt for two decades, fell apart in the late 80s when Landry and Schramm couldn't find a competent starting quarterback. By 1989, new owner Jerry Jones replaced Schramm and ditched Landry in favor of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson.

Dan Marino led the Dolphins to a Super Bowl berth in his second season. But even with the Hall of Famer, they never made it back to the big game before Shula retired in 1996 and Robbie was out of a job by 1989 after the team scuffled to four straight years without a playoff berth. Time will tell if the Saints can find sustained success after long-time quarterback Drew Brees retired two years ago, but it won't be with Payton on the sideline, as he stepped away this offseason.

As for the Bengals, Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton both has respectable careers and led the team to the playoffs seven times. But they never won a playoff game and Lewis barely eclipsed a .500 record in 16 seasons. They never enjoyed the success any of the other teams in this conversation did.

© Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

From a historical perspective, the Seahawks are putting their faith in Carroll and Schneider to accomplish the unprecedented. Overseeing the launch of a new era for the franchise together as they did in 2010, they have been given the keys to find another viable starting quarterback to get the team right back into contention, something other notable long-tenured coach/general manager pairings simply haven't been able to do.

With both men under contract through at least 2025, Seattle will be patient with Carroll and Schneider hopeful they can work their magic again. But if Drew Lock, who was acquired in the Wilson trade, doesn't end up being the answer and they are unable to draft a quality quarterback over the next two years, the team likely will struggle to be competitive and win games. Without positive progress, the same fate as Landry/Schramm may lie before them with storied careers coming to a disheartening conclusion.

Of course, if Carroll and Schneider hit the jackpot again, especially on a young quarterback who could be the starter for years to come, they not only restore trust from a frustrated fan base and improve their chances of staying on board through the remainder of their contracts. They would put themselves squarely in the discussion as one of the best coach/executive duos in NFL history.

Could it happen? While finding a franchise quarterback can be the hardest task in sports and their recent draft track record hasn't been near as good as early in their tenures, they are back in their element with numerous high draft picks and a roster ready to replenish with young talent. Schneider himself helped draft Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and Carroll has the invaluable experience of changing quarterbacks regularly at the college level working in their favors.

If anyone can buck past trends and make lightning strike twice, considering their resumes, nobody should count out the Seahawks front office masterminds.