Mixed Feelings with Mora
Jim Mora was fired today as the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks.
What a difference a year makes. Only about 14 months ago, he had two organizations desperately wanting him as their head coach in town. The Huskies (his alma mater and dream job) and the Seahawks who already had him under contract. Now, neither wants him. Steve Sarkisian is holding a press conference today on Jake Locker and Mora is looking for work.
Today, I have very mixed feelings…
Sad – I like Mora. He’s a local product who played high school and college ball here. His dad is a former Husky and Seahawks assistant coach. He lives in the area and is genuinely passionate about this team.
Happy – He lost this team mid-season. Too many incidents dealing with blaming players (Olindo Mare), losing control (Housh’s finger in his chest), and a cataclysmic collapse the final four games.
Sad – I think he has the ability to be a good NFL coach.
Happy – I don’t think he will ever be a great NFL coach.
Sad – I think he’s a good guy, who is passionate about his team and life. I feel bad for him and his family.
Happy – Time to move on. It’s never easy being the first guy to replace a legend. The entire process was bungled and now we can close the book and move on.
I’m not doing cartwheels over Pete Carroll, yet. I don’t know if I like giving away full control if that’s the deal. Who would I like to see? The name Jon Gruden pops in my head. Here’s a young guy with passion and presence who has been successful and won a Super Bowl. Brian Billick is another proven, Super Bowl winning NFL coach. Don’t get me wrong, Carroll would bring the spotlight back to Seattle. I just worry that we went down this same road before with a proven NFL talent in Mike Holmgren and it didn’t work until it was split.
Wild day. What are your thoughts?
Dan
Pete Carroll would be an excellent choice to coach the Seahawks. Just look at how well college coaches such as Steve Spurrier, Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban did when they jumped to the NFL.
Wait a minute….
You’re a card…a real card!
That’s what concerns me. Heck, you can throw Lou Holtz and Rich Brooks into that mix, too.
I actually think it might happen. Chris Mortenson and John Clayton are rarely wrong. Plus, I can’t believe they would fire Mora without having something close. They made him go out on Wednesday and give his end of the year wrap-up. My guess is they didn’t have something concrete yet.
No lack of intrigue next year if it does.
Then again, maybe he’ll be another Jimmy Johnson….
I was shocked when I heard the news today. I figured the new GM would give him another year to see if things could improve. How the season ended didn’t help and we as fans might not know everything that happened behind the scenes. It sure looked like the players were not on the same page and he lost the team. I guess the Seahawks really want to clean house and I am also wondering if they already have someone that is close to being the coach. However, I would think that they would have the new GM hire the new guy. We will see.
Since you are mentioning names of guys that has coached both in the NFL and college, you forgot to mention Dennis Erickson. We all know how that turned out and he is struggling at ASU.
Carroll is definitely the guy. They are just trying to comply with the Rooney Rule and interview a minority candidate. Washington did that BEFORE they fired Jim Zorn. Nice.
Leslie Frazier turned them down because he didn’t want a free trip to Seattle. I think that’s all we are waiting for.
So, who besides me forgot that Carroll had a winning record (barely) over 3 years with the Patriots and won the AFC East after the 97 season?
Me. I didn’t realize it until Chris Mortenson and John Clayton brought it up. This is a differentiator between some of the college coaches you mentioned earlier. Carrol comes back with NFL experience (positive) and 10 years of growth as a coach. He also will have full control much like Jimmie Johnson did in Dallas. I hope it works out the same!