RENTON, Wash. — Pete Carroll is out after 14 seasons as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, responsible for two NFC championships and the only Super Bowl title in franchise history during his long tenure.

The 72-year old coach is moving into an advisory role with the organization, according to a statement from owner Jody Allen on Wednesday. But it’s clear that Carroll wanted to continue in the role he had for more than a decade.

“I competed pretty hard to be the coach, just so you know,” Carroll said during an emotional farewell news conference. “I just wanted to make sure I stood up for all of our coaches and the players and the things that we had accomplished. Not just so we could be the coach still, but so we could continue to have a chance to be successful and keep the organization going. That’s what I was fighting for.”

With staff from throughout the facility, assistant coaches and a few current players filling the auditorium, Carroll spoke for more than 30 minutes through a mix of tears and laughter about a tenure that will be difficult for any coach to match in the future.

“I’m thrilled that we’ve had this run. I really am. This level of consistency that we’ve demonstrated is such that it makes you proud,” Carroll said.

Seattle closed the regular season with a 21-20 win at Arizona on Sunday. The Seahawks entered the final two weeks of the regular season with the chance at reaching the playoffs for the 11th time with Carroll in charge, but a Week 17 loss to Pittsburgh left Seattle in need of help it didn’t get to close out the season.

Carroll will step aside as the most successful coach in franchise history, but with an unsatisfactory conclusion after several seasons of middling results. He’ll forever be lauded as the first coach to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle with the Super Bowl 48 victory over Denver.

But Carroll never fully recovered from what happened in the Super Bowl a year later with Russell Wilson’s goal line interception in the final seconds, and Seattle never experienced another title that could wash away the memories of what happened in Super Bowl 49.

Carroll stepped aside with a 137-69-1 record in the regular season in his time with the Seahawks. He led Seattle to five NFC West titles and 10 playoff victories.

TITANS: Tennessee has requested an interview with Las Vegas interim coach Antonio Pierce, potentially giving the Raiders competition should they eventually offer him the full-time job.

Tennessee is looking for a replacement for Mike Vrabel, who was fired Tuesday after six seasons. He went 56-48, but lost 18 of his last 24 games and went 6-11 this season. The Titans also requested an interview with Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. The Cowboys host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in the wild-card round.

BEARS: The Chicago Bears are sticking with Coach Matt Eberflus in 2024 after the team showed improvement over the second half of the season.

There will, however, be some big changes to his staff. The Bears fired most of their offensive assistants, including coordinator Luke Getsy after two seasons, on Wednesday. Quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, running backs coach Omar Young and assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts were also let go.

The decision to bring back Eberflus for a third year is the first big one in a crucial offseason. The Bears won five of seven late in the season behind an improved defense following a poor start and finished with a 7-10 record after having a league-worst 3-14 mark in 2022.

At 10-24, Eberflus has the third-worst record in the history of the Bears. Only John Fox (14-34 from 2015-17) and Abe Gibron (11-30-1 from 1972-74) have a worse record.

FAN KILLED IN MIAMI: Police in South Florida say a man fatally shot a 30-year-old Buffalo Bills fan during an altercation near Hard Rock Stadium after the Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins in the final regular season game.

As Dylan Brody Isaacs and his friends were returning to their vehicle after the game Sunday night, they had an altercation with the driver of another vehicle a few blocks from the stadium, Miami Gardens police said in a news release.

The driver pulled out a gun, and fired shots at Isaacs, who died at the scene, police said.

The man then fled in an older model Honda Accord, which was located in Palm Beach County the next day. The vehicle was seized as part of the investigation. Detectives have identified and interviewed a suspect, but that person’s name wasn’t immediately released.

The investigation is ongoing.

GIANTS: Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and New York have parted ways. The Giants, coming off a disappointing 6-11 season, announced the separation on Wednesday after more than a day of talks on how to work around the final year of Martindale’s contract. He was supposed to earn in the neighborhood of $3 million in 2024.

Copy the Story Link