Pete Carroll burns Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman - 'Guys can't hang'
After years of domination led by the “Legion of Boom” and star quarterback Russell Wilson, the Seattle Seahawks will be a very different team in the 2018 season.
Gone are a host of high-profile players, including cornerback Richard Sherman, defensive end Michael Bennett, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and tight end Jimmy Graham.
But coach Pete Carroll doesn’t seem too upset about some of those departures.
Bennett, who was traded to the Eagles last month, told Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bishop that Carroll’s message had grown stale.
“He was telling me he read books during team meetings last year because he’d heard Carroll say the same thing over and over for seven years,” Bishop said last week on KIRO-AM in Seattle.
At a predraft press conference Monday, the coach was asked about that remark and similar comments from Sherman, who was released in March and signed with the 49ers.
“Mike never brought a book to a meeting, I’ll tell you that,” Carroll said.
He went on, “The thing I would tell you about that is that we have been through a lot around here. We’ve grown tremendously together and all that. Changes are inevitable and sometimes guys can’t hang with what is expected for one reason or another, their growth and development and all that.
“The best thing I can tell you is they are not here.”
Ouch.
"Bye! See ya later! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" -Pete, probably
— Tom Gialanella (@mrtommygman) April 24, 2018
Carroll made it clear he believes the Seahawks needed to make changes after finishing 9-7 last year and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Seattle signed eight free agents, including former Browns linebacker Barkevious Mingo, former Panthers tight end Ed Dickson, former Cardinals wide receiver Jaron Brown and former Chargers tackle D.J. Fluker.
“There’s been tremendous excitement around the building. … There’s an energy about the guys that are here in this locker room that’s exciting,” he said. “The coaches can all feel it, everybody in the building can feel it. In that regard, it might feel a little bit like a few years ago. There’s a real juice about it right now.”
But the coach indicated the team’s nucleus remains intact.
“We’ve always had a sense of the nucleus of this team and I still feel like we are like that,’’ Carroll said. “There’s been a nucleus that we’ve built it around — Bobby [Wagner], K.J. [Wright], Russell [Wilson] and Doug [Baldwin] — the guys that have been familiar to us.”
The Seahawks have just one pick in the first three rounds of Thursday’s draft — No. 18 overall. Most experts think they’ll target a pass rusher or cornerback to replace those guys who “can’t hang.”
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