Pete Carroll was part of a large Seahawks contingent that attended the University of Washington’s Pro Day, along with general manager John Schneider, almost the entire defensive coaching staff, assistant offensive line coach Pat Ruel and assistant WR coach Nate Carroll.
Carroll spent a few minutes with reporters after watching the the workouts; here are a few highlights of what he said both about his team and what he saw Thursday.
On offseason moves, Carroll said, “There’s still a number of things we hope to get done, it just takes time. It’s working, everything’s going great.”
One of those things the Seahawks hope to still get done, Carroll said, is re-signing backup QB Tarvaris Jackson. Carroll had earlier said that the NFL Annual Meetings that they hoped to also re-sign C/G Stephen Schilling, a Bellevue HS grad who started three games at center last season, but that won’t happen now because Schilling is retiring.
Schilling said there was interest from the Seahawks, but told the Seattle Times that retiring was, “Just a personal choice for me at this time in my life. I wouldn’t say there was any one reason or not. Just more of a personal choice.’’
“I loved playing in Seattle and I had a wonderful time playing for the Seahawks and I will be cheering for them. And I loved coach Carroll and coach Cable. I will always be a Seahawks fan. I had more fun playing last year than I’ve had in a while. I really enjoyed the Seahawks organization.’’
“It was really difficult. But at this point in time it’s just the right decision for me.’’
The Seahawks re-signed FB Will Tukuafu Wednesday, which was not necessarily an expected move considering Derrick Coleman, last year’s starting fullback to open the season, is expected to be “full-go by the time we return,” Carroll said. But the Seahawks liked Tukuafu’s versatility enough—he played some defensive line last season as well—to bring him back even with Coleman healthy.
“Will’s going to do everything,” Carroll said. “Will’s value is that he’s so versatile, and we plan on going further with that. He’s big enough at 280 that he can get into tight end positions for some blocking situations, so we’re going to see how far we can expand his role. I don’t know how that’s going to work, but we’ll let the competition play itself out at fullback, and he’s got other things he does well too.”
Asked if there were any priorities in terms of positions that needed improving, Carroll said, “No, not going into the draft. We’re not looking at it like we have a lot of things we have to do. We’re going to try to take a really good approach; we have a lot of picks in this draft, and a lot of picks where we’ve been effective. We’re really excited about the opportunity to see how it falls. There are a few signings that will happen in time here. We have to kind of wait out the process.”
With Schilling retiring, Patrick Lewis is the only center currently on Seattle’s roster, so that could very well be a position the Seahawks target in the draft. If the Seahawks do take a center, they wouldn’t be afraid to start a rookie if that player was ready.
“We’ve had rookie start everywhere over the years,” Carroll said. “It just depends on the guy. If that happens, he’s going to have to be really good and have his act together to beat out some guys in our system. We’ll see how it goes.
As for what Carroll and company get out of this Pro Day when they’ve already seen so much tape, and in terms of the top prospects, seen them at the NFL Scouting Combine, Carroll said, “It’s always good. It’s great to visit with Coach Pete and get his take on stuff. He’s got tremendous insight that we get on these kids. Every single bit of it helps us compete better… It’s understanding the people we’re dealing with. Being this close, you can see how guys respond and how they handle what happens. You just get more insight into the guys. This evaluation process never ends. There’s always something to pick up.”
On the talent he saw Thursday, Carroll said it was an impressive group particularly the foursome of Hau’oli Kikaha, Marcus Peters, Danny Shelton and Shaq Thompson.
“This group of guys is a really good group now,” Carroll said. “… That’s a good group of guys now. All of those guys could play on an NFL team. That stands out a little bit from other years coming out here.”
Quarterback Keith Price, who spent part of the offseason with the Seahawks last year after signing as an undrafted free agent, worked again at Washington’s Pro Day, and again Carroll was impressed with what he saw.
“I think he’s really close,” he said. “He really is a QB—he’s got the poise and stature and the mentality of handling the position. He’s very cool and calm about stuff, very articulate around the huddle in calling stuff. He’s got a really good presence and all of that. he’s a very accurate thrower. He’s not a big-arm thrower, but he’s very accurate. You can see him throw the deep ball; he threw the ball 60 yards out here, so he ripped it. I think it’s just a matter of time. He’s got to get his break and get his opportunity to show it. He has a lot of the stuff that’s hard to find, the intangibles are there.”
Carroll didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing Price back for another look this offseason.
And of course, there was the obligatory Russell Wilson contract question, to which Carroll only said, “It’s ongoing. That’s really all we can say about it. It’s underway.”
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