Looking Back on 2010, Part 1: The First Three Months

This is the first in a series of posts re-capturing the moods, debates, and plot twists of Pete Carroll's first year in Seattle.

I can't speak for all Seahawks fans, but I know many who expected almost nothing from 2010.

At the time Pete Carroll appeared in Seattle, the 'Hawks were coming off one of the most embarrassing seasons in almost twenty years. The 2009 season read like a Greek tragedy, presenting the continued decline of Matt Hasselbeck, blowouts at the hands of 3-13 teams, and the players quitting on an ungracious head coach who had neither grace under fire nor answers for the team's struggles. The defense was exposed against the toughest lineup of QB's it had seen that decade. The high-profile signings of T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Colin Cole did little to change the core problems. The draft of 2009 had returned almost nil on investment.

Worst of all, the 2009 campaign was an indictment on previous years as well, a painful wake-up call for those of us who fervently believed that the injury-ravaged 2008 season was just a fluke and that the 2007 defense would soon return. The "tired" Mike Holmgren made his exit, and the necessary health finally arrived mid-season, but no improvements came with them. Instead, it gradually became clear that years of Tim Ruskell's drafting had left the team without playmakers. Big contracts attached to underperforming players were staggering the team. Perennial fan favorites were losing their impact. Reeling from blowout after blowout, Seattle staggered to a 5-11 record and posted the second worst points differential (-172) in franchise history. By neglecting key positions and relying on expensive free agents to plug holes, the team had failed to out-race its own aging and attrition, and the team's problems were now deep in its foundation.

I remember the fan base expecting, on average, a 6-10 season. Many of those who threw in a playoff win prediction were just trying to be funny about the sad-sack NFC West. There would be no one-year turnaround, no sudden renaissance for the Seahawks, and everyone knew it. This was a rebuild.

Enter Pete Carroll.