If Bears don't need this Pete Carroll, they need to find the next one

Pete Carroll? The Bears could do worse.

Carroll is 73 going on 50, and the power of his personality makes a difference. He has an enthusiasm that would fit well at Halas Hall and shake it up at the same time. He has won a Super Bowl and was a bad break from winning another one. He knows what makes people tick. And he gets the most out of everyone — or at least more than the Bears usually do.

After Carroll hired Shane Waldron to be the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator in 2021, quarterbacks Russell Wilson (2021) and Geno Smith (2022-23) made the Pro Bowl the next three seasons, with Smith going from NFL journeyman to $40 million man. After the Bears hired Waldron last winter, he lasted nine games. One strong personality with football sense makes a huge difference.

But as much as the Bears could use this Pete Carroll, what they need is the next Pete Carroll. With Caleb Williams in place but badly in need of direction, the Bears need an offensive-minded head coach who thinks and acts like Carroll and can mentor and nurture Williams for the long haul.

Carroll, who made the playoffs 10 times in 14 seasons with the Seahawks before being pushed aside after finishing 9-8 last season, is looking to return to the NFL and interested in coaching the Bears, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

But that trial balloon was shot down in Chicago almost as soon as it went up. Carroll is too old. He hasn’t won a playoff game since 2019. His last three Seahawks teams were a combined 25-26. He’s a defensive coach who needs a good offensive coordinator. And the last one he hired was Waldron.

All fair points. But Carroll’s candidacy is a reminder of how much the Bears need someone like him at Halas Hall. His aggressiveness brings aggressiveness in his teams and everyone around him. He has a knack for finding players who might not necessarily be ‘‘good guys’’ but are often winners and leaders — something the Bears desperately need. You think it was a coincidence that Marshawn Lynch became an intimidating ‘‘beast mode’’ running back under Carroll?

Carroll’s ‘‘Legion of Boom’’ defense with the Seahawks epitomized that intimidation and aggressiveness. It was the embodiment of what Matt Eberflus’ H.I.T.S. principle was supposed to be. His best teams played hard — or as hard as a team could in this era of the NFL. The NFC Championship Game between Carroll’s Seahawks and Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers after the 2014 season was one of the most hard-hitting games you’ll ever see, with two old-school teams slugging it out with a relentless aggressiveness that was a lesson for the rest of the league. That’s the effect of good, football-driven head coaches.

Carroll also has an open-mindedness to match his aggressiveness. How many other coaches would have given a 5-11 quarterback drafted in the third round a fair shot to win the starting job as a rookie after signing Matt Flynn to a three-year, $26 million contract (starter’s money in those days) to be the starting quarterback? Carroll did that, and Wilson not only became a starter but a star who made eight Pro Bowls and won nine playoff games, including Super Bowl XLVIII — and was one play from winning Super Bowl XLIX.

So maybe the timing isn’t right for Carroll. But he’s the kind of coach the Bears need, a combination of Mike Vrabel’s and Dan Campbell’s ‘‘leader of men’’ persona and Ben Johnson’s inventive offensive acumen. In fact, if the Bears had this Pete Carroll in Kevin Warren’s or Ryan Poles’ office at Halas Hall, they would have a much better chance of finding the next Pete Carroll.