Seattle's all time regular season record stands now at 305-307.
Seattle dug a deep hole for itself with 2-12 and 5-9 in 1976 and 1977. They began digging out with 9-7 records in 1978 and 1979, only to slip back by posting 4-12 and 6-10 records in 1980 and 1981, and starting 0-2 in 1982. Jack Patera finished 35-59 (.372) as head coach. His interim replacement John McCormack eked out a 4-3 record during the balance of that strike-shortened season, leaving Seattle at 39-62 after 7 years, a .386 record with no playoff appearances.
Matters improved considerably under Chuck Knox. During his nine-year tenure (1983-91), Seattle posted six winning records, one .500 campaign, and two (barely) losing seasons (9-7, 12-4, 8-8, 10-6, 9-6, 9-7, 7-9, 9-7 and 7-9). Knox went 80-63 (.559), almost bringing Seattle up to .500 all time (119-125 = .488).
Seattle also won the AFC West once (1988), made the playoffs four times ('83, '84, '87, '88) and went 3-4 (.428) in the postseason with Knox.
Then Ken Behring ran the team into the ground. Tom Flores went 2-14 in 1992 and then 6-10 in 1993 and 1994 for an overall record of 14-34 (.291), making him the least successful coach in franchise history, and depressing Seattle's all-time winning percentage from .488 to .455 (133-159).
Dennis Erickson managed mediocrity, which felt remarkably good after Flores' failure. From 1995-1998, Erickson went 8-8, 7-9, 8-8 and 8-8 for a total record of 31-33 (.484), barely budging Seattle's all-time winning percentage from .455 to .460 (164-192).
Paul Allen demanded better, so he hired Mike Holmgren. The Big Show's nine-year tenure matched Knox's, but he fared slightly worse than his predecessor in the regular season (86-78=.524 vs. .559 for Knox). This welcome return to winning improved Seattle's all-time record to 250-270 and brought up our win percentage to .481, almost entirely reversing the damage that Flores had inflicted upon the team, but still short of the all-time highs reached under Knox.
However, Holmgren superseded his predecessor when it came to the playoffs, partly because Knox competed in a tough AFC West in the '80s while Holmgren dominated a weak NFC West in the Aughts. Thus, the Big Show made six playoff appearances to just four for Knox. Ground Chuck won just one division title, while Holmgren hoisted five such banners (AFC West in 1999, NFC West in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007).
While Holmgren's overall record in the playoffs (4-6, .400) fell short of Knox's (3-4, .428), Holmgren did win a conference championship and appear in a Super Bowl. This brought Seattle's all-time playoff performance to 7-10 (.418, or better than Circle K).
In his only year as head coach, Jim Mora the Younger went just 5-11 (.313), which was unfortunate, but better than Tom Flores.
In just five years as head coach, Pete Carroll has made a case to be considered the greatest coach in Seattle history. The Seahawks have gone 60-30 (.667) in the regular season with Carroll (7-9, 7-9, 11-5, 13-3, and 12-4), significantly better than both Knox and Holmgren. This consistent winning has improved the franchise's all-time to 305-307 (.498). If Seattle remains strong, sometime next fall we should inch above .500 all-time.
Carroll has also outperformed Knox and Holmgren in the playoffs, making three playoff appearances in just five years, all by winning division titles (2010, 2013, 2014), and going 5-2 in the postseason (.714--even better than his regular season record) , including last year's Super Bowl title.
That brought Seattle's all-time postseason record up to 12-12. A win today would put us over .500 all-time in the playoffs.
Go, Hawks!
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