The 49ers keep missing out on the top defensive coordinator candidates on the market as they wait for Robert Saleh. Which means the 49ers might need to scramble to find a second option. And that backup option could be Pete Carroll.

We may find out just how serious former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is about returning to the NFL sidelines thanks to the 49ers.

Pete Carroll could be making a move that was once seen as unthinkable. Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard reported on Wednesday that the former Seattle Seahawks head coach Carroll is drawing interest from a highly unlikely team — the San Francisco 49ers.

Pete Carroll's son Nathan Carroll began his professional coaching career with the Seattle Seahawks in 2011-12 as a defensive assistant. He was upgraded to offensive assistant (2013) before becoming an assistant wide receivers coach in 2014.

As six NFL teams attempt to fill vacancies, here's the case for 73-year-old former Seahawks leader Pete Carroll as a viable NFL head coach in 2025.

Seahawks hopefuls may have been wishing for draft-pick compensation in exchange for Carroll, sort of how Sean Payton was traded from New Orleans to Denver two offseasons ago. That won’t happen. Carroll is free to coach elsewhere and the Seahawks wouldn’t benefit from him filling a head coaching vacancy.

The San Francisco 49ers are in the midst of a crucial search for a new defensive coordinator, and one name recently floated is none other than former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, according to The San Francisco Standard‘s Tim Kawakami The 73-year-old coach,

Pete Carroll could join forces with an old divisional rival if the Las Vegas Raiders don't hire him as their next head coach.

As the Pete Carroll rumors swirl, it’s not impossible for him to go back to San Francisco as their defensive coordinator.