Is Seahawks coach Pete Carroll the secondary whisperer?

It’s no secret that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knows a thing or two about defense, and about passing defense in particular. His current team is in the midst of a historical run, allowing the fewest points in the league for the third straight season, and Seattle has given up the fewest total yards and passing yards in each of the past two seasons. Considering Carroll spent almost his entire coaching career as a defensive backs coach or defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach, it shouldn’t be a surprise that his teams excel on defense, but when you look back on what some of his team’s have accomplished, it appears Carroll might be even better at coaching a secondary than you might have realized.

(Note, the term “secondary whisperer” was shamelessly stolen from a conversation with Danny Kelly of Fieldgulls.com)

When the Associated Press All-Pro teams were announced Friday, they included Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman (first team) and Kam Chancellor (second team) for the second year in a row. Since the AP All-Pro teams expanded to add a second team in 1972, only four teams have had three defensive backs earn All-Pro honors in the same year: the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, the 2002 Philadelphia Eagles and the 2013 and 2014 Seahawks. Obviously Carroll played a big role in the two Seahawks teams, but he was also the defensive coordinator for the 1995 49ers.

And if you value performance over awards, look back to last year when FootballPerspective.com ranked pass defenses based on adjusted net yards per attempt to rank pass defenses relative to their era. By that measure, the 2013 Seahawks had the fourth-best pass defense in history going back to 1950 behind the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 1988 Minnesota Vikings and the 1970 Vikings. Carroll was the defensive backs coach of those ’88 Vikings.

So to recap, Pete Carroll is not only currently overseeing one of the best defenses of his era, he also is at least in part responsible for three of the four most decorated secondaries in history, based on All-Pro results, as well as two of the best four pass defenses based on the numbers.