RENTON, Wash. -- When John Schneider got a call about the Seattle Seahawks general manager opening back in 2010, one of his first orders of business was to rip out 30 pages from the binder that contained his plans for how to run an organization -- specifically, the part about identifying head-coaching candidates.
The Seahawks presented an unusual situation. They had already hired Pete Carroll. And because of Carroll's previous experiences with the New York Jets and New England Patriots, it was important for the coach to have final say on personnel matters before taking the job -- a qualifier that might have scared away some GM candidates.