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It’s wild to see how much can change for Washington state sports betting news in the matter of a few weeks. With the college football season wrapping up and the NFL postseason here too, plenty of shifting is happening among the coaching ranks and it’s surely changing odds left and right. Such is the case in the Pacific Northwest, as coaching changes are having a major impact on Washington football betting.
For starters, one of the big domino effects started when Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced that he was retiring. After that happened, Alabama went after Kalen DeBoer, the University of Washington head coach who just powered the Huskies to the National Championship Game. DeBoer took the job and left Montlake, which infuriated a ton of people. With that, though, futures bets for the Huskies to get back to the College Football Playoff have plummeted. Their NCAAF betting odds have dropped as a whole too.
In addition to that, the shocking news that the Seattle Seahawks were parting ways with Pete Carroll also arrived and this is still something that people can’t believe. Carroll led the team to two Super Bowl appearances, including one victory over the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning. However, he’s now out as the head coach of the Hawks and it came as quite a surprise. Because of that, though, fans in Seattle are worried that the team’s NFL betting odds will take a hit for next season.
Seattle is yet to hire a new head coach (more on that below), but the Huskies have brought in Jedd Fisch from Arizona to take over for DeBoer. Fisch is already hard at work from a recruiting standpoint, but there’s no question that things are going to be quite different for the Big Ten team now that Deboer is in the SEC with Alabama. Football betting is always going to be big in Washington, but these changes have raised plenty of eyebrows, there’s no doubt about that.
Arizona HC Jedd Fisch is expected to be the next Washington Head Coach, per @jasonscheer pic.twitter.com/kc8CnCaBzD
— PFF College (@PFF_College) January 14, 2024
Seahawks are interviewing several candidates to replace Pete Carroll
One thing that has people a bit more relaxed in the PNW is that the Seahawks are interviewing several candidates to replace Pete Carroll as head coach. While no decision has been made yet, second interviews are on the way in the coming days. This could mean that general manager John Schneider is close to making a decision, but he could wait until the season ends to interview a coach who’s still on a Super Bowl-contending team.
One name to keep a close eye on, though, is Dan Quinn. Quinn currently serves as the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, but his name has generated quite a bit of buzz ever since Carroll’s news dropped. The Cowboys had Super Bowl hopes for this season, but they suffered a stunning loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round. That game could turn out to be Quinn’s last with America’s Team.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will have a second interview with the Titans on Wednesday, the Seahawks on Thursday and the Commanders on Sunday, per source. All those are in-person, first two will be in Nashville and Seattle, respectively.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 22, 2024
Another intriguing name right now is Mike Kafka, the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. Kafka is well respected across the league and he previously interviewed with the Tennessee Titans as well. Kafka is considered a rising star in the NFL, but there’s plenty of concern over how much the Giants offense struggled this season. New York went 6-11 this campaign and the offense was a big reason why the NFC East side failed to create any consistency.
Despite that, Kafka is considered a strong candidate and we’ll have to wait and see if a job offer is put in place. In the coming weeks, we should find out who the Seahawks hire as their new head coach, but whoever gets the job will have a ton of pressure on them. Replacing someone like Carroll won’t be easy. He’s a legend of the game and people all over town have a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s been able to get done with the organization.
MLB betting will be big in Seattle soon enough
While a lot of attention is on the NFL and college football in the area, we are inching closer to the spring months which means that MLB betting will be big in Seattle soon enough. With some casinos operating in-person sports books just outside of town, people surely can’t wait to visit to place their bets on the Seattle Mariners. This is a team that missed the playoffs in 2023, but don’t forget that they ended their 21-year drought during the 2022 season.
While Seattle didn’t make a huge splash in free agency, the hope is that the young talent will be able to deliver for manager Scott Servais in 2024. Center fielder Julio Rodriguez got off to a bit of a slow start last spring, but he should be ready to rock in a big way once April rolls around. The Mariners don’t have strong World Series betting odds or anything, but they’ll surely hope to make noise in the AL West as soon as Opening Day arrives.
