Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks had great success early in their tenure together, but the last few seasons were marred by dysfunction. Wilson wanted out with the belief he was held back by Pete Carroll and the organization, while the Seahawks lost faith in him and had reservations about how his game would age.

Wilson was an MVP candidate in 2019, but was livid with how Carroll took his foot off the gas during a blowout win in October against the Atlanta Falcons. 

The Seahawks went into the 2020 campaign with the plan to lean more on Wilson's arm, much to the delight of the quarterback and fans who had backed "Let Russ Cook," a social media movement and catchphrase that Wilson would later trademark for charitable purposes.

Wilson and the Seahawks started the season 5-0 with him as an early MVP frontrunner. Wilson struggled down the stretch as his MVP hopes faded. 

"What are we doing here?" one source in the Seahawks' front office remembers thinking at the time. "Are we trying to win games or are we trying to win MVP?"

Carroll fired Schottenheimer after the season, citing philosophical differences.