Many laughed at Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll when he named Geno Smith the team’s starting quarterback. 

But eight games into the season, and with Smith ranking in the top 10 of most major passing categories, Carroll has kept the receipts and he’s not afraid to let everyone know he was right all along.

“You guys [the media] thought we were all f—ed up,” Carroll recently told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “…This didn’t come out of nowhere; we saw it every day. But we were so [wrapped up] with the way we were playing and all that, we didn’t really give him a chance to ever compete to take the job. 

“He really didn’t. He was the backup. That was understood. But last year, he played three games, half of the Rams game and two other games, and then he popped out in the Jacksonville game and had a near-perfect game. He was 15-for-15 to start the game. That’s when you could really see this isn’t that hard for him; he can do it.”