Pete Carroll's appointment as the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks took many avid NFL and NCAA football fans, myself included, by surprise. Carroll seemed to be the perfect fit for the USC head coaching job, and it seemed to be the perfect fit for him as well. Carroll (pictured right, microphone brought to you by bing.com) seemed like a guy who was happy coaching at the college level. There are certain guys who are great college coaches. For example, Steve Spurrier: great coach of the Florida Gators. His tenure with the Washington Redskins was pretty forgettable, which might actually be considered a good thing for a franchise that is looking to forget anything that has happened in the last decade. Spurrier led the 'Skins to a 12-20 record over 2 seasons before resigning and eventually accepting a job back in the good ole' SEC with South Carolina. Some guys seem like they're destined to coach college ball forever and Carroll seemed like one of those guys.
Plus, let's not forget that Carroll did try his luck in the NFL. Unlike Mark McGwire, I am here to talk about the past. I'm guessing those of you who don't remember Carroll in the NFL are not fans of the Jets or Patriots. But I bet more of you do remember the Dan Marino "fake spike" play against the Jets. The Jets were 6-5 going into the game, they were 6-6 after it and 6-10 at the end of the season. Their head coach was, you guessed it, Pete Carroll, and he then was, you got it again, fired at the end of the season. After a couple years as the defensive coordinator in San Francisco, Carroll was hired to succeed Bill Parcells (have you heard of him?) as head coach of the Patriots. Needless to say, Carroll could not fill the Big Tuna's big shoes and was let go after three seasons. His replacement, some other no-name coach: Bill Belichick.Now, I've always liked Pete Carroll. The guy has a youthful enthusiasm that's rare in big time football coaches. (Did anyone see Nick Saban crack a smile even once after winning the National Championship?) Carroll always seems to be having fun on the sidelines. He and his players always seem to have great relationships; he looks like a kid himself on the sideline. Did you know that he's 58 years old? 58. In a couple years, Carroll could replace Wilford Brimley as the spokesperson for Liberty Medical and I'm sure he'd tell us all about how we can get our "diabeetus testing supplies" with a smile on his face. I would gladly accept a 30 second interruption from The Price Is Right to listen to Pete Carroll talk to me about Liberty Medical.
Now the evidence is on the table. But I'm going to let you know why I think the NFL is going to be much kinder to Pete Carroll this time around.
1. Experience at USC - Carroll did some big things at USC. The Trojans were arguably the team of the decade, winning 2 National Titles and going to 7 straight BCS bowl games. They did this all running a pro style offense. This was no Georgia Tech triple option. There's a reason why the USC quarterback is a high draft pick almost every year (Palmer, Leinart, Sanchez). It's like dating. Pete had some hot girlfirends back in the day, in the Jets and Pats, but he made some mistakes and they didn't work out. Now, after hanging out at bars and internet dating sites, Pete found a serious partner in USC. He became a more mature man with USC, learned from his mistakes, and is now ready to move on. Carroll's 9 years at USC have made him more prepared to run a professional team than he was back when he ran the Jets and Patriots.
2. He's a west coast guy - No one ever said New York and New England are easy places to coach. Carroll was born and raised in San Francisco, went to school at Pacific and has had his best years on the west coast. I understand that Seattle is different from SoCal (a simple look outside could tell you that), but not nearly as different as New York or Boston. Carroll will definitely be more comfortable in Seattle than he was in his previous NFL run. I'm struggling to support this reason; much like when a scout says that a player has "intangibles." Regardless, I see the town as a good fit.
3. NFC West - The Seahawks are in maybe the weakest division in the NFL. You get to play the Rams, the worst team in the league, twice. The other two teams in the division are San Fran (a team that's on the way up but still mediocre) and Arizona (a good playoff team but rarely too scary in the regular season, especially with the possible retirement of Warner). At this point, the NFC West is almost like if the SEC was a college hockey conference. Though I don't see Seattle winning the division, they have a chance to win against all three of these teams.
4. Expectations - The Seahawks are a struggling franchise right now. They are in no hurry to return to the Super Bowl. As much as I want to support Boston College's own Matt Hasselbeck, the guy hasn't been getting it done in Seattle. Neither has wide-out TJ Houshmanzadeh (by the way, thanks for the tip that this was going to be your "break-out" season, Housh. 6th round fantasy pick wasted on you, you bum). Plus, since Shaun Alexander went from MVP to out of the league seemingly overnight, the Seahawks haven't found a running back they can depend on. This may sound like Carroll doesn't have the tools for success, but I argue that it is a positive because people are not expecting success in the short term.
At first, I was taken aback by Carroll's decision to coach at Seattle. I thought, he gave the NFL a shot and it didn't work out, why try it again? Now, I'm thinking that this could be a great move for Pete Carroll. I'm not saying that the Seahawks are going to turn it around and start winning games, but I do think that the tools are in place and Carroll has a much greater chance for success in the NFL this time around.
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