A lengthy profile of Pete Carroll in today’s Boston Globe explores both Carroll’s frustrating experience as coach of the New England Patriots and how that experience is shaping the way Carroll coaches now in his new job leading the Seattle Seahawks.
Carroll tells the Globe‘s Albert Breer that he was set up to fail in New England by a culture in which veteran players would go over his head to air their grievances with the front office and the ownership — and that Carroll’s bosses would side with the players, not with him.
“It was horrible,” Carroll said. “That’s not leadership. But that existed, yeah. That was there and [the front office] thought it was kind of cool. They liked it like that. I think the ownership, they wanted information and they thought that was the way to get it. And really, in all fairness to the Krafts, they didn’t know yet how to do it, they were just figuring it out.”
The Krafts, whom Carroll describes as “brilliant people,” obviously have figured it out and have three Super Bowl rings to show for it. But Carroll still seems to feel stung by his experience in New England, and it seems to shape his desire to win now in Seattle.
“I’m not gonna be one of those guys — build for the future, and by Year 3 we’ll be this or that,” Carroll said. “I couldn’t care less about that type of thinking. We’re trying to win our division right now.”
Carroll was fired after a three-year tenure in New England in which he had gone 27-21. Realistically, if he wins 27 games in three years in Seattle, it’s highly unlikely that he’d be fired. But Carroll wants everyone to know that he’s not thinking three years ahead. He’s thinking about winning in 2010.