Pete Carroll Calls Jim Harbaugh A ‘Fantastic’ Coach

Jan 19, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll (left) shakes hands with San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh (right) after the 2013 NFC Championship football game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll sung the praises of rival head coach Jim Harbaugh, whose San Francisco 49ers have struggled all season.

The nastiest rivalry in the NFL is set to resume in Week 15 when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Seattle Seahawks, so naturally it’s time to check in with the coaches, who have a history that goes back to their famous clashes in the NCAA ranks. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said reports of animosity between him and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh are overblown though and there is a great mutual respect beneath all that.

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“He’s a fantastic football coach,” Carroll said of Harbaugh, per ESPN. Harbaugh has battled rumors all season that this will be his last season as coach of the 49ers. “I’ve watched him do all the stuff he did at Stanford and turned that program around. What he’s done at the Niners, I know that he’s a great football coach.”

Carroll added, “Not everybody likes everybody or gets along with everybody but sometimes you don’t see the magic that guys have. I think he’s a fantastic football coach; he’s proven that. There’s no question about that.”

As for the perceived ill will between the two dating back to their days as coaches of USC and Stanford, Carroll said that’s all just talk.

“All the other stuff you guys have always thought was going on (between us), there ain’t much to it. This is two football guys going at it, two guys that love to compete and battle and there’s nobody I’d rather play. I love playing against him and that’s the way it’s been since the beginning.”

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