Pete Carroll is the relentless engine that drives the Seattle Seahawks, and he is the reason I’m picking them to win Super Bowl XLIX
While there are usually dozens of factors to consider when making Super Bowl pick, this year it didn’t take me long to come to a conclusion. In Super Bowl XLIX I’m picking the Seattle Seahawks for one reason and one reason only: Pete Carroll.
Over the past 13 years, no coach in any sport has been better at preparing his teams for a big game than Seattle’s head coach. Whether at the college or professional level, Carroll’s teams always show up for their biggest contests, and usually annihilate their competition. Somehow, the 63-year-old coach has figured out how to get his teams ready for the most important games on their schedules and they always play relaxed and focused football.
Carroll took USC to a remarkable seven straight BCS bowls and the Trojans went 6-1 in those games. Those six BCS wins came by an average margin of 21.9 points, and in case you don’t remember, it took a superhuman effort from Vince Young to cause that one loss. USC was also a ridiculous 25-1 in November games during the Carroll years. Last year, in probably the biggest game of his coaching career, Carroll’s Seahawks blew the doors off MetLife Stadium with a 43-8 thrashing of the heavily-favored Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. That track record does not bode well for the New England Patriots on February 1 in Glendale, Arizona.
So how does Carroll do it? Has he unlocked some secret formula that gets his teams to not feel any pressure when the stakes are at their highest? According to his own words it’s really quite easy, all you have to do is completely eliminate fear.
Carroll has said that he has learned if you can eliminate fear through hard work and preparation and know you are going to win, then everything becomes easier. Think about it, if you have no question in your mind that you will win, that would obviously take away a lot of the pressure. If you work hard enough and know you are as prepared as you can possibly be, then there is no reason to believe you will lose. That’s Carroll’s philosophy and never was it more clearly on display than in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
With 3:52 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the NFC title game, the Seahawks got the ball back on their own 31-yard-line, trailing the Green Bay Packers 19-7. Almost everyone on the planet thought the game was over and that Aaron Rodgers and his Packers were headed to the Super Bowl. The only people who truly believed Seattle could win were the members of Carroll’s team. Watching the contest back on replay, you can tell they just knew they were going to find a way to win. They played with the absence of fear.
Russell Wilson had been horrendous through the first 56 minutes of that game, but in the last four minutes and overtime he was almost perfect. Marshawn Lynch exploded for some big runs, the offensive line finally opened some holes and protected its quarterback and somehow Seattle recovered a near-perfect onside kick. This wasn’t some kind of fluke, the Seahawks made all of that happen. That kind of stuff can’t be planned, but operating without fear – as Carroll suggests – means that losing isn’t even an option. So the Seahawks kept fighting and the end result was one of the most remarkable comebacks in NFL history.
After the 28-22 overtime win Carroll said, “You have the belief these guys have in one another, there is nothing you can’t do.” That’s not just coach-speak folks, Carroll truly believes it. It’s not some hard-to-understand philosophy: if you prepare as well as you can, work as hard as you can and trust your teammates, you can do anything. Do that consistently and you can “win forever.”
It takes a special kind of person to advocate the possibility of winning all the time, especially in the NFL. Then again, Carroll is anything but your average football coach. The Bay Area native is more of a hippy than a gruff disciplinarian. He spends more time smiling and bouncing around on the sidelines than scowling or staring at playsheets. He is anything but the tough-guy coaches of the past or the introverted egghead coaches that litter NFL these days. He’s one of the most quotable and most likable guys in the NFL today. I’ve never met a single person who actually spent time with Carroll and didn’t genuinely like him. He’s magnetic, relentlessly positive, funny and above all, he does things his way. While some people may not like him, you have to respect what Pete Carroll has been able to do.
Over the years Carroll’s teams have invariably taken on his demeanor. His players typically exude confidence without being overly-cocky, they have a relaxed swagger that in itself can startle opponents. Carroll makes sure his teams are focused on the task at hand but can still have fun playing. After all, football at any level is still a game.
That attitude and the absence of fear that his teams play with are the two reasons why you can never bet against Pete Carroll. His track record suggests that he gets that absolute most out of his players at the right times. With multiple weeks to prepare it’s hard for me to see anyone beating Seattle, even though for the second year in a row I believe they aren’t as talented as their Super Bowl opponent.
While the Patriots look absolutely locked in as we approach the big game, I just can’t pick against Pete Carroll and the Seahawks. He has shown time and again that he knows how to prepare his team for and win big games.
Next: Will Pete Carroll ever land on our 30 greatest coaches list?