Pete Carroll an NFL Failure? Not so Fast!

Even before taking the head coaching job for the Seattle Seahawks, at a time when his name was being discussed, certain doubters referred to Pete Carroll as an NFL “failure.”

This criticism had a familiar twist.  The flip side of this contention surfaced after Carroll’s coaching stints with the New York Jets and New England Patriots respectively.

When USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett appeared interested in Carroll, doubters predicted that the former Heisman Trophy winner would soon be gone based on a three strikes rule.

Garrett had earlier selected John Robinson for a second tour of duty at Troy that proved less than successful as he dropped five games in a row to crosstown-rival UCLA.

After that things got even worse.  There was Paul Hackett, who had earlier failed as a head coach at Pittsburgh University.

In his final of three seasons at USC in 2000, Hackett accomplished something that Trojan watchers deemed beyond the realm of possibility.  That campaign Troy, with its rich Southern California recruiting base and national outreach, finished dead last in the Pac-10.

So Garrett was lampooned and critics claimed he would soon be gone for making his third unsuccessful football coaching hire in a row.  Carroll had, according to critics, failed in the NFL and there was no reason to present him with a whopping contract and one of the high visibility coaching jobs in the country.

A reason cited why Carroll had not succeeded at his previous coaching stop in New England was that he was too much of a "rah rah guy" for the NFL.  It was said that New England management did not like the idea of his close association with his players capped by basketball games.

So what happened after Carroll proved his critics wrong and established a dynasty at Troy that included two national championships?  It was then said that the same "rah rah" tactics that would not work in the NFL made him a good fit for a major collegiate program.

An analysis of Carroll’s pro coaching record does not reveal failure.  The definition of the word failure is lack of success or inability to meet expectations.

Carroll’s first NFL coaching stop at the age of 43 was the New York Jets in 1994.  He finished at 6-10.  The team finished fifth in the AFC East.

Was one year any kind of real test?  Lou Holtz had a brief NFL stop with the same Jets team at the age of 39 in 1976.  He resigned with a 3-10 mark.  The resignation was one of those management “Here’s your hat and what’s your hurry?” endings.

What did Holtz do?  He went to the college ranks beginning with Arkansas in 1977.  That team scored one of the biggest upsets in Orange Bowl history over Oklahoma, knocking the Sooners out of a national title.

In 1988 at Notre Dame, Holtz would lead the Irish to an undefeated season and a national championship.  Holtz would take six different collegiate teams to bowl games.

Pro grid experts theorize that Holtz was not given sufficient opportunity to mold the Jets into a winner.  His collegiate record was so remarkable, beginning at 31 as defensive coordinator under Woody Hayes in 1968 of a national championship team, that given the right opportunity the odds would have been strong that he could have achieved success in the NFL as well.

From 1997 to 1999, Carroll coached New England.  His first season, he guided the Patriots to a 10-6 mark and first place in the AFC East, splitting two playoff games.  The next two seasons, he achieved marks of 9-7 and 8-8, finishing fourth both seasons.

So Carroll’s overall pro record stood at 33-31 for a .516 win percentage.  His New England stats were 27-21 and .563.

Does that constitute failure?  If it does then scores of other coaches at around the .500 mark or below were failures.  Is it not unfair to plague coaches with that term when, while not securing championships, are far from cellar occupiers?  These are not people who have lived in the doldrums.

That being the case, would limbo not be a better term?  What if more patience had been exhibited by the New England ownership with Carroll.  What about other coaches such as Holtz with the Jets?  We have no idea what they might have accomplished.

History records that the Dallas Cowboy management was smart in displaying patience with Tom Landry, who assumed coaching reins in the expansion team’s initial season in 1960.

How was it for Landry at the outset?  Landry, one of the NFL’s all-time coaching greats, from 1960 to 1965 had seasonal records of 0-11-1, 4-9-1, 5-8-1, 4-10, 5-8-1 and 7-7.

In 1966, he scored a breakthrough and went 10-3-1 in the regular season, losing the NFL championship game to Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, 34-27.  The team was finally rolling but it took until 1971 until Landry won his first Super Bowl with a 24-3 win over Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins.

How easy it would be to envision impatient management people of certain organizations, given Landry’s beginning years, saying “Get rid of this guy!  He’s had long enough.  He’s a failure!”