Seattle coach Pete Carroll knows about second and third chances.
After two shots at being a head coach in the NFL with the New York Jets and the New England Patriots, Carroll, after a productive but infraction-riddled stop in the college ranks, is on his third try. He has elevated Seattle into a powerhouse that is on the verge of winning consecutive Super Bowl titles.
Carroll and the Seahawks, fresh off a thrilling overtime victory over Green Bay in the NFC championship game, will face Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Ironically, the Patriots were the last team to win back-to-back Super Bowls with victories over Carolina (32-29) on Feb. 1, 2004 and Philadelphia (24-21) on Feb. 6, 2005.
“It’s really difficult to get there the first time and then if you’ve done it like you like to, you kind of pave the way for the next time,” Carroll said. “The kind of issues, the distractions, the conversations, kind of the dialogue, is very similar in coming back around.”
Last season, the Seahawks pummeled the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.
“I’m thrilled about the opportunity,” Carroll said. “This is very difficult to get to this position and of course we want to make the very most of it.”
Since the Patriots won back-to-back, Super Bowl winners have struggled. Four of the eight defending Super Bowl champions during that period didn’t make the playoffs. The four who did make the playoffs, were eliminated in their first playoff game.
Seattle was in danger of joining the group of defending Super Bowl champions who did not make the playoffs the following season after they got off to a 3-3 start and dipped to 6-5 before ripping off six consecutive wins to close out the regular season.
While the Seahawks were trying to find a groove, there was also the trade of disgruntled wide receiver Percy Harvin to the New York Jets on Oct. 17 for a conditional draft pick.
Those were some difficult times for the Seahawks.
“We don’t think about the end result, we can only think about what’s at hand,” Seattle offensive tackle Russell Okung said. “And we kept things in perspective each week as they kind of went along. We kept challenging, kept fighting, kept scratching, kept striving, and the end result is the Super Bowl.”
Carroll credits the players with fighting through and battling their demons.
“To rally like our team did during the early part of the year and then hang on and in the middle of the year and kind of take off, I think it’s a real statement that we had a bunch of guys that were determined to get this done,” Carroll said. “They made the adjustments that we needed to make to stay on track so that we could put together a season that would put us in this position.”
Carroll and Seattle could join Green Bay, Miami, Pittsburgh (twice) San Francisco, Dallas, Denver and New England as the only franchises to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
Carroll hasn’t thought much about possible joining the likes of coaching legends Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Shanahan and Belichick as men who guided teams to back-to-back Super Bowl victories.
“I don’t care about that,” Carroll said. “It’s not a big deal to me.”
In his first stop as a NFL head coach, Carroll led the New York Jets to a 6-10 in 1994 and was summarily fired after one season.
After Bill Parcells left New England, Carroll was hired in 1997 and lasted only three seasons before the Patriots fired him and hired Belichick.
After his stint in the college ranks at USC, Carroll was given one more shot in the NFL. He’s clearly made the most of it.
Carroll believes the Seahawks success is rooted in consistency and that his players at USC and Seattle related to that approach.
“What we did in college is very similar,” Carroll said. “I haven’t changed the approach at all. The dialogue is the same. The expectations and the standards are basically the same. I think that’s comforting to the players and they feel like they’re worthy of this opportunity.”
Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson broke down in tears after the Green Bay victory. He has a sense of the history that Carroll and his team can achieve.
"It means a lot to me just to be able to come back and have that championship mindset… and to potentially win back-to-back years is huge," Wilson said.
Much of the credit goes to Carroll for keeping the Seattle ship steady through several storms.
“You know what you’re going to get every day,” Wilson said. “You know that he’s going to be that positive coach. You know that he’s going to be uplifting. You know that he’s going to challenge us.”
“You know that he’s going to make us compete at a high level. So that’s what you love about coach Carroll. He’s a difference-maker and he’s unique in his own way.”
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