September 15, 1951: The birthday of a football coach whose inauspicious beginning belied the success he would have later in his career. Pete Carroll became head coach of the New York Jets in 1994 and was fired after a 6-10 season. A later three-year stint leading the New England Patriots produced a 27-21 record before he was fired again. Two things hampered Carroll in his first try at NFL coaching. He didn’t have the power to build rosters his way (especially with the Patriots), and his upbeat and laid-back coaching style didn’t mesh with the NFL’s old-school coaching approach in the 1990s.
Carroll would hit paydirt in a nine-year run at USC, where his positivity and energy were a welcome change once they took root. In 2001, he began his first season at 2-5. But from there through the rest of his Trojans’ tenure, Carroll would go 95-14, including national championships in 2003 and 2004. USC captured seven straight Pac-10 titles and set a record by spending 33 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 team in the country. The Trojans compiled a 34-game winning streak under Carroll and produced three Heisman Trophy winners.
Technically, the 2004 national title was vacated due to sanctions for the improper benefits received by Reggie Bush. In today’s NIL world, the “improper benefits” Bush received would be trivial, but that’s a story for another day. After cooling to 9-4 in 2009—and the looming penalties over the Bush scandal—the time was right for Carroll to find a new challenge. The Seattle Seahawks were only happy to oblige, giving him total control over roster decisions.
In Seattle, it was NFL redemption for Carroll. He coached the Seahawks for 14 seasons and went 137-89-1 in the regular season. Seattle won Super Bowl 43 over Denver after the 2013 season and made it back the following year, falling to New England in a game most people will tell you would have been a victory had Russell Wilson just handed off to Marshawn Lynch. By 2023, there was a hole in the welcome mat, and Carroll and the Seahawks mutually parted ways.
Carroll’s hire last year by the Las Vegas Raiders appeared to be a good one. I mean, wouldn’t he be the perfect mentor for rookie Ashton Jeanty, the former Boise State great? It was a disaster, though, with the Raiders going 3-14 and Jeanty’s talent wasted in a disjointed offense. Carroll was fired the day after the regular season ended. But the big picture will always be this: Carroll is one of only three coaches who have won both a Super Bowl and a college football national championship. Pete Carroll…75 years old today.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
