Pete Carroll took a lot of heat in New England for not being Bill Parcells. In fact, he was the complete opposite of Bill Parcells. Old school Parcells had completely turned around a bad New England franchise and took them to the Super Bowl. Pete Carroll replaced Parcells and was considered a "player's coach." Carroll was 27-21 and took the Patriots to three playoff games, winning one. Unfortunately for him, he could never overcome the unpardonable sin of not being Bill Parcells. Boston is a tough town, and they like a tough head coach. So out goes Carroll and in comes Bill Belichick. Carroll becomes a footnote with the Patriots. Since then much has changed. Despite being the fourth choice at USC, Pete Carroll eventually established himself as one of the brightest minds in college football. He mixed energy, charm, and hard work at USC to become a recruiting machine. Carroll started 2-5 and the critics were in full throat. Things changed. Carroll went 67-7 after that, winning 34 straight and two National Championships in the process. Now Carroll is back in the NFL, and he is hip again. The league has fewer and fewer Bill Parcells, and more and more "player's coaches." Recruiting is a part of NFL free agency. Players have more choices than ever. Head coaches and how they treat their players has become a major part of free agents' decisions. Pete Carroll has had success as a head coach in both the NCAA and NFL. He is widely perceived as a coach for whom players would like to play. There is a lot to like about Seattle's choice. However, we have not seen a lot of college coaches having success moving to the NFL. Steve Spurrier, Bobby Patrino, and Nick Sabin were all very hot candidates coming out of college, but none were able to match their college successes. Will Pete Carroll end the streak? It won't be easy in his first year in Seattle, but the division is not strong, and Seattle drafted extremely well. Charlie Whitehurst will push Matt Hasselbeck. Nothing would surprise me in Seattle. My biggest X factor team in the NFL this year is coached by Pete Carroll.
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