Pete Carroll: New Seahawks Coach Will Make Millions From Owner Impatience

Pete Carroll, New Seahawks Head Coach

After one year from his unproven head coach, the team owner had seen enough. In 2010, the team is the Seahawks, the owner is Paul Allen and the coach is Jim Mora. In 1995, the team was the New York Jets, the owner was Leon Hess and the coach was new Seahawks grand poobah Pete Carroll.

Carroll's success as USC's head coach--winner of two national championships, seven Pac-10 titles, author of a 34-game winning streak--will earn him a reported $35 million of Paul Allen's Microsoft millions.

It's a package Carroll probably couldn't imagine fifteen years ago, when he was a victim of the same owner impatience that cost Jim Mora his job. After taking over an 8-8 Jets team that had barely missed the playoffs, Carroll's 1994 Jets regressed to six wins, and Carroll was let go.

"I'm 80 years old and I want results now," said Jets owner Leon Hess upon introducing Carroll's replacement. "I'm entitled to some enjoyment, and that means winning."

Let's hope Paul Allen's judgment is better than Hess's was--the replacement, Rich Kotite went 4-28 in two seasons as Jets coach.

Carroll made his way back to an NFL head coaching gig two seasons later, becoming the Patriots head coach when Bill Parcells left to replace Kotite in New York. He lead the Patriots to two consecutive playoff appearances, but when New England slid out of the playoffs in 1999, he was fired. Owner Robert Kraft later said Carroll suffered from having replaced the legendary Parcells.

Carroll worked as a consultant the next season before being hired as USC coach in December of 2001. He was the school's fourth choice after successful college coaches Dennis Erickson, Mike Bellotti, and Mike Riley turned the Trojans down. Carroll's hiring was deeply unpopular (imagine if the Huskies had hired, say, Dom Capers) but he built a decade-long dynasty at USC.

Carroll won't be able to recruit his way to success in the NFL like he did at USC. And his rah-rah style may be better suited for motivating college athletes than professional ones.

Then again, some of the other criticisms of Carroll are unfounded. He was not exactly a failure as an NFL coach--his career record was 33-31, and he took two of four teams to the playoffs. (Though both teams he coached regressed during his reign). Obviously if he has talent, he can do something with it.

Local football fans with long memories are equating the Carroll hiring to the Seahawks' hire of Dennis Erickson. Fans with even longer memories may equate it to Tampa Bay's hire of another legendary USC coach, John McKay. Both were busts at the NFL level.

But neither Erickson nor McKay had any NFL coaching experience when they were hired. Carroll has created successful schemes at the NFL level, nothing Erickson nor McKay had done before.

Paul Allen has taken a big gamble today, unleashing the bank on a man who's never had NFL success. Then again, after this season's performance, what does he have to lose?