Tag: Pete Carroll

Bill Belichick’s role with Washington Huskies, explained

Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick spent his summer with the Washington Huskies where his son Steve is defensive coordinator.

Shortly after the Washington Huskies hired Jeff Fisch to replace Kalen DeBoer, the former Arizona coach went to work assembling a coaching staff with some incredibly recognizable names.

First there’s offensive coordinator and OL coach Brennan Carroll, the son of longtime Seahawks and former USC head coach Pete Carroll. Then there’s Luke Del Rio, Washington’s offensive quality control coach and son of former NFL head coach Jack Del Rio.

Finally there’s defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, of course the son of longtime Patriots head coach and football legend Bill Belichick.

Bill, Pete, and Jack have all spent time around the Huskies this summer, giving coach Fisch a trio of legends to bounce ideas off of as he prepares to lead this team into the Big Ten and in the post-DeBoer era.

Belichick made an appearance on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show on Monday, finally addressing what exactly he does at UW practices:

“I’m just here to watch, and sometimes they ask me to look at something or what I think about this or that or whatever,” Belichick said. “Really, it’s been great.”

Belichick said he’s not leading drills or anything of that nature, but he enjoys getting to spend time around football and his son, and is looking forward to the upcoming Huskies season.

“It’s nice to just get back and and watch some action going on in the field,” Belichick continued. “Being around Steve, being around Jedd, they do a great job here at this program and it’s just fun to watch what’s going on and sitting in on some meetings and watch the players work…(I) look forward to following them during the year.”

Panthers HC Dave Canales ‘humbled’ by 1st training camp practice

Panthers HC Dave Canales spoke about his first outing of training camp on Wednesday.

So, how did Dave Canales’ first outing of training camp as Carolina Panthers head coach turn out?

The 43-year-old was asked exactly that on Wednesday morning, shortly after wrapping up the opening practice of the summer.

“Aw, it was great,” Canales replied. “It’s such a challenge for me. I had an amazing opportunity this summer to spend some time with Tony Dungy. He’s one of my mentors. Talked to Pete Carroll on the phone, and just kinda asked him what to expect. And I think the part that made me a little anxious is I know that I can’t walk into this with 30 years of head-coaching experience, being able to see everything. But I just wanna continue to challenge myself to see it all.”

Canales, who spent 13 seasons as a member of the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff, has drawn some comparisons to Carroll. He, like Pete, is often lauded for his optimism, high energy and ability to connect with his players.

Now, Canales is trying to connect with everyone—on all sides of the ball.

“See what’s happening, not just on the offensive side,” he added of his hopes moving forward. “For sure, that’s what I’m here to make sure we step out on a good foot. But to see what’s happening on the defensive side, how it’s all fitting in, spending time with special teams—we had some great periods out there where we’re teaching fundamentals, which are gonna be critical.

“So I think more and more, how much can I see on any given play? But I think in general, I was just really excited, really humbled and really grateful to have this opportunity, and to really feel supported by a staff of amazing coaches and by a bunch of players who are hungry to do something this year.”

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Longtime Cal and Fresno State football coach Jeff Tedford retires

Jeff Tedford is a brilliant football coach who pushed USC’s best Pete Carroll teams to the limit.

Jeff Tedford forged a great career as a college football head coach. The architect of the Cal football team that kept Pete Carroll’s 2003 USC Trojans out of the BCS Championship Game stepped down as Fresno State’s head coach, citing health concerns. Tedford led Fresno State to multiple Mountain West Conference championships. Over a decade earlier, he guided Cal to a place of considerable prominence in the college football world. Many people thought then, and still think now, that Cal deserved to be in the 2005 Rose Bowl against Michigan, but Texas was allowed into the game instead of the Golden Bears. Had Cal been invited to the game, the Golden Bears would have snapped a very long Rose Bowl drought dating back to the 1950s. Tedford was that good. He took a largely irrelevant program which has struggled for most of the past 50 years and brought it to the top tier of the Pac-10 and made it a relevant program in the West. Rodgers is the man who developed Aaron Rodgers as a quarterback in College. The 2004 Cal-USC game at the Coliseum — won 23-17 by the Trojans thanks to a late red-zone defensive stand — is one of the great games in USC and Coliseum history. Tedford’s Bears pushed the Trojans to the limit.

We congratulate Jeff Tedford on an amazing career at The Voice of College Football and wish him full health.

https://www.youtube.com/live/F6cc-4gdw6E?si=zGefZ-pF6XC-hAVL&t=184

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USC is not going to restore Pete Carroll glories in one season

USC is not in position to go all the way this year. Merely making the playoff would be amazing for the program.

The USC football program expects to compete for national championships. That’s the standard around here, and no one is claiming otherwise. Pete Carroll reminded us of that standard. However, context matters, and processes sometimes can’t occur instantly, in one fell swoop. Sometimes, building a program to a championship standard requires two or even three years. Such is life at USC right now.

USC was 8-5 last season. The Trojans were a mess. They didn’t have a good defense. They didn’t have good defensive coaches. They didn’t play in a top-tier bowl game. They regressed relative to their 2022 season. They flopped. They endured a disaster. The idea that USC is ready to compete for a national championship in 2024 is just not reasonable. Does anyone think USC has a remotely good chance of going 12-1 in its first Big Ten season against the schedule it has? In the Pete Carroll era, USC players and fans knew entering the season they were “national championship” good. That’s not the case right now. We want to compete for the national title, but we’re not ready. So, if USC makes the College Football Playoff in 2024 but loses by 30 in the first round, that’s progress. That’s big progress. It might not feel like it if USC loses by 30 in the first round, but when the Trojans lost five games the previous season and were led astray by Alex Grinch, merely getting to the playoff this year would be extraordinary. Not good, not great; extraordinary. If losing by 30 in the playoff is part of the deal, so be it. USC would be relevant once again. Recruiting would improve. USC’s restoration project would advance by several degrees. If a blowout loss is part of a playoff scenario this year, every USC fan should take it, no questions asked.

Here’s our Friday show at The Voice of College Football in which we spent a lot of time discussing that very point:

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Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made an appearance at Elite 11 camp

Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made an appearance at Elite 11 camp

It is undeniable the Seattle Seahawks enjoyed the greatest run in franchise history under head coach Pete Carroll. Not many fans can say they lived through their favorite team’s goldne erea, but the 12’s who were privileged enough to watch from 2010-2023 could say this.

While the Seahawks did move on from Pete Carroll this offseason, the man is still an icon and a class act to be admired. Recently, Caroll was seen at an Elite 11 camp. In typical fashion, his kindness, devotion to football, and ageless demeanor was on full display.

Is anyone surprised to read this tweet? In a world where authenticity is always in question, no one has ever had to wonder about it for Pete Carroll.

We may not know what the future truly holds for the 72 year old coaching legend. But it is safe to say wherever he goes and whatever he does, he will not be far from football. Perhaps Carroll’s greatest contribution to the game is being an unparalleled leader of men, and his ability to shape their minds and lives.

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Seahawks get a B grade from ESPN for 2024 offseason moves

The Seahawks made some massive changes to their organization this offseason.

The Seahawks made some massive changes to their organization this offseason. While the roster went through some significant turnover, the real difference is on the sidelines, where Seattle moved on from Pete Carroll as head coach after 14 years and hired Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to replace him. Whatever the Seahawks have done to their roster, that was the biggest move of the year – and most experts approve.

Seth Walder at ESPN just came out with letter grades for all 32 teams around the NFL for their moves this offseason. Seattle got a solid B grade from him on the strength of a proven schematic upgrade in Macdonald.

“The most significant change for Seattle was at head coach, as the team moved on from Pete Carroll and hired Macdonald in his stead. Predicting coaching performance is tricky business I usually avoid, but if I’m picking a new head coach, one attribute I absolutely want is someone who has shown they can generate schematic success. Macdonald fits that bill.”

In retrospect Pete Carroll may have been a better motivational coach than he was on the Xs and Os. While the culture he built is worth preserving as much as possible, this team had clearly peaked schematically under Carroll’s direction – regardless of the coordinator changes. Macdonald’s presence alone should make this Seahawks defense respectable again in 2024, and it might even be one of the league’s best the following year if what he did in Baltimore is any indication.

On the other side of the ball new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is also highly-touted for his work at the University of Washington, where he ran a balanced, aggressive and Pro style kind of scheme successfully. If Grubb and Scott Huff can find a way to minimize what is probably going to be a mediocre-at-best offensive line, this team is going to be very tough to beat.

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College Football Hall of Fame delays long-needed reforms

Pete Carroll and Mike Leach should be in the CFB Hall of Fame, but they aren’t. Time to reform the process.

You might have noticed that USC football coach Lincoln Riley recently said Mike Leach should be in the College Football Hall of Fame. Yet, Leach is not in the Hall. Why? The College Football Hall of Fame has a strict requirement: Coaches must have won at least 60 percent of their games. If it’s 59 percent, not good enough, period. No debate. No discussion. No allowance for context.

Leach coached at Washington State, Texas Tech, and Mississippi State, all hard places to win. If a coach goes 9-3 at Ohio State, that’s a failure, but it’s still a .750 winning percentage. Winning percentages should be guidelines, not absolute requirements.

Pete Carroll of USC isn’t in the Hall of Fame because the College Football Hall of Fame requires coaches to have coached at least 10 seasons. Carroll coached only nine, so he’s out.

This is dumb:

Pete Carroll, beyond any shadow of a doubt, should be in the College Football Hall of Fame. USC won 34 straight games and two national titles under Carroll, plus an additional appearance in the BCS National Championship Game at the 2006 Rose Bowl, viewed by many as the greatest college football game ever played. Carroll made a BCS (now New Year’s Six) bowl in seven consecutive seasons. He won the Rose Bowl four times. He won the Pac-10 title six straight years, seven if you include the shared title in 2002 with Washington State.

Pete Carroll is easily a Hall of Fame-level coach in college football. We’re all wondering the same thing: Why hasn’t the College Football Hall of Fame reformed its standards and its rules for induction? What’s taking so long?

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Tyler Lockett on differences between Mike Macdonald, Pete Carroll

Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett was a guest on the Rich Eisen Show earlier this week.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett was a guest on the Rich Eisen Show earlier this week.

One topic that Lockett spoke on was the differences between former head coach Pete Carroll and new head coach Mike Macdonald. Watch.

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NFL shares highlights of Seahawks RB Ken Walker making people miss

Ken Walker has become one of the most electrifying rushers in the NFL

Say what you want about Pete Carroll’s predilection for punting on fourth and short and not shifting coverages, he had one heck of an eye for running backs. Perhaps the last truly special rusher that Carroll found for the Seattle Seahawks is former Michigan State running back Ken Walker, who has become one of the most electrifying rushers in the NFL.

His game is far from perfect, but Walker is as good as any back in the league at flipping the field and turning plays that should have been nothing into something special. Here’s 61 seconds of Walker making people miss. Watch.

Heading into year 3, Walker is still the clear cut No. 1 option on the depth chart and unless Zach Charbonnet takes a huge leap in his second season there are no real challengers on the horizon to take Walker’s spot.

Hopefully offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb’s influence will help take Walker’s game to the next level. If that happens, we may be talking about Walker being a top-five running back at this time next year.

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DK Metcalf: Ryan Grubb’s offense has the ‘potential to be special’

To reach its full potential, this scheme needs DK to finally live up to his.

Seattle Seahawks beat reporters got to speak with three players before yesterday’s mandatory minicamp practice at the VMAC. First up was star wide receiver DK Metcalf, who hadn’t been seen around the building tyet his offseason. So, this was the media’s first chance to ask Metcalf about the big coaching changes the team has gone through this year.

While Metcalf admitted that seeing Pete Carroll get fired was a sad moment, he’s also excited about working with new head coach Mike Macdonald and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. Asked about the effectiveness of Grubb’s new scheme, Metcalf said he likes the explosiveness and that the offense has the potential to be great.

To reach its full potential, this scheme needs DK to finally live up to his. While he’s been a consistently strong performer since he was drafted in 2019, Metcalf has the gifts he needs to be one of the top-five wide receivers in the NFL, but as of yet he’s at-best been a fringe top-10 producer. If Grubb can unleash Metcalf’s inner elite WR and get him competing at a focused peak-Julio Jones type of level, it’s going to be very tough to stop this passing game.

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