RENTON — One of Mark Sanchez’s favorite memories of playing for Pete Carroll came in his final game with USC, a Rose Bowl victory over Penn State on New Year’s day, 2009.
“There was a point in that Rose Bowl game where he grabbed me and he told to me to kind of take a second and step back and look around, and was like, ‘This is everything we talked about when we recruited you, is it not? Is this awesome or what? Is this one of the coolest things ever?’” Sanchez said on a conference call with Seattle-area reporters. “I was in the middle of a drive, in the middle of a timeout, we’re trying to convert a third down or something, and I’m like, ‘Coach, we’ve got to go. Man, what are you talking about? This guy is crazy.’ But that’s Pete.”
Six seasons and a new job later, Carroll is not only still winning, he’s still that crazy, fun-loving coach; he’s just doing it at a different level of football. After twice being fired by NFL teams, Carroll revived his career at USC, but many figured he would never succeed as an NFL head coach. He was just too much of a players’ coach, too much of a rah-rah guy to motivate millionaire adults, and that wouldn’t work in the NFL, right?
And when Chip Kelly was leading one of college football’s most potent offenses, he was universally respected for what he was doing at Oregon, but again, most figured he was best suited for the college game. No matter how impressive those Ducks teams were, that offense was just too gimmicky to work in the NFL, right?
Well, apparently conventional wisdom was wrong on both accounts, because when the Seahawks play at Philadelphia Sunday, Carroll and Kelly will be on opposite sidelines for the first time since Carroll’s final season at USC, this time leading two of the NFC’s top teams. The Seahawks enter this game at 8-4 and are likely headed for their fourth playoff berth in five seasons under Carroll, while the Eagles are 9-3, leading the NFC East and are closing in on a second postseason appearance in as many seasons under Kelly. Not bad for a couple of college coaches, eh?
Kelly and Carroll, along with San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh aren’t just leading successful NFC teams, they’re laying waste to the long-held notion that college coaching success doesn’t translate to the NFL. For every Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer — the only head coaches, along with Carroll, to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl — there’s a Steve Spurrier or Nick Saban or Bobby Petrno or Butch Davis or Mike Riley or Dennis Erickson or Rich Brooks who couldn’t match the level of success in the NFL that they enjoyed in college.
“I think coaches can coach on any level; they just have to work to adapt,” Carroll said. “Our game isn’t that much different. It’s not as different as you may think, and Chip has demonstrated that — I think he’s done a great job of illustrating the flexibility in his style. It’s not a college offense; it’s an offense that comes out of college and it certainly applies here.”
As Carroll points out, flexibility is a big part of both coaches’ successful transitions. Kelly’s Oregon offenses almost always featured mobile quarterbacks running a zone-read attack, yet in the past two seasons he has been winning with Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez running the offense. And while Carroll’s teams have been fairly similar schematically to those he coached at USC, he has been a master at tweaking things to maximize the talents of his roster. From moving Red Bryant, a defensive tackle, to end, making him a key piece of Seattle’s defense for four seasons, to adding the zone-read to his offense to utilize quarterback Russell Wilson’s strengths.
“From the very first day that he got (to Oregon) and spoke to us as an offense, everybody’s eyes opened, their feet went on the ground and they all sat up straight,” said center Max Unger, who played for Oregon when Kelly was hired as offensive coordinator. “This guy was in command. He’s a solid coach. He was so good at A, conveying his message, and B, finding out what his players were good at, then adapting his offense to that.
“He’s not a total system guy as much as he’s a good talent evaluator and he can figure out what guys are good at, get them on the field and have them do well in whatever they do.”
While he was still at Oregon, Kelly visited a Seahawks practice in 2010. Carroll joked this week that “I’m sure he regrets that tremendously with of all the things that he shared with me,” and says they strategically had Kelly talking to Seattle’s coaches with his back to the field during practice. Kelly, meanwhile, says of the visit, “I was doing all the learning; I wasn’t doing any talking, I can tell you that.”
But whatever information was or wasn’t exchanged, what is certain is that the perception of both coaches, as well as that of college coaches in general, has changed since Kelly’s visit four years ago. Back then Kelly ran an offense too gimmicky for the NFL, while the jury was still out on Carroll, who was trying to prove he could make it in the NFL.
Now they face off again, not as two very good college coaches, but as to very good coaches, period. One is an offensive mastermind, one a defensive guru, and both are have erased all doubt that their talents translate to the game’s highest level.
“I don’t think you can paint a brush and say, it’s because they’re from this conference or they’re college or pro or whatever,” Kelly said. “I just think when you talk about Jim (Harbaugh) and Pete, they’re two outstanding coaches, I don’t care what level they coach at. Jim Harbaugh was successful at the University of San Diego, was successful with Stanford, is successful the 49ers. Pete won a national championship in college, Pete won a Super Bowl in the NFL, and if Pete were to take over a high school team right now, they’d be a great team. Both of those guys, Jim and Pete, are great football coaches. I don’t think it’s where they’re from; no matter where they coach, they would be successful.”
Herald Columnist John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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