NFL Seattle Seahawks

Super Bowl XLIX Head Coach Profile: Pete Carroll

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Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

As head coach of the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks since 2010, Pete Carroll has carved out a legacy as one of the most motivating, player-friendly coaches in NFL history.

So magnetic is his energy and charisma that it’s easy to forget Carroll is no spring chicken. At 63 years of age, the football lifer crept into the public eye in 1994 as head coach of the New York Jets. Following stints in San Francisco, New England and Southern California, Carroll took over head coaching duties with the ‘Hawks. A roller-coaster few seasons culminated in a Super Bowl demolition of the Denver Broncos last year, with the happy-go-lucky coach famously declaring he’d be “getting ready for work” the morning after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

In the lead up to Super Bowl XLIX, one of the quieter – but more fascinating – storylines is the coaching parallel between both teams. On the surface, Carroll and Bill Belichick couldn’t seem more polarizing, but it was actually the master motivator Carroll who preceded the ultimate strategist Belichick in New England. Both are veteran head coaches, extremely meticulous about their preparation and, most importantly, beloved by the men they teach.

Come Super Bowl week in Glendale, Carroll will have the New England Patriots’ deceptively dangerous pass rush to contend with, on top of a secondary rivaling only his own. In the absence of a ground game, the Seahawks will get blown out of the stadium in the year’s biggest game, so Carroll’s top priority must be to get Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson running early and often.

On defense, the game plan is a lot simpler: Stop Rob Gronkowski. Of the 17 touchdowns Carroll’s unit gave up through the air in 2014, 11 were recorded by tight ends. The Legion of Boom has shown difficulty in covering those typical hybrid athletes, let alone perhaps the best skill position player in the NFL.

Of course, this time last year everyone expected the Seattle defense to be exposed by the arm and mind of one Peyton Manning, and that game requires no elaboration. In 2015, the unit is again being given little chance against one of the greatest signal-callers of all-time. And that’s just the way Carroll likes it.

Jonathon Natsis covers the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnHollywood92, ‘like’ him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.

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