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Five reasons why it didn’t work for Pete Carroll in New England 10.12.12 at 1:09 am ET
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Pete Carroll and Drew Bledsoe were together for three seasons in New England. (AP)

Pete Carroll, who coached the Patriots from 1997 through 1999, took a few moments this week to reflect on his time in New England. Carroll, who was with USC from 2001 through 2009 before taking over in Seattle, had an eventful time with the Patriots, but said Wednesday it was a great experience.

“I loved living there and representing those fans — I thought they were awesome,” said Carroll, who took over as coach in Seattle in 2010. “They were so intense and loved the team so much — in all the sports, not just football. Whether it was basketball, hockey, baseball … this is a great fan base, and I loved being connected with them. And I appreciated it more the tougher they got on us, because I knew how much they loved it and how much they cared about it.

“It was a really big deal being there. I regret not being able to get it done the way we wanted to. We did some really good things and we were close, but I learned so much coming out of that experience that it changed me. I’ve had a lot of good stuff since then, and I’m grateful for that, but I wish I would have been able to … I’m never going to give up on a situation — I’d have loved to been able to fix it and finish it, but we didn’t get to.”

In our opinion, despite the fact that Carroll won more regular-season games in his three seasons with the Patriots than Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells in their first three years in New England, there were five primary reasons why it didn’t work between Carroll and the Patriots.

He was hamstrung by the front office. Carroll didn’t have control of his roster — instead, that went to vice president of player personnel Bobby Grier. As a result, he had little control over his draft board and free agent selections. The players knew it, and if a player wasn’t happy with his playing time, he could go up the back stairs and complain to management. It resulted in Carroll appearing weak and ineffectual in the eyes of his team — one reporter who covered the team during Carroll’s tenure compared him to a substitute teacher.

“What I learned from the situation (in New England) is to be a really successful head coach you have to have control. Otherwise it’s somebody else’s job that you’re dealing with. That’s why everything that came out of that experience changed me and I haven’t been the same ever since,” Carroll told Seattle-area reporters on Wednesday. “It took me 10, 11 months before I got going on the next job, but from that time, everything that is the philosophy, the approach, the mentality, everything, the language, everything came out of that experience. It’s classically one of those deals where you get kicked in the tail and you come out better. I hate to learn the hard way.”

He was working for an ownership that didn’t understand how to operate a successful team … yet. Much of this is tied in to the previous point. While Robert Kraft has matured and evolved as an owner in the last decade-plus, he was still learning on the job when Carroll was working as head coach. (In addition, he was likely still feeling his way after things went sour with Parcells.) Kraft hired Carroll, but didn’t yet feel comfortable placing the future of the franchise in Carroll’s hands. The owner would eventually learn to back away and trust his coach, but it would take a few years.

Terry Glenn. The wide receiver was perhaps the most skilled position player on the roster — he was coming off a rookie year where his 90 receptions were the most ever in a single season by a rookie in NFL history — but did a lot to sabotage Carroll in his three years as head coach of the team. According to many ex-teammates, it was common practice for Glenn to go to Carroll and complain about how he was being used. The chaos created by Glenn had a debilitating effect on the team — the wide receiver wasn’t truly dealt with until 2001, when Belichick deactivated him.

He was following Bill Parcells. The swing from a hard line legend like Parcells to a coach like Carroll — who was far more laid back than Parcells — was difficult for a locker room to deal with. Carroll didn’t help matters by trying to be one of the guys as opposed to being a coach — he participated in the pickup basketball games that were organized by the players. Loosed from Parcells’ grip, the veterans constantly pushed the limits when it came to discipline. (Even a respected team leader like Drew Bledsoe felt OK going out to a club and stage diving.)

John Elway and the Broncos. Carroll inherited one of the best teams’ in the AFC, but the Patriots had the bad fortune to be coming of age the same time Elway and the Broncos were finally putting it all together. Denver would go on to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles under Mike Shanahan, while the Patriots lost a divisional playoff contest to the Steelers in 1997 and a wild-card contest to the Jaguars the following year.

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  • Bobby C

    Isn’t 4 days rest the normal rest? Way to take control Bobby V. It’s too bad the fans care more than the players. Clay must have already gotten a tee time and didn’t want to cancel it. I’ll bet my bottom dollar that he is not hanging out in the hotel room “resting” today. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1414549334 Chris Synan

    Morales was a starter in Colorado, he will be fine

  • http://www.facebook.com/albeeto Al Silvia

    this team is plain rediculous!…Selfish million dollrs babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • KC

    What’s new……………………another prima donna!

  • Robst0ne

    I don’t understand this entry. It seems you are writing that Carroll was less to blame for the team’s decline than Bob Kraft was? If Carroll had control, you think the Patriots would have been successful with him? What has Carroll done to make you think he is a good NFL coach?
    Look, he seems like a nice guy–very enthusiastic; that, if I remember, was one of the big problems when he was here…he is a guy who fiddles while Rome burns…

  • steve

     What about losing Curtis Martin at the end of the season and not having him to face the Steelers in the playoffs? They depended on him a lot to take the pressure off of Bledsoe. Even without Martin they had a chance at the end to beat a great Pitt defense…then Bledsoe gets stripped. I would dare to say that if he had a qb like say Brady, his fate may have been a bit different.

  • Javitabile

    Mr. Price you left out quite a few important factors. The lost to the Jaguars because Bledsoe had damaged his finger against Miami and had a pin inserted inot it and could not play in the playoff game. You also forgot that Carrol suspended / benched Terry Glenn for the last 1 to 3 games of the 1999 season. Lastly, you forgot that drafting of our offensive lineman was horrible. Each and every one of the m was out of football within 2 years of BB taking over.

  • Gman

    As much as I maligned Carroll when he coached the Pats, I was happy for him when he did so well at USC, albiet with the Reggie Bush scandal and the subsequent 2 year bowl ban.

  • Brick

    He may have been a good football coach on many areas, but he did NOT hvae what the team need at that time which was  atotal change of the Patriots culture. The culture that BB brought was and has been the biggest diffrence. I remember living N Californai when BB had only been a coach for a month during the off season. He called everyone in the

     team and stated” I can not believe how may players are so out of shape and over weight during the off season. That was one of his first press conferences and  I recall saying to myself as I was living in the leftcoast. Way to go Bill !!. Pete did not, and still does NOT have the spine to call a whole team and tell them how weak they are,!! That was and is still the biggest diffrence NO SPINE!!

  • Cfn

    Wilcox is great at backing up Crawford to finish.  We will have a strong bench going forward.  Williams looked very good at seeing good passes.  DA did good.  Our D looked a little weak yesterday which concerned me but offense was great.  Green needs to start to get all we can out of him.  Bass defense actually looked good but he could not shoot yesterday.  He seems to have only one shot which is usually pretty good.  I would have traded him.

  • I Iz Turd In Punch Bowl

    Lots of red flags on Crawford. Wasted, unfocused energy all over the place. Needs to be reined in quickly or will not fit in. His defense, at first glance, was horrible.

  • Stephen

    Danny looking better now with this Green trade.It hurt them in 2011 with Rondo sulking and breaking up winning combo that won it in 08 and almost in 2010.Celtics go down in second round that year without Perkins and Danny looked foolish but now we are seeing Greens talent so we may change the attitude toward this trade.

  • H Bouley

    It seems the more players the C’s lose the better they play LOL. If Pierce had sat out last night as well, the Suns probably would not have even shown up :)

  • San Diego Dreamer

    Fun game to watch. Loved their energy and ability to score points.

  • fatmir mollabeqiri

     Everyone played well last night and that is great!! However they didn’t have a single practice and we all saw it before that when Doc starts playing with new guys minds and keep insisting on his way of defense and running back after missed shot ( because stats show that it’s better to run back and be set on defense ) than go with the flow of the game and try to rebound for a second chance points. It will get in to there heads and they will start to think to much second guess them selfs and will drop offensively. He needs to let them play the Ball maybe move Green to starting 5 and have PP move to the bench and than they will have a killer bench that will beat any given bench in NBA.
     They have a ton of talent that is willing and ready to prove them selfs. All they need is some confidence and support from coaching staff and veterans and they will be golden. Love KG, PP, and Rondo and I want them to retire as Celtics but team goes before anyones ego.

  • old coach

    It appeared the doc let em play against the Suns and doc tightened up tonight and his team tightened up with him.  I am beginning to think the Doc is part of the problem, he does not seem to understand the needs of his new team.  They are not the big theree , in fact they are not the big two any more.  We have a good team but a different team.  Is Jeff Green being used right, does doc trust the new players, is doc locked into Paul and KG ball, can we play KG and Paul ball land win?

  • Bdsredsox

    Good job keeping this crappy team together

  • M16

    HEY THEY ARE BETTER WITHOUT RONDO

  • Larry33

    Get used to it Celtic fans, this is what the team will be for another 10 years a bunch of average and over the hill players scraping and clawing to get the 8th seed in the playoffs only to get booted in the first round. So glad Danny didn’t trade the “soul” of the team or the “captain”. Loyalty to old players gets you 20 years in the lottery.

  • Molly

    your team Danny 

  • Anonymous

    When Pierce scores over 20 it usually means we are playing the slow ball 2 man game KG and Pierce, and we end up losing.  Play the up tempo game with Green as the go to guy.  When Green is the focus of the offense they are a better team.  

  • Anonymous

    Quite possibly they dont make the playoffs, which wont break too many hearts.  I think the reason for not moving Paul and KG – besides the undying loyalty, is to pick up one or more “pieces” in the offseason to give the boys in green “one last run”.

  • Bruinman86

    I feel bad for any fan who stayed up to watch the game.  No reward there….

  • San Diego Dreamer

    For awhile there they forgot how to move the ball around creating alot of one on one and then missed shots. A game they most definitely should have won.

  • PATs24fan

     Yes that makes sense that with another year of wear and tear next season gives better chance to win it all.

  • coachjac30

    and trading pierce for humphries/brooks/1st rd pick and garnett for bledsoe/jordan makes you better? not at all. I love that people say “blow it up”. First of all don’t discount the human element to all this. If we were in Danny’s position we would probably think differently as well…As a fan, I would rather have pierce/garnett for this and next year, than humphries/brooks/jordan/bledsoe

  • Cracker Jack

    Paul Pierce is an unbelievable basketball player. Watching him adapt throughout a game, setting up moves and then executing them with precision, is thoroughly satisfying to watch. And it doesn’t hurt that he appears to enjoy and appreciate what he does for a living.

  • Anonymous

    Start Green and Sullinger next year,pick up that missing center,  bring Pierce and Garnett off the bench.  Be much more effective playing 20-25minutes.  And be better poised to win than right now,

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