Blogging The Boys
What do you make of Pete Carroll as a potential option for the Cowboys job?
As the Cowboys inch closer to a full week of having a head coaching vacancy, they’ve already begun to hold several interviews. One name that has been mentioned a couple of times, but who has yet to be scheduled for an interview, is Pete Carroll.
The soon-to-be 74-year old coach led the Seahawks for 14 seasons, going to the Super Bowl in consecutive seasons and winning once, before stepping down after the 2023 season. Carroll has interviewed for the Bears and Raiders jobs already, is said to be desperate to get back into coaching, and has a certain distinction that is sure to appeal to Jerry Jones:
But what would a Carroll-led Cowboys team actually look like? To get a better idea, I spoke with two of the foremost Seahawks experts (and fans) in Ben Baldwin of The Athletic and Matty Brown of Seahawks on Tape. Let’s break down the prospect of Carroll becoming the Cowboys coach.
“Leader of men” and “culture builder” are coaching terms that get thrown around a lot, but they apply directly to Carroll. Brown describes Carroll as a psychologist who also coaches football. In fact, Carroll’s work with University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Angela Duckworth has helped to define his coaching philosophy, on which Carroll wrote a book titled “Always Compete.”
The two main tenets of Carroll’s philosophy are competition and grit, things he was able to clearly define during his time in Seattle. Carroll even devised an in-depth competitiveness scale that was plastered on the walls of the Seahawks facility to explain to players what he was looking for.
Baldwin also notes that Carroll is known for sayings and catchphrases that quickly sum up what he’s looking for, a technique that Dan Quinn has used as well. One such phrase is “Positive attracts positive,” which makes up one of Carroll’s three rules:
The simplest way to summarize Carroll’s overarching philosophy is that it’s one based on competition, grit, and accountability. At their peak, the Seahawks were emblematic of all three points, and many feel that’s needed in Dallas right now.
As is the case with many defensive head coaches, Carroll has a reputation for being a conservative, run-first coach. However, both Brown and Baldwin refute this claim, pointing to the hard data. Per Brown:
There’s a couple of misconceptions about him. I’d say he’s branded as a run first coach, which if you look at early down pass rates, it’s just not true. He did run a bit more when the zone read was so effective with Russell Wilson, because of the efficiency, but what Pete has always spoke of is balance in an offense.
Baldwin added:
A lot of the perception was driven by the hire of Schottenheimer after passing a lot with Bevell in 2017 and the subsequent extreme run heaviness in 2018 (culminating in the disastrous playoff loss...
