There was something deeply
unsatisfying watching the unraveling of the Green Bay Packers yesterday
afternoon. Personally, I had nothing riding on the game emotionally,
financially or family-ly. I do believe in the Simmons 5-year rule (see #12) and wanted the
Packers to win if, for no other reasons:
* Mike McCarthy is from
Pittsburgh.
* Aaron Rodgers is the
ultimate combination of confident, talented, influential, and gutsy as any
athlete we have.
* the thought of the
Packers possibly being the team of the teens (following their 2011 title) was a
sign we could be coming full circle with “team of the decades (’60 Packers, ’70
Steelers, ‘80s 49ers, ’90 Cowboys, ‘00s Patriots…’10s Packers ….then …)
The lack of satisfaction
doesn’t come from the Packers watching their season sail into the arms of
Jermaine Kearse for the game-winning, overtime touchdown. It’s not
watching the 2-point conversation that would never work 99 times out of
100. It’s not Brandon Bostick brain-cramping on his blocking assignment
and instead doing his best Ike Taylor impersonation,
dropping the game-ending onside kick. It’s not Morgan Burnett
getting winded after four yards and falling to the turf after his interception
that he could have run back to Wisconsin himself because there was NO ONE IN
FRONT OF HIM.
The lack of satisfaction
comes from Pete Carroll joyously running down the sidelines after, by not much
of his doing, his team ripped the hearts out of every Cheese Head. It
truly is amazing how smart winning can make some people look and feel.
I am not a Pete Carroll
fan. I thought his brash, arrogant style wouldn’t produce much at
USC and thought he had potential in New England. Turns out it did
bare fruitful outcomes, of which were obtained through shadiness and chicanery. After
he bolted Southern California at the sign of illegalities that he was
responsible for promoting, ignoring, and eventually covering-up, the
genuineness of his leadership, for me, fluttered away with his vacated Trojan
victories.
Carroll, though, is the
most popular NFL head coach has been voted the NFL’s most popular coach by NFL
players. According to a poll initiated by ESPN the Super Bowl-bound
Carroll received 23% of the vote, well above, among others (Mike Tomlin was the
silver medalist at 14%!!!) In the poll, players were asked, “Which head
coach would you most like to play for?”
What does this say about
leadership? The choice is a revealing one, as Carroll has long had a
reputation as the ultimate “player’s coach,” known for his highly emotional,
ultra-supportive style. Yet in the pro ranks, until his recent success
with Seahawks, he had been viewed as a glorified cheerleader, low on tactical
skills and developing players past their abilities entering his
program. Most thought he was better suited for college football than
for the NFL.
His move to Seattle was a
stark and troubling sign of someone fleeing the crime sense and convincing an
employee that his optimism, family-style approach to coaching deserved one more
shot. It helped Carroll greatly, too, that he succeeded Jim Mora Jr.
in Seattle, known all-too well as a prick.
He had two relatively
unsuccessful coaching stints with the New York Jets and New England Patriots in
the 1990s, after which he returned to the college ranks and built a
championship program with USC before stabbing it in the back. He
left the student-athletes to suffer postseason bans and vacated triumphs while
he jolted for the money and anonymity he could find in the Great Northwest.
How do some football
analysts view Carroll’s recent selection? From Stephen Cohen in
seattlepi.com: “Carroll’s creation of a laid back, player-first atmosphere has
been a hallmark of his time at both Seattle and USC, and that’s a major reason
why players are drawn to him,”
This from Jeffri Chadiha
via ESPN.com: “His mantra is Always Compete, and he applies that
mindset to everybody who works in the building. In the end, Carroll comes off
as a man who ultimately wants to see the best come out of everybody, mainly
because of how much joy he would take in seeing somebody else attain that level
of success.”
Nothing succeeds like
success. If you break down Pete Carroll’s approach into basic
management terms, he’s an excellent communicator who appears to deeply care
about his organization. He’s built a distinctive, cohesive culture
in Seattle, one that motivates and encourages others to want to join it.
The defense could be a result of his bombastic personality. The
offense is a result of Russell Wilson and 31 other teams deciding he wasn't a
good fit for their system.
In New England and New York, Carroll’s teams didn’t perform
exceptionally well, and he ended up being viewed as slightly
odd. He’s still odd. That hasn’t changed in 63
years. The difference is this glorified cheerleader is rah-rahhing
his team to two straight Super Bowls, a feat last accomplished by the gentleman
he’s facing on February 1 for the Lombardi Trophy.
So as we watched him sprint towards his team’s dogpile at the
winning end zone, we watched a man that exudes happiness when things are going
fantastic. It has been proven to work for the best team in football
during these last 122 weeks. Let’s see if it works against his
counterpart across the sidelines, who has proven just how successful you can be
with a scowl and a sweatshirt.
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