Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll ( born September 15 , 1951 ) is the head coach and executive Vice - President of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League . He is a former head coach of the New York Jets , New England Patriots and the University of Southern California Trojans football team . Early life . Carroll attended Redwood High School in Larkspur , California . After being an athlete in childhood , his lack of physical growth as a teenager caused him frustration in high school sports ; weighing 110 pounds as an incoming freshman , he was required to bring a special doctor ' s clearance in order to go out for football . He tried hard to prove himself , a trait that carried on throughout his later life . As a result , he was a three - sport standout in football ( playing quarterback , wide receiver and defensive back ) , basketball and baseball , earning the school ' s Athlete of the Year award as a senior in 1969 ; forty years later he was inducted into the charter class of the Redwood High School Athletic Hall of Fame in April 2009 . College . After high school , Carroll attended junior college at the nearby College of Marin , where he played football for two years ( lettering in his second year ) , before transferring to the University of the Pacific , where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity . At Pacific , Carroll played free safety for two years , earning All - Pacific Coast Athletic Conference honors both years ( 1971 – 72 ) and earning his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1973 . After graduation , Carroll tried out for the Honolulu Hawaiians of the World Football League at their training camp in Riverside but did not make the team due to shoulder problems combined with his small size for the position . To make ends meet , he found a job selling roofing materials in the Bay Area , but he found he wasn ' t good at it and soon moved on ; it would be his only non - football - related job . Coaching career . Collegiate assistant ( 1973 – 1983 ) . Carroll ' s energetic and positive personality made a good impression on his head coach at Pacific , Chester Caddas . When Caddas found out Carroll was interested in coaching , he offered him a job as a graduate assistant on his staff at Pacific . Carroll agreed and enrolled as a graduate student , earning a secondary teaching credential and Master ' s degree in physical education in 1976 , while serving as a graduate assistant for three years and working with the wide receiver s and secondary defenders . The assistants at Pacific during this time included a number of other future successful coaches , including Greg Robinson , Jim Colletto , Walt Harris , Ted Leland and Bob Cope . He was inducted into the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 . After graduating from Pacific , Carroll ' s colleague Bob Cope was hired by the University of Arkansas and he convinced Lou Holtz , then the head coach of the Razorbacks , to also hire Carroll . Carroll spent the 1977 season as a graduate assistant working with the secondary under Cope , making $ 182 a month . During his season with Arkansas , he met his future offensive line coach Pat Ruel , also a graduate assistant , as well as the future head coach of the Razorbacks Houston Nutt , who was a backup quarterback . Arkansas ' Defensive Coordinator at the time , Monte Kiffin , would be a mentor to Carroll ; Carroll ' s wife Glena would help babysit Monte ' s two - year - old son Lane Kiffin , who would later become Carroll ' s offensive coordinator at USC and then head coach of the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Volunteers , and the head coach of USC . The Razorbacks won the 1978 Orange Bowl that season . The following season , Carroll moved to Iowa State University , where he was again an assistant working on the secondary under Earle Bruce . When Bruce moved on to Ohio State University , he brought Carroll , who acted as an assistant coach in charge of the secondary . The Ohio State squad made it to the 1980 Rose Bowl where they lost to USC . Carroll next spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at North Carolina State University . In 1983 , Cope became head coach of Pacific and brought Carroll on as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator . National Football League ( 1984 – 1999 ) . Carroll left Pacific after a year and entered the NFL in 1984 as the defensive back s coach of the Buffalo Bills . The next year , he moved onto the Minnesota Vikings where he held a similar position for five seasons ( 1985 – 89 ) . In 1989 , he was a candidate for the head coaching position at Stanford University ; the position went to Dennis Green . His success with the Vikings led to his hiring by the New York Jets , where he served as defensive coordinator under Bruce Coslet for four seasons ( 1990 – 93 ) . When there was an opening for the Vikings ' head coach position in 1992 , he was a serious candidate but lost the position , again to Green . In 1994 , Carroll was elevated to head coach of the Jets . Known for energy and youthful enthusiasm , Carroll painted a basketball court in the parking lot of the team ' s practice facility where he and his assistant coaches regularly played three - on - three games during their spare time . The Jets got off to a 6 – 5 start under Carroll , but in week 12 , he was the victim of Dan Marino ' s " clock play " — a fake spike that became a Miami Dolphins game - winning touchdown . The Jets lost all of their remaining games to finish 6 – 10 . He was fired after one season . Carroll was hired for the next season by the San Francisco 49ers , where he served as defensive coordinator for the following two seasons ( 1995 – 96 ) . His return to success as the defensive coordinator led to his hiring as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 1997 , replacing coach Bill Parcells , who had resigned after disputes with the team ' s ownership . His 1997 Patriots team won the AFC East division title , but his subsequent two teams did not fare as well — losing in the wild card playoff round in 1998 , and missing the playoffs after a late - season slide in 1999 — and he was fired after the 1999 season . Patriots owner Robert Kraft said firing Carroll was one of the toughest decisions he has had to make since buying the team , stating " A lot of things were going on that made it difficult for him to stay , some of which were out of his control . And it began with following a legend . " Before leaving for college football he coached with the Seattle Seahawks as cornerbacks coach . His combined NFL record as a head coach was 33 – 31 , and he was later considered a much better fit for college football than the NFL after his success at USC . Even though several NFL teams approached him with defensive coordinator positions , Carroll instead spent the 2000 season as a consultant for pro and college teams , doing charitable work for the NFL , and writing a column about pro football for CNNSI . com . USC Trojans ( 2000 – 2009 ) . Hiring . Carroll was named the Trojans ' head football coach on December 15 , 2000 , signing a five - year contract after USC had gone through a tumultuous 18 day search to replace fired coach Paul Hackett . He was not the Trojans ' first choice , and was considered a long shot as the USC Athletic Department under Director Mike Garrett initially planned to hire a high - profile coach with recent college experience . Meanwhile Carroll , who had not coached in over a year and not coached in the college ranks since 1983 , drew unfavorable comparisons to the outgoing Hackett . USC first pursued then Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson , who instead signed a contract extension with the Beavers ; then Oregon coach Mike Bellotti , who similarly signed an extension . The search then moved to the San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley , who had been an assistant coach at USC before later becoming the head coach of Oregon State . Stuck in contractual obligations to the Chargers ( who were still in the midst of an NFL season ) and hesitating about moving his family , Riley was unable to give a firm answer , opening an opportunity for Carroll , the school ' s fourth choice . Carroll actively pursued the position , as his daughter , Jaime , was then a player on the school ' s successful volleyball team . After the first three primary candidates turned down the position , USC hired Carroll . Under Garrett , USC had tried to recruit Carroll to be their head coach in 1997 , while he was coaching the Patriots , but Carroll was unable to take the position . The second time the opening came up , Daryl Gross , then senior associate athletic director for USC , recommended Carroll to Garrett based on his experience as a former scout for the New York Jets while Carroll coached there . Garrett cited Carroll ' s intelligence , energy and reputation as a defensive specialist as reasons for his hire . The choice of Carroll for USC ' s head coaching position was openly criticized by the media and many USC fans , primarily because of USC ' s stagnation under the outgoing Hackett and Carroll ' s record as a head coach in the NFL and being nearly two decades removed from the college level . Garrett took particular criticism for the hire , with the press tying his future with Carroll ' s after he had to fire two head coaches in four years for USC ' s premiere athletic coaching position . Former NFL players ( including USC alumni ) , such as Ronnie Lott , Gary Plummer , Tim McDonald and Willie McGinest offered their support for Carroll , who they noted had a player - friendly , easygoing style that might suit the college game and particularly recruiting . The USC Athletic Department received 2 , 500 e - mails , faxes and phone calls from alumni — mostly critical — and a number of donors asking for Carroll ' s removal before they would donate again . Within a year of his hiring , many prominent critics reversed course . In 2008 , ESPN . com named Carroll ' s hiring # 1 in a list of the Pac - 10 ' s Top 10 Moments Of BCS Era . Tenure . The criticism of Pete Carroll became louder when Carroll ' s first USC team opened the 2001 season going 2 – 5 , with some sportswriters writing off the once - dominant Trojans , who were the only Pac - 10 football team to never finish in the national top 10 during the previous decade , as a dying program . However , after the slow start , Carroll ' s teams proceeded to go 67 – 7 over the next 74 games , winning two AP titles and a BCS National Championship which was later stripped for breaking NCAA rules . Carroll was considered one of the most effective recruiters in college football , having brought in multiple top - ranked recruiting classes ; he was also known for getting commitments from nationally prominent players early in high school . His son , Brennan Carroll , was USC ' s recruiting coordinator as well as the tight ends coach during the elder Carroll ' s tenure as head coach . He had consistently been on the forefront of recruiting due to his ability to connect with potential players on their level , including becoming the first college coach with a Facebook page , as well as an early adopter of Twitter . Carroll ' s team won a then school - record 34 straight games from 2003 – 2005 , a streak that started after a triple - overtime loss to California and ended with the national championship game in the 2006 Rose Bowl , against the Texas Longhorns . Fourteen of those games were later vacated for breaking NCAA rules . During his tenure , USC broke its average home attendance record four times in a row , without any stadium expansions ( they play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ) ; the USC home attendance average in 2001 , his first season , was 57 , 744 ; by 2006 it was over 91 , 000 . During this period , USC had a 35 - game winning streak at the Coliseum , spanning 6 years , after a 21 - 26 loss to the Stanford Cardinal on Sept . 29 , 2001 ( during Carroll ' s first year ) through a 24 - 23 loss to a 41 - point underdog Stanford team on Oct . 6 , 2007 ( the biggest point - upset in college football history ) . The success of the USC football team under Carroll led to a sharp rise in overall athletic - department revenue , growing from $ 38 . 6 million in Carroll ' s first season at USC to more than $ 76 million in 2007 – 08 . In explaining why he allegedly didn ' t care about earning a spot in the 2003 National Championship Game , Carroll noted " We can only control getting to the Rose Bowl . - - > < nowiki > [ . . . ] < / nowiki > Our goal isn ' t about national championships , because we don ' t have control of that – that ' s in somebody else ' s hands . We found that out years ago < nowiki > [ 2003 ] < / nowiki > , when we were No . 1 but then we were No . 3 . " Carroll was approached regarding vacant head coach positions in the NFL repeatedly since 2002 . Carroll hesitated to return to the NFL after his previous experiences , and said that his return would likely rest on control over personnel matters at a level unprecedented in the league . He had insisted over the years that he was happy at USC and that money was not an issue ; he also was said to enjoy the Southern California lifestyle . When asked if he would retire at USC , Carroll responded : When originally hired , Carroll signed a five - year contract worth approximately $ 1 million annually . He received a significant raise after the 2002 season and earned close to $ 3 million in the 2004 season , which ended with USC winning the BCS title in January 2005 . He agreed to a contract extension in December 2005 . His total compensation , including pay and benefits , for the 2007 fiscal year was $ 4 , 415 , 714 . Not long before an NCAA report on violations at USC under Carroll was released , on January 10 , 2010 , Carroll told his players that he would resign his position with the Trojans and become the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks . According to the " Los Angeles Times " , Carroll came to agreement with the Seahawks on a 5 - year $ 33 million contract to become head coach . Accomplishments . As head coach , Pete Carroll led a resurgence of football at the University of Southern California . Carroll was generally regarded as one of top college football coaches in the country , and has been compared to College Football Hall of Fame coach Knute Rockne . Program highlights under Carroll include ( note that a number of these accomplishments involve wins that were later vacated by NCAA rulings against the football program ) : In July 2007 , ESPN . com named USC its # 1 team of the decade for the period between 1996 and 2006 , primarily citing the Trojans ' renaissance and dominance under Carroll . In 2007 , his effect on the college football landscape was named one of the biggest developments over the past decade in " ESPN the Magazine " . In May 2008 , Carroll was named the coach who did the most to define the first 10 years of the BCS Era . NCAA sanctions . NCAA ruling . On June 9 , 2010 , " The Los Angeles Times " reported that Carroll , along with other active and former USC officials , had appeared in front of a ten - member NCAA Committee on Infractions the previous February . The next day , June 10 , the NCAA announced sanctions against the USC football program including a two - year bowl ban , the elimination of thirty football scholarships , and forfeiture of some football victories from 2004 - 05 ( a season which had included winning the Bowl Championship Series title ) , and all team victories from the undefeated 2005 - 06 regular season , when USC lost to Texas in the BCS title game . With the vacated games removed , Carroll drops to fourth on USC ' s all - time wins list , behind John McKay , Howard Jones and John Robinson . His 97 on - field wins would put him ahead of Robinson for third in Trojan history . The allegations centered on former Trojan star Reggie Bush . He was found to have accepted several improper gifts , including the use of a San Diego area home by members of Bush ' s family . It was reported that USC might appeal the sanctions . After Carroll announced that he was leaving for the Seahawks , he had denied the possibility of the NCAA sanctions was a factor in his leaving USC to return to pro football in Seattle . " Not in any way , " Carroll stated . " Because I know where we stand . It ' s just a process we have to go through . We know we ' ve fought hard to do right . " Reacting to the USC sanctions in a video produced by his new employers , Carroll said on June 10 , 2010 " I ' m absolutely shocked and disappointed in the findings of the NCAA . " Reactions . Among Carroll ' s critics in the media was longtime " Los Angeles Times " sportswriter Bill Plaschke , who said that in one stroke , Carroll went " Sporting News " writer Mike Florio called for the Seahawks to fire Carroll , saying that " justice won ' t truly be served until the only coaching Carroll ever does entails holding an Xbox controller . " On August 26 , 2010 , the Football Writers Association of America announced it would take back USC ' s 2004 Grantland Rice Trophy and leave that year ' s award vacant , the only vacancy in the over half century of the history of the award . The FWAA also said it would not consider USC as a candidate for the award for the 2010 season . New USC athletic director Pat Haden said USC would return the trophy , stating " While we know that some fans and former student - athletes may be disappointed , our central priority at this time is our overall commitment to compliance and this action is in line with the standards we have set for our entire athletic program . " Hiring of Pete Rodriguez . On July 14 , 2010 , the " Los Angeles Times " reported that Carroll ' s 2008 employment of extra coach Pete Rodriguez would hurt USC ' s appeal of the sanctions . Carroll ' s hire was found to be a violation of NCAA rules that place a cap on the number of coaches a college team is allowed to have . Carroll had denied the hire was a violation in an interview with the paper in July 2009 ; however he was reported to have admitted to the NCAA it was . The Times stated " The association also said that Carroll did not clear the hire with USC ' s compliance office , a finding that contradicts what he told The Times last year . " The Times noted that Caroll had been asked , through his new team , the Seattle Seahawks , for an interview on the subject of the illegal hiring of Rodriguez , but that he had not responded to the request . The newspaper additionally noted that " lawyers and legal scholars agreed that the hire , coupled with the lack of intervention by the USC compliance staff , underscores the NCAA ' s larger determination that there was a pattern of administrators and coaches failing to be vigilant about the rules . " Seattle Seahawks ( 2010 – present ) . After the Seattle Seahawks fired head coach Jim L . Mora , Carroll was rumored to be in the running for the job . On January 8 , 2010 , ESPN ' s Chris Mortensen reported that Carroll will be the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks so long as " minor details " are finalized in the pending contract . According to the " Los Angeles Times " , Carroll was " close to reaching an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks on Friday evening " . On the morning of January 9 , 2010 , Carroll reportedly came to agreement with the Seahawks on a 5 - year contract that would appoint him as head coach . Later on January 9 , ESPN reported that the Seahawks conducted an interview with then Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier to comply with the NFL ' s Rooney Rule . This cleared the way for Carroll to be named head coach as early as January 11 . Original plans called for Carroll to be named team president as well , with full control over football operations . However , they dropped this plan after Frazier indicated he wouldn ' t agree to an interview unless Carroll was only given control over the 53 - man roster . He was officially hired as the Seahawks head coach on January 11 . In his first season , Carroll would almost completely overturn the Seahawks roster , totaling over 200 transactions in the course of only one season . However , these moves would paved the way for an 4 - 2 start to the 2010 NFL season . Although Seattle would falter through the latter half of the season , Carroll would beat the division rival Rams in the final week of the regular season for the NFC West championship , becoming the first 7 - 9 in NFL history to win a division title . Carroll would go on to make even more history as the Seahawks would later upset the then - Super Bowl Champions New Orleans Saints during the wild card round of the playoffs . Coaching style . On offense , Carroll is known for using an aggressive , nonconservative play - calling that is open to trick plays as well as " going for it " on 4th down instead of punting the ball away . Because of his aggressive style , the USC Band has given him the nickname " Big Balls Pete " . At football games , when Pete Carroll decides to go for it on 4th down , the USC band will start a chant of " Big Balls Pete " that carries over to the students section and the alumni . On defense , Carroll favors a bend - but - don ' t - break scheme of preventing the big plays : allowing opposing teams to get small yardage but trying to keep the plays in front of his defenders . Carroll draws coaching inspiration from the 1974 book " The Inner Game of Tennis " , by tennis coach W . Timothy Gallwey , which he picked up as graduate student at the University of the Pacific ; he summarizes the philosophy he took from the book as " all about clearing the clutter in the interactions between your conscious and subconscious mind " enabled " through superior practice and a clear approach . Focus , clarity and belief in yourself are what allows [ " sic " ] you to express your ability without discursive thoughts and concerns . " He wrote a foreword for a later edition , noting that athletes " must clear their minds of all confusion and earn the ability to let themselves play freely . " He also cites influences from psychologist s Abraham Maslow and Carl Jung , Buddhist meditation master Chögyam Trungpa and Zen master D . T . Suzuki . After he was fired by the New England Patriots , Carroll read a book by former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden which heavily influenced how he would run his future program at USC : emulating Wooden , Carroll decided to engineer his program in the way that best exemplified his personal philosophy . He decided his philosophy was best summarized as " I ' m a competitor " . As a fan of the Grateful Dead , Carroll then tied Wooden ' s thoughts into those by Jerry Garcia , and decided that he wanted his football program to not be the best , but the only program following his competitive philosophy . Carroll is known for his high - energy and often pleasant demeanor when coaching . In explaining his enthusiasm , Carroll has stated " I always think something good ' s just about to happen . " In a 2005 interview , Carroll explained his motivation : Carroll has been known to plan elaborate surprises and pranks during practice to lighten the mood and reward the players ; notable examples include using a Halloween practice to stage a fake argument and subsequent falling death of runningback LenDale White , having a defensive end Everson Griffen arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department during a team meeting for " physically abusing " freshman offensive linemen , and several pranks involving USC alumnus and comedic actor Will Ferrell . During practices , Carroll frequently gets involved doing drills : running sprints and routes as well as throwing the ball . Under Carroll , nearly all USC practices are open to the public , a move that is uncommon among programs ; he believes that having fans at practice helps his team prepare , making mundane drills seem more interesting , causing players to perform at a high level when they know they have an audience and preparing them for larger crowds on game days . Despite his penchant for humor , Carroll ' s USC program has strictly prescribed routines that cover what players may eat , the vocabulary they use , and the theme of daily practices . Under his tenure , days have descriptive nicknames like Tell the Truth Monday , Competition Tuesday , Turnover Wednesday . Carroll favorably compares college recruiting to any other competition , and enjoys the ability to recruit talent , which he was unable to do in the NFL . He likens being a college head coach to being both the " coach and general manager . He assigns all jersey numbers to his players , an assignment he takes seriously . When he was an incoming freshman at Pacific , he wanted No . 40 , the number he had worn in all sports growing up ; however , Pacific had retired the number in honor of quarterback / safety Eddie LeBaron , so Carroll ended up with 46 . Philanthropy . After moving to Los Angeles , Carroll was affected by the number of gang - related murders taking place in poorer areas . In April 2003 , Carroll helped organize a meeting with political leaders , high - ranking law enforcement officials and representatives from social service , education and faith - based communities met at USC ' s Heritage Hall for a brainstorming session . The result was the founding of A Better LA , a charity devoted to reducing violence in targeted urban areas of Los Angeles . Work with children . In April 2009 , Pete Carroll launched CampPete . com , a multi - player online game " billed as a ground - breaking Web site aimed at bringing Coach Carroll ' s unique Win Forever philosophy to kids all over the country by taking advantage of one of the hottest technology trends online , the virtual world . " The site , which can be accessed by creating a virtual avatar includes arcade - style games , motivational messages from Coach Carroll and a sports trivia section as well as a collection of virtual football skills workshops for kids . A portion of the proceeds from CampPete . com will go to support A Better LA . Personal . Carroll ' s wife Glena ( née Goranson ) played indoor volleyball at the University of the Pacific . Together they have three children : elder son Brennan , daughter Jaime , and younger son Nathan . Through Brennan and his wife Amber , he has one grandchild , Dillon Brennan Carroll . Pete Carrol is in a select group of celebrity " Deadheads " which is a fan of the Jam Band The Grateful Dead Brennan Carroll played tight end at the University of Pittsburgh after transferring from University of Delaware ; he graduated from Pitt in 2001 and joined his father as a graduate assistant ( he is now an assistant coach ) . Jaime Carroll started attending USC in the fall of 2000 , several months before her father was hired as football coach , she was a player on the Women of Troy ' s women ' s volleyball team . Nathan Carroll graduated from USC with a bachelor ' s degree in May 2010 . Carroll ' s late father - in - law , Dean Goranson , graduated with a Master ' s degree from USC . His older brother , Jim Carroll , played tackle at Pacific , operated a few businesses in the upper Midwest , and is now retired in Phoenix , Arizona .