What the reaction was when the Patriots hired Pete Carroll
"Carroll gave every indication that he'll be able to do what Bill Parcells never could do: bow at the feet of an owner who is rapidly spinning out of control."
When Pete Carroll was named head coach of the Patriots in February of 1997, what should have been a major story was rendered peripheral by the ongoing subplot surrounding his predecessor.
Bill Parcells, who Carroll replaced as coach, was entangled in a protracted dispute as he tried to leave the Patriots for the rival Jets.
And because of Parcells’ reputation (buoyed by the fact that he had just guided the Patriots to a Super Bowl berth), media attention focused largely on “The Big Tuna”.
Given also that future Patriots coach Bill Belichick was himself caught up in the Parcells fight with Patriots owner Robert Kraft over the former’s acrimonious departure from New England, the story remains interesting nearly 20 years afterward. Belichick would follow Parcells to New York, leading to another acrimonious departure (this time going in the other direction) as the Patriots hired the defensive coordinator to be Carroll’s replacement in 2000.
Looking back at what the reactions were to Caroll being hired by the Patriots presents some interesting pieces of forgotten history. The Parcells saga (which would eventually reach a conclusion only after the NFL commissioner mediated a draft pick compensation package) loomed like a dark cloud over Carroll’s introduction to New England.
With Carroll returning to New England on Sunday for the first time since being fired in January of 2000, the Carroll-Belichick-Parcells triangle is relevant once again, representing not only a list of Super Bowl champions, but also a group which was caught in a bitter coaching carousel.
In February, 1997, Nick Cafardo (covering the story for The Boston Globe) described the seemingly impossible circumstances of Carroll’s position:
Will Pete Carroll bring the Patriots a championship in his first year? Anything short of that and he will be considered somewhat of a failure. That would be unfair, of course, considering that he will be introducing a new style of coaching, complete with new systems and new assistant coaches.
Dan Shaughnessy (also writing for the Globe) initially described Carroll as nothing more than a pawn in Robert Kraft’s world. It’s a description of the Patriots owner which seems entirely foreign to fans in 2016, yet reflected the power struggle that had led to Parcells’ departure:
Pete Carroll was hired as the new field master of the Patriots yesterday. Kraft signed Carroll to a five-year contract and Carroll gave every indication that he’ll be able to do what Bill Parcells never could do: bow at the feet of an owner who is rapidly spinning out of control.
Yet Shaughnessy took little time coming to appreciate Carroll’s character. Commenting on Carroll taking time out of his busy schedule to meet fans and speak at a Hockomock Area YMCA event in March of 1997, he noted:
Carroll may not take the Patriots to the Super Bowl next season. He may be too young, too nice, or not enough of a grid genius to guide his team to a 16-0 regular-season record. But he’s got a rare sense of perspective for a man in his position.
Howard Ulman of the Associated Press had a prescient view of the differences between Parcells and Carroll:
His [Parcells’] dominating personality, though, could be better than Carroll’s for a young team that might get too arrogant after an outstanding season.
Views from across the country also focused on the Parcells subplot. Mike Lopresti, a columnist for The Times in Louisiana:
Say hello to Pete Carroll, sitting at the New England seat, wiping away the last crumbs of The Tuna. A former New York Jets fatality as head coach, but one could fill an Amtrak train with those. And Parcells ironically may be the next passenger.
And Kraft, at the news conference introducing Carroll, described him in very turn-of-the-century terms:
His style of motivation is probably right for coming into the age of the millennium and the internet.
Carroll would go 10-6 in his first season, falling only one win short of Parcells’ record in the previous year. The Patriots lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Steelers, 7-6.
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