Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick faced the press together on Friday at the now annual Super Bowl head coaches’ press conference. Over the course of a high-spirited 30 minute conversation with reporters they each offered praise for the other, and discussed common experiences working in New England – where Belichick has coached for the last 15 years, and where Carroll previously filled the same role between 1997 and 1999.
The now Seahawks coach was, unsurprisingly, the more talkative of the two, teasing his more reserved opponent from the start when he opened proceedings with a playful, “Take it, Bill!” But Belichick himself was in unusually jovial form. He turned the tables with a, “Tell me, Pete!” in response to an awkward query about how they cope with the high-pressure moments of a game, and drew laughter again when he replied to a question about what he would emphasise for his team as the key goal for the first quarter of Sunday’s game by replying simply: “What I’d like to establish is the lead”.
Belichick had offered hints of a more relaxed demeanour when he turned up to New England’s Media Day session earlier this week in flip-flops, and discussed toy animals with the daughter of Patriots defensive tackle Jarod Mayo. On Friday he also showed a more personal side than we are used to seeing as he spoke about each of his parents.
Asked which family members would be attending the game, he said that the only person missing would be his 94-year-old mother. “She’s in Annapolis, and she’ll be yelling at the TV set all game,” he said. “I do miss that she won’t be here.”
Belichick’s father, Steve, passed away in 2005, but Belichick paid tribute to him as well, when he and Carroll were asked about the coaches who had been the biggest influences on their respective careers. “I’d have to say my dad,” replied Belichick. “I’ve had the opportunity to be around a lot of great coaches as an assistant coach … I’ve worked for a number of great head coaches, and interacted with many others, but in the end my dad [who coached college football at Hiram, Vanderbilt, North Carolina and Navy] had a big influence on me.”
Both men spoke highly of the work that the other had done with their respective teams. Belichick praised Seattle’s ability to adapt to the flow of a game, saying that: “I don’t think anybody plays situational football better than the Seahawks do.” He added that the thing he would most like to take away from them for his own team would be their relentless competitive spirit.
Carroll, meanwhile, said that he admired the Patriots’ consistency. “The fact that these guys have been so good … they’ve had a first-round bye 10 times. All the championship opportunities, all of the Super Bowls, they’ve continued to show regardless of the personnel, regardless even of the coaching staff because they’ve had a lot of coaches, players have come and gone too, but they’ve maintained the consistency of championship level play. That’s Bill. That’s Bill’s direction and leadership.”
Their respective starting quarterbacks were also discussed. New England’s Tom Brady is seeking to match Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw by achieving a fourth Super Bowl win, but Seattle’s Russell Wilson is also seeking his second in just three years in the league. Asked to compare the two, Belichick demurred – saying he could not speak to Wilson’s qualities as they had never worked together – but Carroll was happy enough to venture an opinion on Brady.
“I think this is such an extraordinary contrast in athletes, and it demonstrates that there’s not just a perfect call for how quarterbacks come together,” he said. “Tom is classic, he has been an extraordinary competitor forever, great leadership, great command, great playmaking ability, the comebacks all that kind of stuff. The leadership, too, he’s such a great leader and he’s demonstrated that so clearly. And as a sixth-rounder he showed that it isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish, and he’s finishing in famous fashion.
“Russell’s such an extraordinary player as well in my opinion. Entirely different makeup in size and shape and form that he presents, and I think it’s a tremendous contrast, it will be a great contrast to watch them throw in this game in Sunday. To see the results that come from totally different styles. But I think that they are [both] great statements in character, and leadership, and competitiveness, how those are the elements that make great players. It isn’t about great size or shape, or any of that kind of stuff.”
The one potentially awkward moment arrived when they were asked whether they were both satisfied that referees were being clear enough in designating eligible and ineligible receivers during games. Carroll had said on Wednesday that the NFL was introducing a new hand signal for its officials to make it clear when a running back or receiver was in fact not eligible to catch a pass – after the Patriots had deployed a variety of unorthodox formations in their first two playoff games.
Belichick seemed to bridle at the question, pointing out, “that’s not my job. Whatever the officials do, that’s their protocol and their mechanics. So you should direct that to the league.”
Carroll sought to defuse any tension, by saying, “I don’t have any problem with the way we expect it to be handled … Bill’s done a great job of challenging [the officials] with some really unique and innovative ideas, moving people around so that they do have to be on their toes but they’re ready to do that, they do a great job and I don’t think there’s going to be any issue with that in terms of this game at all.”
