For the first time since the organization parted ways with him in January of 2024, Pete Carroll made his return to Lumen Field in Seattle Thursday night, this time as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. And naturally, Carroll, who coached the Seahawks for 14 seasons, picked up some forces of habit over the years.
And you know what they say: old habits die hard.
Carroll said he found himself looking at the scoreboard, seeing Seahawks players and accidentally thinking what they had accomplished was good for his team.
"There were a couple times guys made plays and I’m looking at the screen in the end zone, and I thought it was our guys making plays," Carroll told reporters after the 23-23 tie.
After 14 years of habitually glancing up at the scoreboard to see plays made by the Seahawks, it's perfectly understandable that Carroll would inadvertently do so once again in his return to his old stomping grounds. Carroll, who accumulated a 137-89-1 record in his 14 years pacing the sidelines in Seattle, is the winningest Seahawks coach of all time and helped lead the franchise to glory in 2014 when it captured its lone Lombardi Trophy with a 43-8 triumph over the Denver Broncos.
There weren't just habits, there were memories for Carroll in Seattle. And he returned like an old friend on Thursday, talking with many of Seattle's players on the field before the game, bounding around the field with his usual youthful energy. He also received a warm welcome from the fans upon walking out onto the field. And while he wasn't emotional speaking about his return after the game, it was clear that he enjoyed being back.
"It was cool to be here. I loved it here," Carroll said. "But it didn’t translate to something crazy for me. It was just an opportunity to play in a great setting. Thanks to the league for putting us in this game. They figured it out, it was a good idea, and it’s been a good one to look forward to."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pete Carroll's Return to Seattle Included Some Confused Glances at the Scoreboard.
