This was in October of 2020, the Saturday before a road game against the Arizona Cardinals. Coach Pete Carroll had undergone arthroscopic knee surgery during the preceding bye week and a day earlier had been hobbling around the team’s Friday practice with the help of a cane in his right hand.
So you can imagine his players’ disbelief at what they saw next: their then-69-year-old head coach, bum knee and all, bursting into the room in a full-on sprint.
“He runs down the middle of the split between the seats and then looks like he’s like a deer in the headlights,” special teamer Nick Bellore said. “And then changes direction like he’s running a pro agility at the combine.”
The room erupted.
“He’s like slapping his leg and running and he’s yelling, saying he’s fine,” Bellore said. “It was hilarious because it was out of nowhere. We were all confused why he wasn’t there right when the meeting started and then he just came flying in, like absolutely sprinting. … It was hilarious. It was like the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Carroll, now 72, is out as coach after 14 seasons in Seattle, exiting with a franchise-record 147 victories with the Seahawks, including their lone Super Bowl championship. To those who played for Carroll, his legacy extends beyond all the wins to the relationships he built and the fun he had along the way.
‘I think naturally he’s that way’
Before edge rusher Cliff Avril became one of the key parts of the No. 1-ranked defense that led the Seahawks to a win in Super Bowl XLVIII and a near-repeat the following year, he had to be convinced that Seattle was where he wanted to play. As a free agent in 2013 after five seasons with the Detroit Lions, Avril was skeptical about signing with the Seahawks when his agent called him to discuss the possibility.
“Soon as I hung up with him, Coach Carroll calls,” Avril said. “He’s on the phone, he’s like, ‘Hey, what do you think about coming to Seattle? … We would love to have you.’ Just hyping me up, like big time. It felt like college again where they’re recruiting you.”
Having never met an NFL coach who spoke to players with that level of enthusiasm, a surprised Avril figured it was just a put-on. Whatever it was, it worked. Avril flew to Seattle and met with Carroll, who kept that same energy. He figured the coach would drop the act after he signed a two-year, $13 million deal.
“Now I’m thinking things are going to change because you got me, you know what I’m saying?” Avril said. “And literally every single day until 10 years later, still super hyper. I remember my first two years being here, both Super Bowl runs, and he’d have all this energy and I’d just be sitting there and I’m like, when is this going to change? There’s no way this man is this happy every single day. So I joke with him every time I see him like, ‘Hey Coach, what are you on? Because I want that energy pill, too. Because you’re seventy-some years old and you have the most energy out here.'”
Avril jokes it must be the bubble gum, the trademark accessory Carroll incessantly smacks.
“Nah, I think naturally he’s that way,” Avril said. “But I also think from a psychological standpoint, he understands that it’s contagious and he wants to make sure that every day, everybody puts their best foot forward and the only way you do that is by being happy … being energetic, enjoying what we’re doing, and you’re going to get the best out of guys.”
A neck injury forced Avril into retirement after the 2017 season, but he has remained a fixture at Seahawks practices and games. To this day, he says he has never seen Carroll drink a cup of coffee or a can of soda.
“It’s just who he is, and it took me two years to believe it,” he said. “It took me two years to believe that Coach Carroll was the energetic, happy person that he shows every single day.”
‘We’re good for lifetime’
Between the fun environment that Carroll fostered, the latitude he gave players to be themselves and the way he didn’t overwork his veterans, Seattle went from an NFL outpost to a desirable destination.
“I’m telling you,” former Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright said, “guys just love the culture.”
And that, according to Wright, is why many wanted to return to Seattle even after leaving on sour terms.
Wright never wanted to leave in the first place. But in 2021, the Seahawks decided that after 10 seasons and the third-most tackles in franchise history, they weren’t going to re-sign him when his contract expired. He hit free agency at age 32, coming off a productive season in which he didn’t miss a game, and yet his market was minimal.
“Life was hell for me because no one was calling me,” Wright said. “I wasn’t getting any offers from any teams.”
Summer came, and his phone stayed painfully silent. Carroll called to check on him.
“He said, ‘K.J., how are you doing, man? How are you holding up?'” Wright recalled. “‘It sucks, Coach. I’m not happy.'”
