What Happened To Pete Carroll In New England?

Monday, January 26, 2015

Matt LaPan, Go Local Sports Reporter

Pete Carroll spent three seasons in New England as head coach

For the past 15 seasons the New England Patriots have been under the steady, consistent management of Bill Belichick. Belichick has managed a 175-65 record as Patriots head coach and has won an NFL-record 21 games in the playoffs, including three Super Bowls.

Before Belichick the Patriots struggled through three seasons with then coach Pete Carroll. This Sunday, Carroll will be on the opposite sideline as the Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Carroll went 27-21 as Patriots coach after inheriting a team that competed in Super Bowl XXXI in 1996 under the direction of Bill Parcells. After his teams got worse in each of his three seasons, Carroll was fired by the Patriots following an 8-8 season in 1999, missing the playoffs.

What happened to Carroll and the Patriots over those three seasons? Was it a talent issue, or the issues of an inexperienced coach who has now ascended to the top of his profession?

Setting The Roster

The Patriots roster in 1997 was not very dissimilar from the roster in 1996. The Patriots returned starting quarterback, and future Patriots Hall of Fame inductee, Drew Bledsoe. They also returned backup quarterback Scott Zolak. Bledsoe threw for 4,086 yards and 27 touchdowns in 1996, adding 595 yards and three touchdowns in the playoffs.

The Patriots returned their entire running back group of Curtis Martin, Keith Byars, Dave Meggett and Marrio Grier. They added Sam Gash to the running back stable as well. Martin was one of the top backs in the NFL in 1996, compiling 1,485 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns.

The Patriots also returned nearly their entire pass-catching group. They brought back Vincent Brisby, Troy Brown, Terry Glenn, Shawn Jefferson and Dietrich Jells at receiver along with Ben Coates and Lovett Prunell at tight end. The group was known as a high-flying offense with great weapons for Bledsoe.

Defensively the Patriots brought back a hard-nosed defense full of star power for a defensive-minded Carroll. New England brought back Willie McGinest, Ted Johnson, Tedy Bruschi, Chris Slade, Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy.

Carroll took full advantage of this group, advancing the 14th ranked defense in 1996 and bringing them up to the 7th ranked defense by the time he left New England.

Carroll’s Opening Season

1997 was a moderate success for Carroll. New England started 5-1 on the season before finishing with a 10-6 record and winning the AFC East. After a strong start to the season, the Patriots offense struggled at the end of the season.

The Patriots were able to take down the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round of the playoffs before eventually falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional round.

The Beginning Of The End

Prior to the start of the 1998 season, the Patriots rivalry with Bill Parcells and the New York Jets grew to a new level. The Patriots had placed a 1st and 3rd round tender on running back Curtis Martin, but that did not stop Parcells and the Jets. The Jets signed Martin away from the Patriots, taking arguably the top offensive attack for the Patriots. The Patriots used their new 1st round draft pick on Robert Edwards, who filled in nicely for Martin — gaining over 1,000 yards on the ground.

The season was derailed at the end, however, when starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe broke his finger. The Patriots were forced to go with backup Scott Zolak for the final two games of the season. Although Zolak led the Patriots to a great 24-21 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16, he and the Patriots missed out on consecutive 10-win seasons when they were decimated 31-10 by the Jets in Week 17. The 9-7 record did get the Patriots into the playoffs, they were taken down by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wildcard round of the playoffs.

Carroll’s Final Season

1999 was the final season under Pete Carroll, and it was a tough one for the Patriots. After a great rookie season in 1998, Robert Edwards was not available for the Patriots in 1999 following a devastating knee injury in a game of football on the beach at the Pro Bowl. The injury effectively took away any rushing attack the Patriots could expect.

Without a rushing attack, offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese struggled to get the offense going. The Patriots finished with the 20th-ranked scoring offense and the 18th-ranked offense in yardage. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe managed a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio, throwing 19 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.

After starting 6-2, the Patriots struggled late in the season, going 2-6 over the second half of the season. The team finished at 8-8 and that was enough to get Carroll fired. Although he improved the defense, Carroll’s short-comings on offense were ultimately his undoing.

After leaving New England, Carroll spent the next 10 seasons with USC before rejoining the NFL in 2010 with the Seahawks. Sunday, he will be looking to take down the team that let him go nearly 16 years ago.