Pete Carroll spent four seasons as defensive coordinator for the Jets as well.
Credit: Getty Images
Before Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll reached his dream of being in the Super Bowl, he started his NFL head coaching career across the parking lot from the site of Super Bowl XLVIII at the old Giants Stadium.
But it was a short-lived ascent for Carroll, who started 6-5 with the Jets in his first NFL head coaching job in 1994 — only to finish with five straight losses and a pink slip after one season.
“To have a chance to be a head coach in New York is an extraordinary honor because of the history and the following and all that goes along with that,” Carroll said. “Unfortunately it didn’t last very long, but it still was a great experience and I remember it well. I’m really proud to come back here and coach in a game like this, this status, in places we once lived and worked. It’s a special honor to do that.”
It’s a tenure Carroll told the media he’s not dwelling on now back in East Rutherford, N.J., for the biggest moment of his career.
“You know, I think I do a pretty good job of not doing that,” Carroll said. “I don’t really care about trying to figure out where we are right now, just keep moving forward. Someday we’ll look back and that’s when you can kind of make an assessment of what’s happening.”
Carroll has found the same kind of success in Seattle he had in his tenure at USC — where he was an icon after winning two national titles.
“The entire community of Seattle has embraced the Seahawks and all groups have joined in,” Carroll said. “The 12th man is real.”
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.
