A Grip on Sports: Pete Carroll, an honorable man, is feted by all after Seahawks fire their once highly successful head coach
A GRIP ON SPORTS • What is it Marc Antony said? Something about not praising Caesar but burying him? And then praising him to high heaven? Sort of like when popular football coaches are led out to pasture, except without the pretense.
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• Ya, about that whole Shakespeare conceit. There is no place for that in our modern age. Ask Pete Carroll. Jody Allen fired him Wednesday, no matter how she tried to echo Mr. Antony in her public statement. And how many jobs with the organization she offered the 72-year-old.
His time in Seattle, which included more success than any Seahawk coach ever, including the ultimate success, is over. Done. Finished. Here’s the door. You can talk while you leave but, please, leave.
In other words, be gone old man. And take those white tennis shoes with you.
Funny thing is, it was time. Maybe past time. But no one, not even Bill Belichick nor Nick Saban, can coach forever. At some point Old Man Time steps in and forces change, no matter how much kicking and screaming and crying there is.
We get it. Heck, everyone gets it, even Carroll and the other two icons of the sport who left the stage, slowly to be sure, yesterday and this morning. At least Allen let Carroll have this past year. One more chance to show he hadn’t lost his attention to detail, to discipline, to success. He had.
You can argue all you want the Hawks didn’t have enough pieces to win this season and you might be right. Probably would be right, actually. But that doesn’t absolve Carroll. His devotion to his players and staff was a blessing, the cornerstone of his remarkable run of success – and showed in their public praise of him the past 24 hours.
Sadly, it was also his curse. And the source of his downfall.
The Hawks showed the season before, when they squeaked into the playoffs, the defense was not only bereft of run-stopping players, it also didn’t have the right person in charge. John Schneider tried to supply the former, but Carroll stayed with defensive architect Clint Hurtt one year too long. The Seahawks started this season quickly but, after the NFL’s bright young offensive minds decoded the small changes made, slipped into oblivion again. And that was the end of any playoff hopes.
That was on Carroll. Faithfulness is a good trait, unless it blinds one to the needs of the group.
There are many things to admire about Carroll and his tenure in Seattle. Much for the fans to be thankful for and to wax nostalgic about. He will be hard to replace. All that is true. And yet, Allen still made the right choice.
• We’ll give Saban a shoutout here as well. No, not for the seven national titles he won – six at Alabama and one with LSU. Nor will we overpraise all the NFL stars he turned out, though it is worth noting. What we really admire is Saban understanding when it was time to step away. In that, he once again reminds us of John Wooden.
Both were the most successful coaches ever in their respective college sports. Both will never be duplicated. And both left at the right time.
Wooden went out after his 10th NCAA basketball title at age 64, though he seemed 10 years older. Saban? He didn’t win a title this last season but he won something more. He was better than ever, leading an Alabama squad that he believes improved more from the first week to the last than any team he coached. That’s the definition of successful coaching and a perfect year to use as your last – even if you act 10 years younger than your 72 years.
Wooden made the right choice. His final 35 years on the planet were special in their own way. He not only served as college hoops’ sage, he enjoyed the most important aspect of life, his family. Maybe Saban will walk the same road, though he is rumored to be Lee Corso’s personal pick to fill Corso’s College GameDay mascot heads.
Either way, Saban has shown he has always understood the best way to be successful in whatever it is you do.
Follow the path blazed by the best. Learn the lessons you need. And then do it your way.
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WSU: Washington State played a rare Wednesday night game. A one-off. In Los Angeles. A long trip. A short timeframe. All worth it. Thanks to Isaac Jones’ play in the second half. His 17 points in those 20 minutes, and 26 overall, led the Cougars over USC, 72-64. Well, that and his 11 rebounds. Greg Woods watched from Pullman and has this game story. … We can pass along the coverage from Los Angeles as well, including a story on DJ Rodman. . … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, maybe the win will help the Cougars move up in Jon Wilner’s Best of the West rankings, which are in the S-R. With Arizona coming to Pullman on Saturday, probably not. … There was one other game last night. Colorado traveled to California and lost a key game to the Bears. The Buffs need to get healthy quickly. … Washington faces the challenge that is Arizona State these days. … Both UCLA and Utah need a win in their matchup tonight. … Arizona plays better defense than some think. … The Pac-12 women have seven schools in the top 22 of the NCAA’s NET rankings. That’s dominance. Jeff Metcalfe has his conference power rankings in the Mercury News. … Oregon has a shot at a win against Arizona State. … Colorado’s defensive metrics overall are down from last season but not down the stretch in key games. … Tara VanDerveer still has a lot to say. … The conference is always good. … In football news, John Canzano pinpoints the main reason why the Pac-12 schools never won a national title in their last three tries. … Washington was the latest to try and the Huskies failed. Not because they didn’t have talent, though. More of their better players declared for the NFL draft yesterday. … Dan Lanning is devoted to Oregon. At least he’s said that many times. If Alabama calls, will that devotion hold? … Another former Oregon State player is headed to Florida State. … He’ll join a player who said he was transferring to Colorado but decided to stay at FSU. … Will Utah be the Big 12 favorite next season? … By the way, the Utes’ Alex Smith is headed to the college football Hall of Fame. … UCLA has some holes at the skill positions. … USC, which picked up another quarterback transfer, is pretty stocked but needs receiver depth. … Finally, an Oregon State wrestler was badly injured in a freak accident.
Gonzaga: There is a chance tonight Mark Few will win his 700th game tonight at Santa Clara. But it won’t be easy. The Broncos are 11-6, 2-0 in WCC play despite having played a tough schedule. Theo Lawson is in the Bay Area and has this preview of the game along with the key matchup. … The women are home against an even better Santa Clara squad, coming off a bye that coach Lisa Fortier did not enjoy one bit. Greg Lee has her thoughts on that and more in this women’s basketball notebook. … Besides facing Gonzaga tonight, the Santa Clara men also play Saint Mary’s on Saturday.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, nonconference basketball is over. Montana State needs to shore up its defense to win in conference play. … Weber State is atop the men’s standings though it hits the road this weekend. … Montana heads back to action as well. … Northern Colorado welcomes in the Griz women. … One Northern Arizona player has had a productive five-year career. … In football news, there is an opening on the Montana State staff.
Preps: We couldn’t get down to the Arena last night but we did watch the Rubber Chicken from home. And was not surprised Kayla Jones scored 35 points to lead Ferris to a win in the girls’ game. Dave Nichols has the game story from both games and the spirit competition. … Colin Mulvany braved the noise once again and has a photo gallery. … We can pass along a roundup of the other prep action from Wednesday as well.
Chiefs: Dave also put together this story on Spokane’s fourth consecutive loss on its road trip. The Chiefs fell 3-1 at Red Deer.
Track and field: Once again this weekend the area college track squads will gather for an indoor meet at The Podium. Dan Thompson has a preview of the next couple events featuring athletes from all over.
Seahawks: Dave Boling had the fortune to be able to watch Carroll’s entire 14-year tenure with Seattle. And 14 years in which to try to overcome his first impression. He did. He explains it all in this column. … Of course there are lots of stories to pass along, many of which ran in the S-R this morning. There is also in-depth coverage of the coaching change in the Seattle Times and other outlets near and far.
Kraken: With football season over, now is the time to focus on the Kraken. Until that long-down-the-road day the Sonics return.
Sounders: A couple former players are now into coaching and such.
Mariners: Seattle added a former player as a coach and a former Red Sox as a player.
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• There is one thing Carroll gave the Northwest few ever have. A title. The only Super Bowl one in fact. And nearly another. What a great time that was, until Russell Wilson’s last pass in that second Super Bowl. What’s next? It will be interesting to see if Allen goes in a different direction or hires a Carroll-like coach. And we’re not just talking football. In how the players are treated as well. Until later …