Pete Carroll

Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach. He served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks, and as the head coach of the USC Trojans for nine seasons. Carroll is the third head coach to win both a college football national championship and a Super Bowl, achieving the former with the Trojans and the latter with the Seahawks. He is also the Seahawks' most successful head coach, having led them to their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

Beginning his coaching career on the NFL level, Carroll saw minimal success as head coach of the New York Jets in 1994 and the New England Patriots from 1997 to 1999. Shifting to college football with USC, he revitalized the struggling program into a top-ranked contender from 2001 to 2009, winning seven consecutive conference championships and an AP national championship. He also won a BCS national championship at the 2005 Orange Bowl, although the title was later vacated.

Carroll's college success prompted a return to the NFL in 2010 when he was hired as the head coach of the Seahawks. During his 14 seasons, he led the team to 10 playoff appearances, five division titles, two consecutive Super Bowls, and the franchise's first championship in Super Bowl XLVIII. The team's Legion of Boom defense also led the league in scoring defense for four consecutive seasons under Carroll. Following the 2023 season, Carroll stepped down as head coach to take an advisory position with the Seahawks. He left Seattle in 2025 to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, where he spent one season.

Early life

Carroll was born on September 15, 1951, in San Francisco, California, the son of Rita (née Ban) and James Edward "Jim" Carroll. Two of his paternal great-grandparents were Irish immigrants, and his Croatian maternal grandparents emigrated from around the region of Šibenik. He was raised in Greenbrae, California, and attended Greenbrae School. Carroll attended Redwood High School in Larkspur, California.

He was a multi-sport star in football (playing quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive back), basketball, and baseball, earning the school's Athlete of the Year honors as a senior in 1969. He was inducted into the charter class of the Redwood High School Athletic Hall of Fame in April 2009.

After high school, Carroll attended junior college at the nearby College of Marin, where he played football for two years, intercepting 12 passes, before transferring to the University of the Pacific, where he is a member of the California Rho (Calif. P) chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. At Pacific, Carroll played free safety for two years for the Tigers, earning All-Pacific Coast Athletic Association honors both years (1971–72) and earning his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1973. Following his senior season, Carroll was selected as Pacific's recipient of the Charles Erb Jr. Award for Most Inspirational Player, the Tully Knoles Award for Ironman, and the Sid Robinson Award for the team's Most Loyal Player.

Combined between Marin and UOP, Carroll finished his college career with 22 interceptions while also returning punts. After graduation, Carroll tried out for the Honolulu Hawaiians of the World Football League at their training camp in Riverside but did not make the team due to shoulder problems combined with his small size.

Coaching career

Collegiate assistant (1973–1983)

Carroll's energetic and positive personality made a good impression on his head coach, Chester Caddas. When Caddas found out Carroll was interested in coaching, he offered him a job as a graduate assistant on his staff at Pacific. Carroll agreed and enrolled as a graduate student, earning a secondary teaching credential and Master's degree in physical education in 1976, while serving as a graduate assistant for three years and working with the wide receivers and secondary defenders. The assistants at Pacific during this time included a number of other future successful coaches, including Greg Robinson, Jim Colletto, Walt Harris, Ted Leland, and Bob Cope. Carroll was inducted into the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

After graduating from Pacific, Carroll's colleague Bob Cope was hired by the University of Arkansas and he convinced Lou Holtz, then the head coach of the Razorbacks, to also hire Carroll. Carroll spent the 1977 season as a graduate assistant working with the secondary under Cope. During his season with Arkansas, he met his future offensive line coach Pat Ruel, also a graduate assistant, as well as the future head coach of the Razorbacks Houston Nutt, who was a backup quarterback. Arkansas' Defensive Coordinator at the time, Monte Kiffin, became a mentor to Carroll. The Razorbacks won the 1978 Orange Bowl that season.

The following season, Carroll moved to Iowa State University, where he was again an assistant working on the secondary under Earle Bruce. When Bruce moved on to Ohio State University, he again hired Carroll to coach the secondary. The Ohio State squad made it to the 1980 Rose Bowl where they lost to USC.

When Monte Kiffin was named head coach of North Carolina State University in 1980, he brought Carroll in as his defensive coordinator and secondary coach. In 1983, Bob Cope became head coach of Pacific and brought Carroll on as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.

National Football League (1984–1999)

Carroll left Pacific after a year and entered the NFL in 1984 as the defensive backs coach of the Buffalo Bills. The next year, he moved on to work with the Minnesota Vikings, where he held the same position from 1985–1989. In 1989, he was a candidate for the head coaching position at Stanford University; the position went to Dennis Green. His success with the Vikings led to his hiring by the New York Jets, where he served as defensive coordinator under Bruce Coslet from 1990–1993. Carroll and Coslet had known each other for many years by that time, as Carroll's older brother was Coslet's college roommate. When there was an opening for the Vikings' head coach position in 1992, he was a serious candidate but lost the position, again to Green.

In 1994, Carroll was elevated to head coach of the Jets. Known for his energy and youthful enthusiasm, Carroll painted a basketball court in the parking lot of the team's practice facility where he and his assistant coaches regularly played three-on-three games during their spare time. The Jets got off to a 6–5 start under Carroll, but in Week 12, he was the victim of Dan Marino's "clock play"—a fake spike that became a Miami Dolphins game-winning touchdown. The Jets lost all of their remaining games to finish 6–10. He was fired after one season.

Carroll was hired for the next season by the San Francisco 49ers, where he served as defensive coordinator for the following two seasons (1995–96). His return to success as the defensive coordinator led to his hiring as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 1997, replacing coach Bill Parcells, who had resigned after disputes with the team's ownership. His 1997 Patriots team won the AFC East division title, but his subsequent two teams did not fare as well—losing in the wild card playoff round in 1998, and missing the playoffs after a late-season slide in 1999—and he was fired after the 1999 season. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said firing Carroll was one of the toughest decisions he has had to make since buying the team, stating, "A lot of things were going on that made it difficult for him to stay, some of which were out of his control. And it began with following a legend." His combined NFL record as a head coach was 33–31, and he was later considered a much better fit for college football than the NFL after his success at USC.

Even though several NFL teams approached him with defensive coordinator positions, Carroll instead spent the 2000 season as a consultant for pro and college teams, doing charitable work for the NFL, and writing a column about pro football for CNNSI.com.

USC (2000–2009)

Hiring

Carroll was named the Trojans' head coach on December 15, 2000, signing a five-year contract after USC had gone through a tumultuous 18-day search to replace fired coach Paul Hackett. He was not the Trojans' first choice, and was considered a long shot as the USC Athletic Department under Director Mike Garrett initially planned to hire a high-profile coach with recent college experience. Meanwhile, Carroll, who had not coached in over a year and not coached in the college ranks since 1983, drew unfavorable comparisons to the outgoing Hackett.

USC first pursued then-Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson, who instead signed a contract extension with the Beavers; then Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who similarly signed an extension. The search then moved to the San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley, who had been an assistant coach at USC before later becoming the head coach of Oregon State. Stuck in contractual obligations to the Chargers (who were still in the midst of an NFL season) and hesitant about moving his family, Riley was unable to give a firm answer, opening an opportunity for Carroll, the school's fourth choice.