Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll may be the sun-shiniest head coach in the NFL. His enthusiasm is well-known and infectious. Sometimes, it takes a little unpacking to understand what Positive Pete really means.
Here are some of his latest quotes:
“Right now if we were playing a game, Lem would start for us.”
In response to the gaping hole the Seahawks left themselves with at the center position, due to the absence of former Pro Bowl starter Max Unger, Carrol has bought himself a four-headed competition for the starting job. “Lem” is Lemuel Jeanpierre, who started a handful of games for the blue birds last season as they gritted their collective teeth through injury and ineffectiveness among four starters at center.
I don’t know about you, but the shine off this glowing recommendation is making my eyes hurt. Actually, this kind of tepid commentary from Carroll could be more fairly viewed as damning by faint praise. Positive Pete usually gushes about his young guys competing for greatness. Carroll put Jeanpierre at the top of the depth chart because he was asked the question. The reality is nobody has taken the job yet through the offseason and early into training camp. It could be any one of the four contestants that takes the first snap against the St. Louis Rams.
“This decision sucks.”
The anti-Positive Pete. This gem of a one-liner from Pete Carroll came as part of his statement to the press about the release of starting defensive tackle Tony McDaniel. In this particular instance, take him at 100 percent face value. He’s right. It sucks.
It’s the height of candor from Carroll. Some may be inclined to think that his quote is throwing more than a little shade at General Manager John Schneider. I doubt it. I’m sure Carroll was apprised of the ramifications of signing stars Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner to shiny new huge contracts. There would be cost-cutting elsewhere. It was a reality everyone knew was coming.
Now that it has come to fruition — it would be hard to find a clearer case of a “cap casualty” — the former Seahawks starter is on the streets. With Carroll’s heartfelt assessment of McDaniel taken as a recommendation for future employers, it’s a safe bet that McDaniel won’t be unemployed for long.
Carroll’s succinct assessment of the situation is also an act of foreshadowing. McDaniel is the just the first. Tough cuts lie ahead for the Seahawks and cap considerations are probably at an all-time high in terms of deciding who stays and who goes.
In signing Wilson and Wagner to long-term contracts, the Seahawks made the future Seahawks stronger. They did not make the present-day Seahawks better.
“I’m really, really excited about Frank.”
Now that’s some vintage Positive Pete. This glowing review of defensive end Frank Clark, the Seahawks’ 2015 second-round draft pick, is exactly what you would expect him to say. Translation: He hasn’t screwed up yet. Clark, who arrived in Seattle amid a swirling controversy around some off-field trouble and a (for what it’s worth) league-wide consensus opinion that Clark was a reach in the second round.
Carroll, no doubt, intends to reinforce the positive and hope for the best for the controversial rookie. The best, as Carroll notes later in his press conference on Aug. 2, includes a plan for increased speed from the defensive front. Clark is the shiniest new piece of that otherwise veteran group. Thanks to the salary cap, the Seahawks had to jettison a big-bodied starter on the defensive line in McDaniel. It sounds a little better to say they’re shifting to a speedier front, since they lost one of their most reliable big guys.
Bonus coach quote
“Jameis doesn’t need a mentor.” — Lovie Smith, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach
Translation: We don’t have anyone better. Jameis Winston is the best we’ve got so we’re going to prop him up as the franchise’s (and my last head coaching stop) savior that he is. The other two quarterbacks on the roster are Mike Glennon and whatever a Seth Lobato is. What else could he say?
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