Why Do Opposing Fans Hate Pete Carroll?

[drdiags]

The Lynch quote where he talked about playing at Cal and wanting them to run a play over to Pete's side so he could run him over helps frame why other teams fans hate Pete. Just like they hate Sherman. Both are seen as flamboyant so you want to see them crushed.

Most fans probably want a HC that are more a father figure, where Pete is more like the crazy uncle. Weird thing is that Jim H had a ton more respect coming out of college but can be just as irritating.

I think Pete is thought of as rah rah, running a lax team with uncontrolled players who cheat and are dope heads. Other coaches that had similar rates of performance/substance abuse suspensions have benefited from Pete being persona non-grata #1 (Coughlin, Belichek and Shanahan names come to mind).

Anyway, the reasons listed in this thread cover the reasons I think fans of other teams don't like him. We had/have vocal members of this forum who were not/are not that fond of him as well. So it isn't just other teams fans.

 

[SeahawksForever]

Attributing the dislike to simply "people being haters" or "envy" is inaccurate. The reason people hate Pete Carroll is because he typically runs a loose ship. He gives his players a lot of freedom to be themselves and speak their mind. Sometimes this manifests itself in what some people would call unruly behavior (i.e. Richard Sherman's various antics).

But the biggie is that a lot of people think Carroll knowingly watched over myriad NCAA violations at USC, and then took off for Seattle right as the hammer was about to come down. True or not, that is the perception for a lot of folks.

But again, I really can't stand when people say they get flack simply because other people are "haters." That's absurd. Usually that person is an a-hole and just doesn't want to admit it. Example A: Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. Both are outstanding QBs that have enjoyed much success. But one has a lot more "haters."

 

[lukerguy]

They feel he is phony and disingenuous. They think, "I'm 40 and don't have nearly the enthusiasm of 62 year old. He must be fake".

 

[Seeker]

The media trains them to,

let me be clear, I don't mean this in some conspiracy theory sort of way. It's basic media framing and if you are trying to frame a story you need a villain.

Pete is the living embodiment of anti establishment NFL. everything he does flies in the face of traditional conventional football knowledge. He makes blowhards and talking heads nervous because every win he stacks up screams, "you guys don't know what your talking about" and they know he is right.


- You can't pick a 5'10" QB
- Marshawn was a washup in Buffalo, don't waste a 2nd rounder on him
- Why do you have big slow 6'3" corners and safeties!?!
- Your receiving core is pedestrian at best (would literally laugh everytime I heard someone say this on tv because it was a dead giveaway they were just copy/pasting some other hack writers assessment and not watching the games at all).
- defense is dead, you have to throw the ball 90 - 99% of the time to win in the new NFL


then pete mop the floor with them and they mad.

Also there's this

 

[imnKOgnito]

I agree with a lot that's been said here and would add that:

Hate is an aspect of fear. These fans of other teams hate Pete Carroll because they're afraid he's going to dominate the NFL for the next decade much the way he dominated the NCAA while at USC. And they're right. I'd also say that part of it is that so many people mocked him when he came out of USC as being a college coach that couldn't win in the NFL, while overlooking the obvious reasons why he wasn't in the same mold as Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier or Bobby Petrino. They were wrong, and people hate being wrong. It's kinda funny that the very next year, when Harbaugh came out, no one slapped that 'college coach' label on him. As a result, he came into the league with far less animosity and ridicule directed at him so, even though he's a major douche, he gets the benefit of the doubt in ways that Carroll never will.

And I'm fine with it. If it means a decade of dominance, hate away!

 

[Donn2390]

I understand the hate for other coaches like Bilicheck who is an a-hole to the media or Rex Ryan who can be a jerk to the media....

With that said... Pete has never stoop to the level of those guys. I never seen him look down on reporters and talked to the press like a jerk before. Not to mention he has been classy his who time in Seattle. I never heard him talk bad about any teams or players or throw anybody under the bus. He doesn't whine, make excuses, or complain after a loss.

Why do opposing fans dislike the man? Cause he chews gum? They assumed he cheated at USC? In my opinion PC is all class..

The answer is really easy. I live in So Calif and became a Seahawk fan when Pete left USC to frolic in the rain. Everyone in the NW hated the hire, and hated Pete. For two years I had to bite my tongue as he was called every name in the book while he was losing but building for the future. He was the loser from So Calif that had been fired from two previous pro jobs, he cheated to win at SC, he was a rah rah guy who couldn't get away with that in the pros, etc, etc. There wasn't much good to say about Pete the cheat.
Pete and I went through some rough times in the first couple of years. It was even tougher for me than Pete, because I wasn't paid millions to put up with the hate, the crap and the insults.... I took solace in knowing my time, Pete's time, was coming..!! You found out there is much more to the man, the personal side. His work for the community, his love for his players and his community. His love of life....
I truly believe much of the hate came from deep within your souls, because Pete wasn't exactly kind to UW on many occasions. Not only did he routinely come out ahead when playing against Washington schools, but all of you locals hated his success because you wanted to have his success, and he was always standing in the way..
Now that success you despised him for, he brought with him and gift wrapped it for all of you long suffering South Alaskans..
Now days as I read through the threads and articles, no one remembers those days, the Hawks are on the verge of greatness and Pete is universally loved, with the exception of a few old sore heads...
GO HAWKS..

 

[imnKOgnito]

The answer is really easy. I live in So Calif and became a Seahawk fan when Pete left USC to frolic in the rain. Everyone in the NW hated the hire, and hated Pete.

Not totally true. I'm a UW fan, native NWesterner, and Seahawk fan as long as there have been Seahawks, and I loved the hire.

 

[Xarbx425]

Personally, back when he was at USC, I was not a huge fan of Pete. It's easy to see why Pete isn't well liked... he comes across as hyperactive and smug.

Last night was watching NFL network's replay of the monday night game of the Seahawks-Saints and there were several shots of Pete chewing his gum smiling and laughing... running all over the sidelines... if i was an opposing fan and saw this i'd be annoyed too! Especially if my team was getting spanked like the saints were! Haha!

 

[twisted_steel2]

Success, as others have said. There's a perception that he's arrogant because people misunderstand the entire Win Forever, do it better than it's ever been done before concept, especially when he says that "it's not about them it's about us." People seem to be annoyed by his "antics" on the sidelines, equating his joy and energy to arrogance and showboating.

What happened at USC is part of it too. There are so many misperceptions out in the sports-fan public at large that it's ridiculous. Many people never bothered to get the real details of what happened; they just read the surface crap that was in the press and have assumed Pete and his program were dirty. There are still a large number of people who think USC was paying players, even though that was never even alleged by the NCAA. "They gave Reggie Bush a house!" Um, no. And of course they assume he left to run away from sanctions, which isn't true at all.

It's also normal to want to "demonize" your opponent and "lionize" the team you favor. I see it in every fandom, including ours.

Well said.

And the USC stuff amazes me to this day, seeing comments on more national types message boards and comments after articles on ESPN, the people who are so incredibly ignorant of the situation just spouting out downright wrong information. They want to believe what they want to believe, nothing you can do to change that. unno:

 

[Popeyejones]

The Lynch quote where he talked about playing at Cal and wanting them to run a play over to Pete's side so he could run him over helps frame why other teams fans hate Pete. Just like they hate Sherman. Both are seen as flamboyant so you want to see them crushed.

Most fans probably want a HC that are more a father figure, where Pete is more like the crazy uncle. Weird thing is that Jim H had a ton more respect coming out of college but can be just as irritating.

I think Pete is thought of as rah rah, running a lax team with uncontrolled players who cheat and are dope heads. Other coaches that had similar rates of performance/substance abuse suspensions have benefited from Pete being persona non-grata #1 (Coughlin, Belichek and Shanahan names come to mind).

Anyway, the reasons listed in this thread cover the reasons I think fans of other teams don't like him. We had/have vocal members of this forum who were not/are not that fond of him as well. So it isn't just other teams fans.

Great post. Agreed about Harbaugh too. I think he slipped under the radar because he wasn't in the Pac 10 for as long, and everybody basically liked him because he took an after-thought of a program and started knocking the stuffing out of Carroll, who practically everyone who wasn't a USC fan hated. Heck, I'm a Cal fan (meaning, of course I enjoy Stanford failing), and even I was rooting for Harbaugh to beat Carroll.

Basically it's because people think he is smug and people think he is a cheater. It's the exact same as Belichick.

I disagree w/ some posters that it's just jealousy, though. There are TONS of successful coaches that didn't or don't inspire hate (e.g. Marv levy, Tom Caughlin, Bill Walsh, John Madden, Mike Tomlin until quite recently, Andy Reid, Mike McCarthy, etc.).

 

[Spiderdan]

The media trains them to,

let me be clear, I don't mean this in some conspiracy theory sort of way. It's basic media framing and if you are trying to frame a story you need a villain.

Pete is the living embodiment of anti establishment NFL. everything he does flies in the face of traditional conventional football knowledge. He makes blowhards and talking heads nervous because every win he stacks up screams, "you guys don't know what your talking about" and they know he is right.


- You can't pick a 5'10" QB
- Marshawn was a washup in Buffalo, don't waste a 2nd rounder on him
- Why do you have big slow 6'3" corners and safeties!?!
- Your receiving core is pedestrian at best (would literally laugh everytime I heard someone say this on tv because it was a dead giveaway they were just copy/pasting some other hack writers assessment and not watching the games at all).
- defense is dead, you have to throw the ball 90 - 99% of the time to win in the new NFL


then pete mop the floor with them and they mad.

Also there's this

Small correction: we traded a 4th in '11 and a 5th in '12 for Marshawn Lynch, not a 2nd.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

As the .gif above shows, Pete sometimes has an air of smugness and smarmyness about him. I don't think he intentionally is trying to look like an ass, but it can come off that way so I understand some of the hate.

But that's what you need to be a Hyper Type A personality coach in the NFL. You need some swagger and confidence, or else no one is going to buy into what you're preaching.

 

[Scottemojo]

Pete is not conventional.

Convention hates it when unconventional wins.

The NFL has a nepotistic old guard that worships at the alter of yesteryear. Coaches are supposed to grim, gruff assholes. Coaching is supposed to involve tons of negative reinforcement. Pete isn't just different, every success he has is a threat to those sacred ideals. Just think about it, even the trophy for winning the SB is named after a coach who was very successful and is synonymous with gruff and grim. That is supposed to be the way things are done.

When Pete failed as a coach at two east coast institutions, popular thinking was that he failed because he was a west coast positive thinking flake that was way too easy on players. When Seattle first signed Pete, a popular media thought was that he wouldn't be able to recruit in the NFL. It was a backhanded shot that his unconventional approach would only work with superior talent like you get as USC. So, every win is a nail in the coffin of the old guard, and they hate it.

 

[BlackSabbath]

I believe the hate from Carroll stems not from his field antics or perception of arrogance but from turning a blind eye in the USC fiasco and steroid and drug issue in SEA. Somehow, he has a way of NOT dealing with these issues. My 2 cents.

 

[49ers]

I personally hated Pete when he was with the Jets.

Then he leaves USC right when they start to get investigated? Just added to the hate a little more.

I actually like him more these days. He sometimes gives off that "rah-rah" characteristic, which is a bit off-putting, but it's only because he's happy for the success of his own players.

The only head coach I didn't like was Schwartz. He had no control over his team and they acted like idiots. The rest are OK by me.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The only head coach I didn't like was Schwartz. He had no control over his team and they acted like idiots. The rest are OK by me.

I'd put Fisher in this category. The Rams play like a bunch of mindless thugs with zero sportsmanship or honor.

 

[twisted_steel2]

Then he leaves USC right when they start to get investigated?

See, you're already wrong. :34853_doh:

 

[49ers]

Then he leaves USC right when they start to get investigated?

See, you're already wrong. :34853_doh:

I think you're splitting hairs. This is what many people remember most about him, whether it's 100% accurate or not.

The question was asked, I was just giving an honest response.

 

[DavidSeven]

It's funny that people hate Pete for leaving USC. Do people understand what he did for that institution, not only for its athletics, but for alumni contributions and its overall standing as a school? USC made boat loads of money in donations and went on a meteoric rise up academic rankings after Pete made that football team the coolest thing in all of California. He didn't owe them a damn thing. They should put up a freakin' statue of the dude.

If people want to keep torpedoing him because Reggie Bush was a bonehead, then that's just pure ignorance.

 

[Hawks46]

People hate success, it's why we hate the 9ers, why we hate the Yankees, lakers, cowboys.

There is no such things as loveable winners, only losers... Unless you're a fan of the team that's winning of course

People hate winners, unless they're winning for you.

We hate the Whiners because the vast majority of their fan base is a bunch of dbags, whiners and hypocrites. You have a team that had a ton of success 20 years ago, and has been completely irrelavent since then. You have a fan base that crows about all the rings they have 20 years ago, and translates that to current success. They weren't this annoying when we were crushing their souls 5 years ago (I know, I went to the game where Smith got hurt by Bernard. It looked like a Seahawks game in the 90's but much quieter...resignation is the key word here), now they're a bunch of bandwangon whining jerks that crow about....5 rings!

The best example I can think of is 9er fans on nfl.com Seahawks articles in the comments section, actually claiming they should've won the division because they had a better divisional record. They have fans that refuse to believe they didn't win the division and we did, and it's soooooo unfair. That's why we hate the Niners.

The team itself I have nothing but respect for. Once they jettisoned that cheap shot artist Goldson, they play good, physical CLEAN football (a fanbase I like a lot more...the RAMS....their team is dirty and cheap) and it's going to be a dogfight and they make you earn it on offense.

Their coach being the president of Douchebags of America doesn't help them either.