On Sunday, February 2, 2014, Americans everywhere will gather, eat pizza and wings, and drink way too many adult beverages.
Why? Of course, everyone wants to know how far GoDaddy will push their sexually charged commercials this year?
Or what hat Bruno Mars will wear during his first song, of his halftime performance. And, of course, everyone wants to check out how much Uncle Jesse and the gang from Full House have aged, in the Dannon Oikos yogurt commercials.
Oh, and you may have heard that two teams will vie for all the marbles, on the biggest stage on the biggest Sunday in football.
And the two men leading the charge, the coaches for Seattle and Denver, will certainly have something to say about the outcome. So, let’s look at how Pete Carroll and John Fox actually arrived at being super.
Pete Carroll
A bit of a self-made man, two of coach Carroll’s paternal great-grandparents were Irish immigrants, and his maternal grandparents emigrated from Austria.
He grew up in northern California (San Francisco area), attending the same high school, Redwood High School in Lakespur, California, as other famous alumni author Anne Lamott and comedian / actor Robin Williams.
He was a three-sport standout in football, baseball and basketball; but he had to have doctor’s permission to even try out for football initially as a freshman, due to some lack of physical growth as a teen.
So, perhaps a bit of a shoulder chip was birthed.
After playing a couple of years of junior college ball, he played free safety at University of Pacific, earning all-conference honors.
After a failed tryout with a World Football League team—again, in part due to his lack of stature—he turned to coaching.
He worked as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Pacific, for four year before moving on to University of Arkansas as a GA for a year, as well, under legendary Lou Holtz.
While at Arkansas, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin acted as a mentor; Carroll and his wife even babysat for the Kiffin’s toddler, Lane. Oh the stories to be told there.
Carroll went on to defensive coaching stints at Iowa State, Ohio State, North Carolina State, and back to Pacific for one year as offensive coordinator in 1983. At each stop, the new head coach hired, had once had Carroll on his staff elsewhere, effectively proving that networking really does pay.
In 1984, he jumped to the NFL coaching ranks, as defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills for single season. The Bills went 2-14 under Kay Stephenson and fired everyone, including Carroll. Really, there was an NFL coach named Kay? I honestly didn’t know.
Carroll went on to a five year run with the Vikings in the same position, and then moved along to the New York Jets, as defensive coordinator, from 1990 – 1993.
He was elevated to the head coaching position with the Jets for all of one season, when his team lost their final five games, to finish with only six wins.
He landed with the 49ers as their defensive coordinator for two years, leading to his replacing the legendary Bill Parcells in New England.
Although his Patriots made the playoffs his first two seasons, and did not have a losing record any season, he was let go by owner Bob Kraft after three years, in a bit of a head-scratching move.
After taking the 2000 year off from coaching—instead performing consulting and charity work—Carroll landed what looked like a longshot job.
He was hired to run the University of Southern California’s storied football program, despite being their fourth choice and a highly unpopular one among alumni and the USC fanbase.
In his nine years at USC, he lost only 19 games and finished atop the PAC-10 Conference seven of those years. His teams won the Rose Bowl four times and the Orange Bowl twice.
The program was rejuvenated and once again vaulted to national prowess. He, and many of his players, became pseudo-rock stars.
The program produced three Heisman Trophy winners in a four year span: Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. It was at USC that he gained the nickname “Big Balls Pete,” for his larger-than-life moxie and playing big boy football.
In January of 2010, amidst scandal and various allegations centering around players improperly receiving gifts, Carroll resigned at USC.
Although many questioned the timing of the move, he jumped back to the NFL to take on the head coaching job with Seattle in January of 2010.
Since taking over the Seahawks coaching and general manager position, Carroll has literally turned the roster inside out, remaking it in his image and mindset. In his first year, he overhauled the roster to the tune of 200 transactions.
His first two seasons, the ‘Hawks finished with identical 7-9 records. In season three, Carroll thrust rookie quarterback Russell Wilson into the starting lineup and went undefeated at home, finishing 11-5 on the year. A deafening home field advantage and a brand of smashmouth football was born.
Fun fact about coach Carroll: He’s only had one non-football-related job; he sold roofing supplies. I guess he could have called up Robin Williams for some acting gigs, but this whole football thing seems to have panned out a bit for him.
John Fox
Meanwhile, John Fox, father of four and son of a Navy SEAL, was born on the east coast in Virginia but then moved to southern California as a teen, attending Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, California (San Diego area) and playing football.
Attending college at San Diego State, he played defensive back alongside former NFL player & head coach Herm Edwards.
I wonder if this is where a winning mentality was imbedded into coach Fox? You know, from Herm’s classic 2002 presser rant, where he went off and famously proclaimed, “You PLAY to WIN the GAME!”.
After college, Fox began his coaching career, as a graduate assistant there at San Diego State.
Over Fox's first eight years as a football coach, he worked with eight different teams: SDSU, Boise State, Long Beach State, Utah, Kansas, Iowa State, the Los Angeles Express (USFL), and the University of Pittsburgh in 1986, serving as defensive backs coach in all those stints.
His journey to the NFL came the old fashioned way—he earned it. Via hard work, readily moving from job to job and networking, Fox became a valuable commodity.
While at Kansas, he served on coach Mike Gottfried’s defensive staff. When Gottfried was hired as the University of Pittsburgh’s head coach in 1986, Fox followed. And then while in Pittsburgh, he developed contacts within the Steelers organization.
From 1989 through 2001, Fox held NFL coaching positions with the Steelers, the Chargers, the Raiders, the Rams and the New York football Giants; he became widely regarded as a solid defensive mind.
When the Panthers put up a putrid 1-15 record in 2001, change was obviously in the air in Carolina. Fox was hired and the team fielded a drastically improved team, finishing 7-9 in 2002.
The 2003 season then saw Fox lead the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII, losing 32-29 to the New England Patriots on a last-second field goal by Adam Vinatieri. The game may well be remembered in the annals as much for the Janet Jackson / Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show, as for the exciting play on the field.
His Panther teams remained fairly average to competitive the following six seasons, making two more playoff appearances … in 2005 (losing to the Seahawks, interestingly, the last time THEY made it to the Super Bowl) and again in 2008. He remained the Panther’s head coach through the 2010 season, when Carolina finished a dismal 2-14, and Fox’s contract was not renewed on the final day of 2010.
Less than two weeks later, Fox was hired over four other candidates to lead the Denver Broncos back to the Super Bowl ways of new General Manager John Elway. In Fox’s three seasons, his teams have won their division and made the playoffs each season. In Fox’s first season, a young Tim Tebow led them to a playoff win over the Steelers, with an impressive defensive minded team. The following year, Elway signed free agent legend Peyton Manning, thus officially shifting Fox and Denver from a defensive team to an offensive juggernaut.
Fox is one of only two coaches, and the only one as a head coach, still working on the NFL sidelines that was once a member of former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll's coaching staff. His teams have never finished below fourth in their division. Yep, just checking to make sure you were reading. In all seriousness, in his 12 years as an NFL head coach, his teams have finished first in their division five of those times.
Fun fact about coach Fox: He’s known to friends by the nickname is “Foxy”. I wonder if Peyton has ever incorporated THAT into his pre-snap cadences. I can hear it now, “Three, Marshall … Foxy Foxy … three Marshall … Omaha, Omaha, hut-hut!” You knew I’d have to mention Omaha, right?
Similar Paths
Some interesting similarities exist between these two Super Bowl coaches. Both coaches have a California upbringing, both played defensive back in college and went on to graduate assistant roles with their respective schools.
Both obviously have multiple coaching stops on their respective resumes, with one common denominator on the path; each coached the defensive backs at Iowa State University for a year, although six years apart.
While Carroll acts like a brash, young whipper-snapper at times, chest-bumping his players on the sidelines and developing an impressive Twitter following, Fox has retained a relatively low-key public persona, and experienced significant cardiac related issues, leading to some perception of his being grandfatherly.
Yet, Carroll is actually four years senior to Fox, a fact many might question … based on said perceived profiles. I guess youth really IS a mindset.
Super Bowl XLVIII has the makings of a classic; one of the top offenses in history taking on the best defense in football. And both Denver and Seattle certainly seem to assume the persona of their coaches.
Both gentlemen have certainly carried their lunch pails to work for years, put in the elbow grease, and generated enough blood, sweat and tears to win this big one. Unfortunately, only one team and coach comes out on top each year. Will it be ‘Big Balls Pete’ or ‘Foxy’? Tune in Sunday … for more than just the commercials.