I know it is often overplayed but it needed its own thread.
From the NY Times:
In the uproar over the New England Patriots? deflated footballs, a much more human Super Bowl XLIX story line has been upstaged: a head coach?s opportunity for revenge. Pete Carroll will be leading his defending-champion Seattle Seahawks against the Patriots, who fired him after the 1999 season and hired Bill Belichick.
Carroll doesn?t sound bitter. Asked at a news conference in Seattle about his firing in New England despite a three-season 27-21 record with two playoff appearances, he said softly: ?It didn?t work out. We did some good stuff while we were there, but it didn?t work out and time to move on.?
Coincidentally, Carroll and Belichick each joined the Patriots after coaching the Jets, briefly. Carroll had a disappointing 6-10 record in 1994, his one season with the team. Belichick?s contract as a Jets assistant coach anointed him Bill Parcells?s successor in 2000, but he scribbled, ?I resign as HC of the NYJ? on a piece of paper and fled for the Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft?s millions.
Belichick?s Patriots, with Tom Brady at quarterback, have won three Super Bowls and lost two (to the Giants). Carroll spent nearly a decade as a successful but sometimes denigrated University of Southern California coach before joining the Seahawks in 2010, assembling the 2013 N.F.C. champions who stunned the Denver Broncos, 43-8, in Super Bowl XLVIII a year ago, and proving that he could win as a pro football coach.
The twists and turns of N.F.L. careers seldom intersect in the Super Bowl. Only twice has a head coach defeated the franchise that no longer wanted him: the Jets? Weeb Ewbank against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Jon Gruden against the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Ewbank had coached the Colts, with Johnny Unitas at quarterback, to the 1958 and 1959 N.F.L. championships, but after three ordinary seasons (6-6, 8-6 and 7-7), he was dismissed by the owner Carroll Rosenbloom just when Sonny Werblin, the Jets? new owner, needed a coach in 1963 to turn the American Football League franchise around after a 19-23 start in three years.
The day Ewbank was hired, he said, ?I?ve seen sicker cows than this one get well.? It took a while, but the 1968 team, with Joe Namath at quarterback, went 11-3; dethroned the Raiders in the A.F.L. championship game at Shea Stadium, 27-23; and shocked the N.F.L. champion Colts, 16-7, in the Super Bowl.
In the days before the game, Ewbank had played down his firing by the Colts, and after the game, he didn?t gloat. But when he emerged from the Jets? dressing room and hugged his wife, Lucy, he told her, ?It was the most satisfying victory of my career.? She knew what he meant. He remembered how the Colts had fired him.
Three decades later, Gruden, after impressive game plans as an offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles, was chosen by the Raiders? owner and mastermind, Al Davis, as his coach. Despite Gruden?s 40-28 record over four seasons, including 2-2 in the playoffs, Davis, who believed in passing downfield, questioned Gruden?s reliance on mostly short passes.
When Tampa Bay, which had dismissed Tony Dungy as coach, inquired about Gruden?s availability, Davis set the price and the Bucs met it: two No. 1 draft choices, two No. 2 draft choices and $8 million. In 2002, Gruden?s first season with the Bucs, they won the Super Bowl in a 48-21 rout of the Raiders. Gruden didn?t gloat, either. But after an overall 60-57 record, including postseason games, Gruden was fired after the 2008 season. Ever since, he has been a ?Monday Night Football? analyst for ESPN.
There is another ?revenge? scenario involving an esteemed Super Bowl-winning coach who twice defeated the team that had ignored him as a candidate for head coach.
When Paul Brown, the Cincinnati Bengals? owner-coach, left the sideline after the 1975 season, Bill Walsh, who had been on his staff for eight seasons, hoped to succeed him. But Brown preferred his longtime assistant Bill Johnson. Walsh resigned, joined the San Diego Chargers as an offensive guru, moved to Stanford as head coach in 1977, and was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as head coach in 1979.
After 2-14 and 6-10 rebuilding seasons, the 49ers, with Joe Montana at quarterback, soared to 13-3 in 1981. They then defeated the Dallas Cowboys for the N.F.C. championship on a last-minute 6-yard touchdown pass from Montana to Dwight Clark, who made a reception known as the Catch. That put them in the Super Bowl against ? you guessed it ? the Bengals. And the coach whom Brown didn?t want was the winner, 26-21.
Seven seasons later, Walsh?s 49ers again edged the Bengals, 20-16, on a last-minute 10-yard touchdown pass from Montana to wide receiver John Taylor. Walsh didn?t gloat, at least not publicly. But years later, Walsh said not only that Brown had ?worked against? his candidacy in Cincinnati, but also that Walsh had N.F.L. ?opportunities I never heard about? elsewhere.
Now, almost half a century after the Jets provided Ewbank with his ?most satisfying? triumph, the Seahawks have an opportunity to soothe Carroll?s memory of his firing by the Patriots. If the Seahawks win, their 63-year-old coach with the boyish looks probably won?t gloat, either. But when nobody?s looking, he?ll surely smile.
opcorn2
From the NY Times:
In the uproar over the New England Patriots? deflated footballs, a much more human Super Bowl XLIX story line has been upstaged: a head coach?s opportunity for revenge. Pete Carroll will be leading his defending-champion Seattle Seahawks against the Patriots, who fired him after the 1999 season and hired Bill Belichick.
Carroll doesn?t sound bitter. Asked at a news conference in Seattle about his firing in New England despite a three-season 27-21 record with two playoff appearances, he said softly: ?It didn?t work out. We did some good stuff while we were there, but it didn?t work out and time to move on.?
Coincidentally, Carroll and Belichick each joined the Patriots after coaching the Jets, briefly. Carroll had a disappointing 6-10 record in 1994, his one season with the team. Belichick?s contract as a Jets assistant coach anointed him Bill Parcells?s successor in 2000, but he scribbled, ?I resign as HC of the NYJ? on a piece of paper and fled for the Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft?s millions.
Belichick?s Patriots, with Tom Brady at quarterback, have won three Super Bowls and lost two (to the Giants). Carroll spent nearly a decade as a successful but sometimes denigrated University of Southern California coach before joining the Seahawks in 2010, assembling the 2013 N.F.C. champions who stunned the Denver Broncos, 43-8, in Super Bowl XLVIII a year ago, and proving that he could win as a pro football coach.
The twists and turns of N.F.L. careers seldom intersect in the Super Bowl. Only twice has a head coach defeated the franchise that no longer wanted him: the Jets? Weeb Ewbank against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Jon Gruden against the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Ewbank had coached the Colts, with Johnny Unitas at quarterback, to the 1958 and 1959 N.F.L. championships, but after three ordinary seasons (6-6, 8-6 and 7-7), he was dismissed by the owner Carroll Rosenbloom just when Sonny Werblin, the Jets? new owner, needed a coach in 1963 to turn the American Football League franchise around after a 19-23 start in three years.
The day Ewbank was hired, he said, ?I?ve seen sicker cows than this one get well.? It took a while, but the 1968 team, with Joe Namath at quarterback, went 11-3; dethroned the Raiders in the A.F.L. championship game at Shea Stadium, 27-23; and shocked the N.F.L. champion Colts, 16-7, in the Super Bowl.
In the days before the game, Ewbank had played down his firing by the Colts, and after the game, he didn?t gloat. But when he emerged from the Jets? dressing room and hugged his wife, Lucy, he told her, ?It was the most satisfying victory of my career.? She knew what he meant. He remembered how the Colts had fired him.
Three decades later, Gruden, after impressive game plans as an offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles, was chosen by the Raiders? owner and mastermind, Al Davis, as his coach. Despite Gruden?s 40-28 record over four seasons, including 2-2 in the playoffs, Davis, who believed in passing downfield, questioned Gruden?s reliance on mostly short passes.
When Tampa Bay, which had dismissed Tony Dungy as coach, inquired about Gruden?s availability, Davis set the price and the Bucs met it: two No. 1 draft choices, two No. 2 draft choices and $8 million. In 2002, Gruden?s first season with the Bucs, they won the Super Bowl in a 48-21 rout of the Raiders. Gruden didn?t gloat, either. But after an overall 60-57 record, including postseason games, Gruden was fired after the 2008 season. Ever since, he has been a ?Monday Night Football? analyst for ESPN.
There is another ?revenge? scenario involving an esteemed Super Bowl-winning coach who twice defeated the team that had ignored him as a candidate for head coach.
When Paul Brown, the Cincinnati Bengals? owner-coach, left the sideline after the 1975 season, Bill Walsh, who had been on his staff for eight seasons, hoped to succeed him. But Brown preferred his longtime assistant Bill Johnson. Walsh resigned, joined the San Diego Chargers as an offensive guru, moved to Stanford as head coach in 1977, and was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as head coach in 1979.
After 2-14 and 6-10 rebuilding seasons, the 49ers, with Joe Montana at quarterback, soared to 13-3 in 1981. They then defeated the Dallas Cowboys for the N.F.C. championship on a last-minute 6-yard touchdown pass from Montana to Dwight Clark, who made a reception known as the Catch. That put them in the Super Bowl against ? you guessed it ? the Bengals. And the coach whom Brown didn?t want was the winner, 26-21.
Seven seasons later, Walsh?s 49ers again edged the Bengals, 20-16, on a last-minute 10-yard touchdown pass from Montana to wide receiver John Taylor. Walsh didn?t gloat, at least not publicly. But years later, Walsh said not only that Brown had ?worked against? his candidacy in Cincinnati, but also that Walsh had N.F.L. ?opportunities I never heard about? elsewhere.
Now, almost half a century after the Jets provided Ewbank with his ?most satisfying? triumph, the Seahawks have an opportunity to soothe Carroll?s memory of his firing by the Patriots. If the Seahawks win, their 63-year-old coach with the boyish looks probably won?t gloat, either. But when nobody?s looking, he?ll surely smile.
opcorn2
