Pete Carroll-what went wrong?

[upstater1]

Whatever, man, have it your way. 100 sources and Parcells telling you himself wouldn't convince you.

 

[denverpatsfan]

This thread has lasted quite a long time! Has anyone mentioned the injuries to the team in 1997?? Ben Coates and Curtis Martin were out during the 7-6 loss to Pittsburgh. You have to think the Pats would have won that game if they had been healthy. Who knows what would have happened then? Another SB appearance? Maybe PC would still be coaching the team?

 

[RDS11]

I guess we'll never know. It becomes just a matter of opinions. Personally, I think the injury factor hit hard in the playoffs for Carroll. On the final drive against Pitts, Bledsoe went out without Glenn (who was injuted during the game), Coates and Martin. The year after, the Pats entered the palyoffs with Zolak.

I don't think Carroll would have lasted beyond the 1999 season either way. He had lost control of the team by then. But I don't think he was as bad as people make him to be. The Pats team statistics turned gradually downhill from 1996 to 2000, but when comparing Parcells' 1996 stats to Carroll's 1997 stats it is not that different.

 

[RDS11]

Some statistics from profootballreferences.com to show what I'm talking about :

Overall Rank
T/G Pts± Yds±
2000 Belichick 18 23 24
1999 Carroll 15 16 12
1998 Carroll 9 14 15
1997 Carroll 4 5 14
1996 Parcells 7 5 12
T/G = team's rank in takaways/giveaways ratio
Pts± team's rank in point differential (the lower the better)
Yds± team's rank in yardage differential (the lower the better)

According to those stats, Carroll didn't do a lot worse in 1997 than Parcells in 1996.

I happen to believe Mr Grier is much more responsible for the free fall. He lost more quality free agents that he signed (Martin for example. I know some would say that a 'poison pill' was introduced to make it impossible for the Pats to match the Jets offer, but that's irrelevant. The Pats should have renegociated Martin's deal before he reached free agency. For exemple, Terrell Davis, also from Martin 1995 draft, had a new 5 years deal after his rookie season, which btw, wasn't as impressive as Martin's...that Broncos administration then went on to win 2 Super Bowls). He also signed players to overprice contracts, making it impossible for the players to match in performance the value of their contracts. Belichick first job once he took over was to cut that dead wood : out went Moss, Coates, Rucci and Armstrong among others. Eventaully he also cut or traded Milloy and Bledsoe.

Finally, Grier did an incredible poor job at the draft. For the sake of it, let's say Parcells was involved in making the selections in 1996. Therefore the 1996 draft can be attributed to either Grier and Parcells. So for comparison, let see what Grier brought in during his 3 years as the main man compared to Parcells 3 years :

Grier (1997 to 1999) :
-Selected 1 pro bowl player, who participated in a total of 1 pro bowl
-Selected 6 players who played more than 80 NFL games (80 games being the equivalent of 5 full NFL seasons)
-Selected players that gave the NFL teams a combined 33 seasons as primary starters at their position

Parcells (1993 to 1995) :
-Selected 6 probowl players, who played in a total 18 pro bowls
-Selected 15 players who played more than 80 NFL games (80 games being the equivalent of 5 full NFL seasons)
-Selected players that gave the NFL teams a combined 97 seasons as primary starters at their position

It gives a pretty good idea of who dropped the ball...