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Today in Patriots History
2000: Pete Carroll fired after 8-8 season
Kraft: "We need a momentum change"
2000: Pete Carroll fired after 8-8 season
Kraft: "We need a momentum change"
From Patriots.com:
Carroll era ends in Foxboro
Pete Carroll’s tenure in New England ended Monday as team owner Robert Kraft announced that the head coach was let go after three years with the Patriots.
www.patriots.com
Carroll was the second NFL coach to be fired following the regular season, as Green Bay's Ray Rhodes was terminated on Sunday. The New York Jets will also have a new coach, as Bill Parcells stepped down after three seasons.
Carroll leaves the Patriots with the highest regular season winning percentage of any coach in team history with his record of 27-21. However, his teams went 1-2 in the playoffs, and this season a 2-6 record in the final eight games left New England out of the postseason.
"I must say up front that he's someone I have great respect for," Kraft said. "I think he came into a difficult situation, but this is a business of accountability. Two years ago we won the division, last year we barely made the playoffs and this year we're 8-8 with a fifth-place schedule. We need a momentum change."
Kraft said the firing of Carroll was just the first of several changes that will be made. He said Carroll was not the only person responsible for the disappointing results for the Patriots, and the owner needed to inspect all aspects of the football operations with the team.
"Is it solely Pete Carroll's fault? No," Kraft said. "I think we have to reassess the whole organization. We have to look at whatever we can do to put ourselves in the best position to get into the playoffs and compete for a championship."
The New England Patriots fired coach Pete Carroll Monday after his team could manage only two victories in its last eight games.
Pete Carroll, who took over a Super Bowl team in New England after replacing Bill Parcells, was fired today after three seasons as Patriots coach.
There was no immediate word on a successor.
Owner Robert Kraft said in a brief news conference that the entire organization would be evaluated, with much of the speculation focusing on whether vice president of player personnel Bobby Grier could also lose his job.
The team that went to the 1997 Super Bowl under Parcells declined in each of Carroll's seasons, bottoming out with an 8-8 last-place record when it beat Baltimore 20-3 Sunday after losing six of its previous seven games.
It was believed that New York Jets defensive coordinator Bill Belichick was Kraft's top choice to replace Carroll, but Belichick took over the New York Jets Monday when coach Bill Parcells announced his resignation.
Parcells left the Patriots after Super Bowl XXXI due to a rift over control of personnel with Kraft. With Belichick out of the picture, it was not clear where the Patriots would turn. Offensive coordinators Mike Martz of St. Louis and Tom Moore of Indianapolis are the "hot" assistants and former Carolina Panthers coach Dom Capers restored his reputation with his work as Jacksonville's defensive coordinator this season.
The 49-year-old Carroll had two years left on his contract. But it was clear he would not be back after the Patriots lost six of seven games before closing the season with a 20-3 win over Baltimore on Sunday.
Carroll, 48, led the Patriots to a 10-6 record and the second round of the playoffs in 1997 and a 9-7 mark and the first round in 1998. They seemed headed to postseason play again this year, winning their first four games and going 6-2 in the first half of the season.
They took the next week off and the offense sputtered after that as the Patriots scored just 108 points in the last eight games while coordinator Ernie Zampese was criticized by fans. The low point came when they lost at Philadelphia 24-9 and at home to Buffalo, 13-10, before managing just 151 yards in the win over Baltimore.
In their last two games, the Patriots had their two least productive days of the season with 225 yards against Buffalo and 151 against Baltimore. And Bledsoe threw for only 101 and 108 yards in those games.
Carroll's last week was marked by controversy as he suspended his top wide receiver, Terry Glenn, for failing to report for medical checkups on three of the previous four days.
Carroll also was criticized indirectly by Grier, who said the payers he drafted would have played better had they been used more.
Carroll's only previous NFL head coaching experience was in 1994 with the New York Jets. He was fired after one season in which they went 6-10 and was replaced by Rich Kotite.
He was coordinator of San Francisco's outstanding defense the next two seasons when the 49ers made the playoffs. They were 12-4 in 1996, the same season Parcells and the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers.
But Parcells, upset he didn't have enough power to choose his players, quit after the season to become coach of the New York Jets. Carroll took over as coach of the Patriots and Grier handled player acquisition. Only three of the 27 players drafted under Grier's leadership started Sunday.
The Patriots got little out of the three drafts Grier oversaw and allowed free agent running backs Curtis Martin to leave for the Jets and Sam Gash for the Bills. Rookie Robert Edwards helped the running game last season, but an offseason knee injury forced him to miss this season and may end his career.
Pete Carroll was a nice guy who finished last. And now, at last, he's finished as coach of the New England Patriots.
The likable defensive whiz kid who inherited a Super Bowl team from Bill Parcells was fired Monday after three consecutive years of declining results.
Carroll departed with a .549 winning percentage -- the best in Patriots history. But the defending AFC champions went 10-6 in his first year, 9-7 in his second and 8-8 this season, good for last place in their division.
"I'm proud of being 27-21 (plus 1-2 in the postseason) and making the playoffs the first two years I was here," Carroll said in the Foxboro Stadium parking lot before driving off in his gold Jaguar. "I'll forever be disappointed that we didn't win more."
There was no immediate word on the fate of the rest of the coaching staff, or on a successor. The Patriots asked for permission to talk to New York Jets assistant Bill Belichick but were denied when Parcells resigned and Belichick was elevated to head coach.
Carroll led the Patriots to the second round of the playoffs in 1997 and the first round in 1998. They appeared headed to postseason play again this season, winning their first four games and going 6-2 in the first half of the season.
But the offense sputtered after a midseason bye and the Patriots lost three consecutive games to AFC East rivals. They scored only 108 points in the final eight games.
"At 6-2, we were already packing for the Super Bowl," offensive lineman Heath Irwin said. "Maybe overconfidence kicked in. It wasn't like we were dominating everybody we played. We were barely beating them and it came back and got us."
In their final two games, the Patriots had their two least productive days of the season, gaining 225 yards against Buffalo and 151 against Baltimore. And Drew Bledsoe threw for only 101 and 108 yards in those games.
He was coordinator of San Francisco's outstanding defense the next two seasons when the 49ers made the playoffs. They were 12-4 in 1996, the same season Parcells and the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to Green Bay.
"You wonder (what would have happened if Parcells stayed)," Irwin said. "But I think there were so many conflicts between him and other people around here that it wouldn't have worked out."
New England relied on Bledsoe's passing, but he slumped badly while being heavily pressured. In the final eight games, he was sacked 33 times and his receivers had trouble getting open.
So after three seasons in which the Patriots started well but had midseason lulls, Carroll is out.
I had to laugh at the doom and gloom comments below:
On the same day that Carroll was fired, the New York Jets held a press conference naming Bill Belichick their new head coach.
24 hours later:
Why was Pete Carroll fired anyway?
I know the team went from 6-2 to 8-8 that year and Grier was taking shots at him at the end but... 8-8 isn't that bad and it was his first playoffs miss with us. Other coaches have stayed on with worse records. Not that I'm complaining with what we know now. But I don't think Belichick was on...
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