Pete Carroll believes the Seahawks are good: Have his words swayed your opinions on the team?
Seaside Joe 1280, 9/6/2022: Pete is used to being good, but will that change to "He used to be good" after this season?
Pete Carroll met with the media on Monday, one week before the Seattle Seahawks are set to host Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football, and even though there’s one major change with the franchise that is even inserted into the middle of this very sentence…Pete doesn’t sense a change in how the Seahawks should be viewed by outsiders, many of whom now see Seattle as a basement dwelling team without Wilson.
Not that he cares what outsiders think.
"I don't feel like that at all," Carroll said Monday, a week before Seattle's opener against Wilson and the Denver Broncos. "I don't feel like any part of any of that is what's true other than the fact that that's what people think. I'm not in that business now. I'm in the business of helping these guys get ready to play with all of the work that we do and all of the mentality and the culture and the environment that we're in. We've been averaging 10 wins a year for the last 20-something years [dating back to 2001-2009 run at USC]. You think I could think anything different than that? I don't. I don't see any reason my expectations should change at all."
As perfectly rational, logical, and unemotional as Seaside Joe strives to be about the NFL when giving analysis on teams and individuals, even I have to admit that I want to believe and can acknowledge that Pete has made a Hall of Fame career out of being convincing. Through his philosophies and his mantras, like always compete, Pete Carroll has mastered the one aspect of coaching that matters the most: Convincing players to believe in themselves.
So convincing fans to believe in their favorite team, to Pete, that’s like shooting gum in a waste basket.
Plus, Pete Carroll isn’t wrong about one thing, which is that we really do not know what’s going to happen AND we do know that predictions often (usually) go awry and are way off base.
"People have been saying stuff about teams for years. They don't know. They're just guessing at this point, and then we go and prove it and we see where we are ... Win a big game in the opener or struggle and not win a big game in the opener, you've got to come back and get going again and back on track regardless."
I agree with him, generally. I don’t know for a fact which teams this year will shock people but I do know for a fact that at least one team will shock people. At least one good and at least one bad.
Tuesday’s Seaside Bonus: 2022 NFL bold predictions
Even on Monday morning I got this feeling that the New Orleans Saints—yes, with Jameis Winston—would not only win the NFC South. They could be good enough to get the NFC’s number one seed. I also sense that maybe the Washington Commanders could get into the playoffs over the Dallas Cowboys, and I’ve been saying all offseason that my NFL-wide “surprise” of the year will be Zach Wilson and the New York Jets.
It is entertaining to consider possibilities for the future and worthwhile to explore your arguments for certain teams to be surprises; and we should never underestimate the value of living a life full of good entertainment.
I don’t want to discourage anyone from making their predictions or from feeling their feelings. I only emphasize one promise to you when you do so: You’re going to be wrong and maybe more often than you are right. So will I. And that’s okay!
Nobody will be punished for an incorrect prediction.
So I hope you’re ready to make a few with me and your fellow Seasiders today.
I’ve created another 10-question survey, this time asking you: Did Pete Carroll sway your opinions on the 2022 Seattle Seahawks?
This multiple choice survey should take you no more than a minute and revolves around your gut feelings+educated guesses about the quality and formidability of the 2022 Seahawks. Will you be RIGHT about every answer? No. This is NOT ABOUT BEING RIGHT. This is about assessing the current expectations of the team and then measuring that against the outcomes once we know them.
Don’t feel shy about answering questions because you’re worried that you don’t know the answers…because by nature nobody knows the correct answer to any of these questions. You only know what you believe. So feel confident in your answers because you’re only being tasked with tapping into what you believe. Not what you know will happen; in the words of Pete Carroll, nobody knows what will happen.
But it is important to know what you think will happen.
And please feel free to SHARE THIS SURVEY with your Seahawks fan friends, either directly or on social media. Your support and your word of mouth about SeasideJoe.com is so imperative towards the growth of this blog and newsletter.
Once again, here is the link to the Survey. If you have any thoughts or questions about the survey or you just want to get ahead of it and share your opinions, do so in our very active comments thread! All are welcome and sometimes gifts are bestowed upon those who join.
Pete has the totaL respect of every player and coach. I think Pete is jacked about this year. Even though he wouldn't say it he relishes this opportunity. He will give our players the confidence they need. He will make a few bad game day decisions but what coach doesn't, we see Pete's because we watch every game.
Loved the survey, I answered honestly it was fun.
It's immaterial to me how many games the Seahawks win this season. All I want to see is a team that plays hard, doesn't give up, knocks the snot out of the other team and improves throughout the year. I want them to be by the end of the year the team that nobody wants to play.