Pete Carroll poorly ranked at No. 7 on NFL Head Coach Power Rankings
Coaching a team to a Super Bowl championship doesn’t necessarily mean you are the best coach in the league, according to NFL.com’s latest “Head Coach Power Rankings.”
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was ranked at No. 7, surprisingly low in my opinion.
The coaches ranked ahead of him went in this order:
- Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
- Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
- Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers
- John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens
- Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
- Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers
- Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks
The criteria of the ranking isn’t really mentioned by NFL Media Analyst Elliot Harrison, who compiled the list.
I have to think Carroll is a top-5 coach at the least, but Harrison defends his decision to keep Carroll at the seven spot with this comment:
"Yes, Seahawks fans, we realize Carroll won it all. So has every coach remaining — save for Jim Harbaugh. So why is Carroll ranked beneath his rival? Because Seattle went 7-9 in each of Carroll’s first two seasons with Seattle. He also trails Harbaugh in the head-to-head series, four games to three. However, if Carroll gets his club back to at least the NFC Championship Game, he might fly past Harbaugh and vie for the spot just below Belichick."
While what Harrison says is all true, he fails to mention that one of those 7-9 records led to an NFC West title, the first of two Carroll has captured as the leader of the Seahawks.
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Carroll also has a 38-26 record with a 5-2 postseason record in Seattle. The Seahawks have made it to the playoffs in three of the four years Carroll has been head coach.
In the two seasons before Carroll came to the Emerald City, the Seahawks were a combined 9-23. Now they are Super Bowl champions.
Harrison mentioned that Carroll is 3-4 against Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers, another reason to justify Carroll’s ranking.
However, one of those wins was in an NFC title game with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. The other two wins were absolute blowout victories in which the Seahawks outscored San Francisco 71-16.
NFL.com never mentions that.
Regardless, Carroll will be looking to lead the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl for just the third time in franchise history.
Training camp will be underway next week and the regular season is now fewer than two months away.
It can’t come soon enough.