Seahawks coach Pete Carroll sees the future of football, and it’s a bit more hi-tech than new helmets

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has some pretty interesting ideas about the future of the NFL. This goes way beyond better helmets.

The Seahawks have been at the forefront of innovation since Paul Allen bought the team in 1996. I mean, the man knows a little bit about technical innovation. When Pete Carroll and John Schneider came aboard in 2010, the innovative thinking really ramped up.

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There’s no doubt that player safety is a priority in the NFL. Some may say they’re just paying lip service to safety, but it’s safe to say at the least it’s a buzzword. Concussions in particular are a major concern, so much so that the league is testing a new helmet design this summer. The VICIS Zero1 is an exceptionally promising design. VICIS also happens to be headquartered in Seattle.

But that’s not enough for Pete Carroll. Just last week, Carroll was the surprise keynote speaker at the Postback Mobile Marketing Conference in Seattle. I doubt Coach Carroll knows much about marketing, but he certainly knows about success.

When asked about the one technology he’d like to see developed sooner, Carroll of course said, “Better helmets.” And if you really think that’s the best Carroll could come up with, you haven’t followed him much, have you?

From Geekwire’s John Cook, who was onsite for the event:

"“One thing that I look forward to is that someday sports will be played by,” Carroll said before an audience member yelled out “robots.”“Yeah,” said Carroll. “There will be a way, whether holographic or whatever, where players could play the game but they are not the ones to get hurt. Then, they could play forever.”"

Yeah. That’s a bit more advanced than a new helmet.

Starting at left cornerback for the Seahawks, Johnny 5!

First, I’m not knocking the helmet idea. Something has to be done for player safety now. It’s already long overdue, in fact. Just ask the families of Dave Duerson, Junior Seau, Mike Webster, or near countless other NFL players.

But the idea of robots or holograms has some real promise. Players continue to get bigger, faster and stronger. The problem is the human skull, specifically the thin fluid layer that cushions the brain from impact, hasn’t kept pace. Not even James Harrison has a workout/nutrition program for that.

So how could robots or holograms work, yet still be based on actual players? Seems pretty simple, actually. You’ve seen half of this in action already if you’ve seen almost any blockbuster film in the past ten years. Many rely on motion capture sensors to capture every move of the actor. Add in accelerometers and precise GPS devices, and you place every player at precise locations on the field. Even though they’re really in the locker room, or on the sidelines.

The sensors are the easy part. The difficulty comes in building robots that have the same speed and agility as humans. That might take a while. Although Richard Sherman lost to a robot just a few weeks ago. Another huge challenge? Building a field that will display holograms as easily seen as actual players. Even as fast as technology improves, we may be looking at fifteen years down the road or more.

Now if only Pete can build a robot coach with all his knowledge…