Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll jumped on a conference call with Bay Area media today to discuss his team's preparation for the game against the San Francisco 49ers on New Year's Day. During the call, he was asked if he believes that Chip Kelly was a good head coach.
Carroll responded passionately and in disbelief at the question, "What are you doing? Why would you ask me that? Of course I think that. I don't even know why you'd ask that. He's an extremely successful coach. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's been at the top of the game when he had his opportunities and he showed it in the NFL and college and all of that. I don't know him very well but I've really admired the work that he's done and the innovations that he's brought to the game and the impact that he's had on it."
Of course, Kelly's job security has been in question following what is currently a two-win season. Some believe that his job is secure why others believe that it will depend on what happens at the general manager position. Should another general manager come in and not want to work with Kelly, his time with the 49ers might be done after just one season.
Earlier during the same call, Carroll said that being a head coach is a very complex job. "It does take time for guys to figure out how they're going to organize their approach and how they communicate, the dialogue that is extended to the players and the fans and the administration on it. It takes time to develop all of that. You're never as good in your first couple of years as you are later on. There's so much to be gained through the experience of it. How you handle your business, how you handle your players, how you handle your staff, the rigors of the season, the ups and downs, all the ins and outs. There's so many things that go on that coaches get way better as they're doing it.
"I do think that patience is rewarded as guys grow through these jobs. That doesn't mean that that's what you should do or what you do, I just feel that I know how much there is to learn and how much better you can get just like any of us in anything that we do. I think patience is rewarded in general and the appreciation for how complex this job is, is not well understood. I don't think you can really understand it until you've really been in it and done it.
"Sometimes I think people act quickly and they get to do what they want to do because they're the owners and they're the ones pulling the strings but we just get so much better at this as we work at it. I'm a pretty good indication of that I think."
The Seahawks are the NFC West Champions for the third time in four years and Carroll has been at the helm since 2010.