Massarotti: Has Belichick Rebuilt Pats In Image Of Carroll's Seahawks?
"You know, I have tremendous amount of respect for what Seattle has done in (the) five years that Pete (Carroll) has been here, the way that they've built the team – the way that he and John (Schneider) have built it. I don't know exactly what the inner workings of it are, but I see from a distance the way that they've put the team together, the way that Pete coaches the team, the way that the roster is turned over, the way that they obviously, create competition and find players and develop players. … Even though I've never been a part of that, just from a distance, I've tried to look at it and I've definitely taken some things from it, learned from what that organization has done – John and Pete, again, I'm not really sure how that gets divided. But they've done a great job – tremendous job in building that team.''
- Patriots coach Bill Belichick on Wednesday
PHOENIX (CBS) – Bill Belichick cleaned up Pete Carroll's mess, of course, back in 2000, by which point Carroll had taken a Patriots team that had gone to the Super Bowl and turned it into a mass of undisciplined mediocrity. Before Tom Brady, Belichick was not yet Belichick. But Carroll was nothing short of a clown, a whooping and hollering yahoo who ran up and down the sideline, a leader so docile that we dubbed him Pete the Poodle.
Now, in the hours leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, Belichick is telling us, somewhat incredibly, that he has learned from Petesy, even stolen from him, an allowable transgression in what we all know is a copycat league.
Don't look now, Patriots fans, but as the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks prepare for the biggest game in sports on Sunday, a funny thing has happened on the return journey to the desert: Belichick has built his defense in the image of Carroll's Seahawks. New England has more size in the secondary and more speed in the front seven, a formula that has been at core of a Seattle defense that has led the NFL in scoring defense over each of the last three seasons.
From the defensive line to the secondary, take a good look at these Seahawks, who have seemingly been assembled with assembly-line efficiency. Cliff Avril is 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, Bruce Irvin 6-foot-3 and 245. K.J. Wright is 6-foot-3 and 246. Kam Chancellor is 6-foot-3, 232. Richard Sherman is 6-foot-3, 195.
In those five players, the Seahawks have a defensive end, two linebackers, a strong safety and a cornerback, essentially covering all three levels of the defense with athletes who have enough size to hit, enough speed to run, enough of everything to make the Seahawks a bona fide matchup nightmare for opposing offenses throughout the league.
Carroll and GM John Schneider rolled out the dough and built these Seahawks with a cookie cutter, sprinkling in the right mix of coverage skill (Sherman), pass-rushing ability (Avril) and brutality (Chancellor). Free safety Earl Thomas, as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady noted Wednesday, plays bigger than he is (5-foot-10, 208), which sounds an awful lot like what Patriots followers would say about Devin McCourty (5-foot-10, 195).
Over the past 10 years, since New England last won a Super Bowl, we all know the biggest reason the Patriots have failed to win another title: defense. Starting in 2008 until midway through 2012, New England had one of the worst pass defenses in football, generally unable to cover or rush the passer. The Pats couldn't get off the field on third down and couldn't close the deal.
In 2012, of course, the Pats also played the Seahawks, who were on their way to the NFC Divisional Round with a rookie quarterback in Russell Wilson and a brash young corner in Sherman. ("You mad, bro?") Later that year, Belichick acquired Aqib Talib in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a long a wiry cover corner (6-foot-2, 202 pounds) who is built an awful lot like Sherman.
In the drafts and years since, here is what the Patriots have imported to their defense: Chandler Jones, 6-foot-5, 245; Jamie Collins, 6-foot-4, 250; Brandon Browner, 6-foot-4 and 221. Belichick has added those players to a group that already included someone like Rob Ninkovich (6-foot-3, 250), giving the Patriots similar size and versatility from the defensive line (Jones and Ninkovich) to the linebacking corps (Collins) to the secondary (Browner).
Meanwhile, Donta Hightower (6-foot-2, 260ish) has gone from beefier to leaner and the Pats brought in Sherman rival Darrelle Revis, who, you guessed it, plays bigger than he is (6-foot-0, 205). To his credit, too, Belichick has accordingly tweaked the Patriots offense, bringing in more size in the passing game – Brandon Lafell (6-foot-2, 208) and Tim Wright (6-foot-4, 220) -- to combat the kind of defense he himself has built.
Before anyone interprets this as some type of slight against Belichick, stop. It is quite the opposite. Now in his 15th season as head coach of the Patriots, Belichick did not become arguably the greatest coach in NFL history by being stubborn and close-minded. Rather, he has demonstrated an ability to adapt. The NFL has changed a great deal since Belichick was winning Super Bowl as an assistant coach with the New York Giants, and too many coaches to count have come and gone from the league since.
Pete Carroll was one of them.
But if Bill Belichick still wouldn't discount him, why would you?
Tony Massarotti co-hosts the Felger and Massarotti Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub weekdays from 2-6 p.m. Follow him on Twitter @TonyMassarotti. You can read more from Tony by clicking here.
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