Carroll takes high road, but Seahawks coach knows revenge within his grasp

PHOENIX

The concept is as old as time, with examples dating to a sixth King of Babylon, for goodness sake. Humans have desired vengeance on others for thousands of years, a theme that has been the plots of countless storylines in cinema and literature and real life (see Bobbitt, Lorena).

Sports, too.

I never viewed Pete Carroll as much of a Hamlet type, but if you’re talking about a guy whose impulse for revenge will play out mostly inside his head this week, the Seattle Seahawks coach can certainly act the part.

His team will attempt to win a second consecutive Super Bowl when it meets the New England Patriots on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium, where XLIX will be decided and where Carroll can quietly but confidently right what anyone who has been fired might believe was an unfair conclusion.

His occurred 16 years ago.

They really aren’t all that dissimilar, other than the fact one is 63 and thought cooler than a California breeze and the other 62 and thought grumpier than a toddler without his nap, that one is an emotional cheerleader on the sidelines and the other a statue of single-mindedness, that one looks as though he just took an evening stroll along the beach wearing a hoodie and the other as though he slept in his.

Both are defensive-minded types whose successful careers have included charges of cheating.

Carroll and Bill Belichick are also the only head coaches hired by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who dismissed the former in 1999 after three seasons that produced a 27-21 record and two playoff appearances.

Belichick has since led New England to six Super Bowls.

“(Kraft) really was a good partner to work with back in the day,” Carroll said. “He gave me an opportunity that I will always be grateful for. He also sent me out the door, and I remember that.

“Everybody is going to falter and make mistakes and say, ‘I wish I would have known then what I know now.’ That’s going to happen. What unfortunately doesn’t always happen is guys get enough time to work through those early years so that you can find your way and you can find your voice and you can find your perspective. So, often guys get kicked out. Robert was a young owner at the time trying to figure it out. He’s a great dude, but he was green and had a lot to learn. So I got out of there, and that was it.”

Carroll was kicked out as coach of the Jets after one season in 1994 and then again by Kraft and the Patriots. So to have followed an eight-year run at Southern California that included two national championships (one being vacated because of sanctions under his watch) by leading a Super Bowl champion back to the season’s final game might be considered vindication toward those who slammed his pre-Seattle NFL resume and one owner in particular who showed him the door.

Maybe, to a point.

But those who played for Carroll in New England always believed his stint was too short, that he was set up to fail by following in the footsteps of Bill Parcells and a Super Bowl appearance by the Patriots, that a divide between Carroll and the front office in terms of the 53-man roster never allowed him to form and coach the team he desired. Parcells had the same issues with Kraft, which is why he left for New York to coach the Jets.

Parcells wanted more power and didn’t receive it. Neither did Carroll.

“I think coming off the situation I had been in,” Kraft said, “although I had a great coach (in Parcells), I was coming off my first experience as an owner. I believed in more checks and balances like my other businesses, and I think I probably handicapped Pete from doing as good a job as he could’ve done. He’s a lot of fun, not your typical NFL head coach. He’s very capable. Very smart. This can be a very complicated, hard business that can be cruel at times, but I couldn’t be happier for his success in Seattle.”

If there is a high road to take this week, Carroll has chosen it each time someone has asked about his time with the Patriots. It’s not as if things didn’t work out for him at USC, despite the scandal and NCAA probation that was levied against the Trojans shortly after he bolted for Seattle.

But there is a reason many believe the best revenge is great success, and there is no greater form of success for an NFL coach than to win the Super Bowl.

Well, other than doing so by beating a team that once fired — or traded — you.

It happened for Weeb Ewbank with the Jets against the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and Jon Gruden with Tampa Bay against Oakland in XXXVII.

It can happen for Carroll on Sunday.

“Questions come up like, ‘Are you going to be overconfident? Are you going to overlook? It’s not the first time, so are you as excited?’ ” he said. “People used to say that when you’d go to the Rose Bowl year after year and they think it’s not any fun anymore. I don’t get that. I don’t understand that. This is the greatest opportunity that we have. I think our players understand that. Now that it’s here, for us to miss the emphasis and undershoot this thing, it’s not going to happen. I think we can do something really special with it.”

Should his team win Sunday, don’t expect him to gloat.

But inside his head, he will remember.

And smile as broad a smile as imaginable.

Revenge can be sweet that way.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.