2. Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks (1.23 average)
Carroll's sky-high ranking was one of the revelations of this project. I figured Carroll would be on the rise following the Seahawks' Super Bowl championship, but second in the NFL to Belichick already?
"With Pete, the way they manage the game and manage their personnel is probably better than anybody," one GM said.
It has been a total transformation, with Carroll and GM John Schneider working well together to stock the roster with young players the staff has developed consistently. Consider: In the three years before Carroll's arrival, Seattle lost 19 games by more than seven points. Their current 45-game streak without such a defeat dates to Week 9 of the 2011 season and is the longest in the league. Belichick's Patriots are second with just two such defeats over the same span.
One former GM who listed Carroll as a 2 said he did not think Carroll was quite innovative enough from a scheme standpoint to rank near the very top. However, another voter said he had read Carroll's book multiple times, trying to glean whatever he could.
"He relates great to players, is a great motivator, good manager, can put together a good staff; he is connected with all that and you have to give that guy a lot of credit personally for their defensive scheme and how they play it," a former GM said. "The other thing Pete does a good job of is, even when there is controversy, he goes with the flow and doesn't come down too hard. He coaches people loose instead of being uptight. Players can perform and react very well. He does not have to jump in. And he is not afraid to play young guys, which is another really good thing."
The three coaches atop this ranking have all won Super Bowls, but none has won one quite the way Carroll did this past season: 43-8 over a record-setting Denver team. "When you say his name, the first thing you think of is the absolute a-- whipping he issued to John Fox in the Super Bowl," one executive said. "If it had been a tight game and the ball bounced one way at the end, he lucked out. But the absolute dominant fashion they won that game in, people are going, 'Holy crap.' No disrespect to Joe Flacco, but he did not beat Flacco. He beat Peyton Manning, and he beat him soundly."
