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Within a 24-hour news cycle, we have learned that three of the most successful football coaches of our lifetimes will no longer be coaching in their familiar habitats next season.
Much like the very popular 1960’s singing trio known as “The Supremes”, football coaching legends Pete Carroll, Nick Saban, and Bill Belichick have exited the stage within the past day.
Just having one of these legendary coaching names exit would have been newsworthy for this week. Having all three legends disappear from their coaching posts within a matter of hours is still quite hard to comprehend.
Let’s take a look at the career of each of these coaching “Supremes”.
#1 – Pete Carroll – “I Hear a Symphony” (1965)
Early Wednesday, long-time Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was replaced as the head coach of the NFL team. After a few glowing comments about his now-former coach, the team’s owner said that Pete Carroll will remain with the Seahawks as an “advisor” next season.
“Pete is the winningest coach in Seahawks history, brought the city its first Super Bowl title, and created a tremendous impact over the past 14 years on the field and in the community,” said Seahawks chair Jody Allen.
LSU football fans also remember Pete Carroll as the head coach of the 2003 USC Trojans team. As then-LSU coach Nick Saban’s 13-1 LSU Tigers won the BCS title on the field by defeating Oklahoma 21-14, the Associated Press later named Pete Carroll’s 12-1 USC squad as its #1 team after the bowl season concluded.
To refresh your 2003 memory, LSU and Oklahoma were both 12-1 coming into the BCS title game. USC (which had lost an early-season road game at Cal) was 11-1 and left out of the two-team finale. The Trojans would beat #4 Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl just prior to LSU’s seven-point win over OU in the BCS title nightcap game.
More than twenty years later, LSU fans (who still aren’t happy about that so-called co-championship) will finally see their Tigers play a football game against USC soon. The two powers are going to face-off to start the 2024 season on Sunday, September 1 in Las Vegas.
The following year in 2004, Coach Pete Carroll’s USC team went 14-0 to claim an undisputed national title. During his nine seasons in Los Angeles, the Southern Cal football teams won an amazing 83% of their games.
In 2010, Pete Carroll left college football amid recruiting controversies involving future New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush. The school would be placed on a two year probation as its former leader bolted California to become the head coach for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
He led Seattle to its first and only Super Bowl win in 2013 over the Denver Broncos. The Seahawks returned to the Big Game again the following year in 2014 only to lose to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s New England Patriots.
In his 14 seasons with the NFL Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll had just three losing campaigns and a winning record of nearly 61%. By the way, Pete Carroll is now 72 years of age.
#2 – Nick Saban – “I’m Gonna Make you Love Me” (1968)
Late Wednesday afternoon, the second coaching “Supreme” to leave this week was easily the biggest surprise.
Coach Nick Saban (also age 72) recently led Alabama into the College Football Playoffs. Though this season’s Crimson Tide team lost to eventual national champion Michigan, many believed that Coach Saban did some of his finest coaching with the 2023 Alabama football team.
Incredibly, Nick Saban never posted a losing season as a college head football coach (Toledo, Michigan State, LSU, and Alabama). He won a national title at LSU in 2003. He won six championships while at Alabama.
Those seven national championships are the most in college football history as Nick Saban eclipsed Alabama’s long-time coaching legend, Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Though Coach Saban left LSU in 2005 to try his hand at coaching the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, he quickly learned that his personality was best suited to college coaching. After two lackluster seasons as an NFL head coach, Nick Saban accepted the vacant coaching position at the University of Alabama.
A meticulous stickler for details, Saban’s college football teams have been built on tough defenses and just enough offense to win games.
Coach Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide football teams have won an astounding 88% of their regular season games between 2007 through the 2023 campaign.
Nick Saban’s intensity has always been on display 24/7. His annual routine features a brief vacation with his wife, Terry, immediately following the conclusion of his team’s college football season.
This week, Coach Saban returned home from with a surprise announcement which no one saw coming.
“The last few days have been hard,” Saban said earlier today. “But look, it’s kind of like I told the players. I was going to go in there and ask them to get 100% committed to coming back and trying to win a championship, but I’ve always said that I didn’t want to ride the program down.”
Alabama’s athletic director Greg Byrne will begin the quest for a new head football coach to replace a legend. The next Bama coach will have a very difficult task. The media (as they are prone to do) will create a lot of buzz about potential new head coaches.
As usual, most of it will be hot air.
“If you don’t hear it from me, don’t believe it,” said Greg Byrne.
As for Coach Saban’s future, ESPN likely has a blank check dangled in front of his agent already. With ESPN and ABC’s SEC coverage expanding next year, they would savor the chance to have Nick Saban as part of their college football television programming next fall.
#3 – Bill Belichick – “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1966)
The now 71-year old long-time head coach of the NFL’s New England Patriots reached an amicable agreement today with owner Robert Kraft and will depart the team.
“This is a move that we mutually agreed that is needed at this time,” said Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft. “What Bill accomplished, in my opinion, will never be duplicated.”
Indeed!
With six NFL titles in the past 24 years, Coach Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots have dominated the NFL for most of the 21st century. Having a Hall-of-Fame quarterback on those teams (Tom Brady) didn’t hurt, either.
The Patriots posted a losing record in just three of those 24 years while Bill Belichick was the team’s head coach. Unfortunately, the 2023 season was, by far, his worst. New England finished tied with Arizona and Washington for the 2nd worst record in the NFL at 4-13. Only Carolina was worse (a woeful 2-15).
Bill Belichick hasn’t shown himself to be a warm and fuzzy individual – at least not with the media and the public in general. However, his job has been to assemble a winning football team every season. His career record proves that he is one of the most successful NFL coaches of all time.
New England won nearly 70% of its games under Coach Bill Belichick beginning in the year 2000. The team won six Super Bowls and appeared in three others. His NFL coaching records are likely to stand for quite a long time.
Bill Belichick and Nick Saban actually coached together for a few years with the NFL Cleveland Browns during the early 1990’s. Coach Saban fondly remembered his years of working together with Belichick in Cleveland.
“I knew exactly what to expect [and] what he expected from me,” said Saban.
At 71, Bill Belichick may wish to pursue another head coaching job. The Los Angeles Chargers (among other teams) are said to be interested.
Like Nick Saban, the television broadcasting business may allow the coach a new opportunity. He could still remain part of the game, earn a nice salary, and not have the headaches and long hours associated with being a successful head football coach in the NFL.
Only Coach Belichick will know the answer to that question.
In summary, these three Hall-of-Fame head football coaches have earned their reward in whatever capacity (if any) they wish to pursue soon.
Thanks for some incredible memories!