Top 68 Quotes & Sayings by Pete Carroll

It isn't about the words you say. It's about the energetic message you send.

Think of your favorite teacher you ever had in school: the one who made it the most fun to go to class. They surprise you. They keep you guessing. They keep you coming back, wanting to know what's going to happen next.

Dancers work and they work and they work, and they master their skills so far that improvisation just comes flowing out of them. Their natural expression of the best they can possibly be comes out of them because there is no boundary to hold them back... That's the mentality that I'm trying to create, recreate and hold on to forever.

People make mistakes all the time. We learn and grow. If there's patience and love, and you care for people, you can work them through it, and they can find their greatest heights.

I was the best guy, you know, all through Little League and Pop Warner and that kind of stuff. But when I went to high school, I was undersized. I didn't grow. I was behind the whole puberty cycle. I didn't like high school.

My mom was really cool. She's the one that gave me the mentality about believing in myself and trusting it, that I was always gonna be okay, and that I could do things in a special way. She just pumped me up, you know?

At the highest level in the NFL, the pass game is as complex as you can imagine.

Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.

I am an example of a person who got zeroed into a philosophy early.

Once you're a football player, you're a football player for life. You always think of yourself in terms of that. We all do. It's hard to get rid of when you can't play anymore.

In 1999, I got fired as coach of New England. In three years in New England, we actually did better than most people think. We were 27-21, won the AFC division title, went to the playoffs twice.

The thing that always strikes me is how much power one person has. Everybody has so much power to help and to change if they just exercise it and get after it.

It's about us getting ready to play. It's not about the other team. We'll beat ourselves before they beat us. That's always our approach.

I'm talking about: Are we competing today, every minute, in everything we do in practice. Are we letting loose and daring to be great here and now? And can we sustain that? And repeat it. Trophies are great, but we're trying to win forever.

My dad was a good competitor. I know he'd think I was a little off the charts.

And sure, there's a universe where I made a bonehead call that blew the Super Bowl. But that's not my universe.

You're either competing or you're not.

I wanted to find out if we went to the NFL and really took care of guys, really cared about each and every individual, what would happen?

It comes down to taking care of the people in your program and making them the best they can be-not giving up on them and never failing to be there for them.

I can't ask the offense to score slower.

We've lost a lot of coaches around here, but the philosophy and the approach, the standards we have set and the expectations we have maintained have always been upheld from one year to the next.I attribute that to the great character of the players and the willingness of the coaches to not get influenced and get off-message and to get out of the way.

You will find a way to make your message fresher. You'll find a way to make your connections in a way that will continue to inspire and direct and motivate. That's what I'm banking on.

I just realized how bad it is when you're not in charge and you're a head coach.

Our philosophy doesn't change. We're always competing. But the ways to approach it and the ways to make that up and make it available to our players, there's no end to that. That's why the thought is that you're either competing or you're not, and that's why I'm learning and searching and trying to transfer information to our coaches and to our players.

Think of your favorite teacher you ever had in school: the one who made it the most fun to go to class. They surprise you. They keep you guessing. They keep you coming back, wanting to know whats going to happen next.

Regardless of what other stigmas may be involved, I think we have to do this because the world of medicine is trying to do the exact same thing and figure it out and they're coming to some conclusions.

I really admire the job that not just coach Belichick has done but that Robert Kraft and his family have done, and the decisions that they made to let Bill do what he's capable of doing. I think it's a great illustration of a way to structure an NFL organization when you let the coach really run the thing.

Relentless pursuit to find a competitive edge.

I always think something good is about to happen.

Troy Polamalu was a fascinating player, and that made him.

I would say that we have to explore and find ways to make our game a better game and take care of our players in whatever way possible. Regardless of what other stigmas might be involved, we have to do this because the world of medicine is doing this.

Stay hungry, remain humble and get better today.

Of course we want to win every game, but winning forever is more about realizing your potential and making yourself as good as you can be. Realizing that is a tremendous accomplishment, whether it's in football or in life.

The only competition that matters is the one that takes place within yourself.

So, regardless of what they do, we have to play like we’re capable of playing. That’s a greater challenge in itself, but that’s really what we’re after.

If you want to be great, do it. There’s nothing holding you back. It’s all in your control.

He has to be a great teacher. You have to have the right stuff and in the right proportions, and you have to convey that to the coaches, and then to the players.

I read a lot of different stuff, but I keep being open to inspiration.

That’s the interesting thing about the philosophy — to accomplish the grand, you have to focus on the small. To exist in the eternal perspective, you have to live in the moment.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any program, so you can't put anything above that, ... But it wouldn't matter who you had here if you didn't have the right mental attitude and work ethic. You need all those elements to come together to do something like we are doing.

I love Larry Bird, but I don't agree with him. I love him and respect everything about him. I learned a long time ago, and I've made this statement: Coaches don't lose their expertise and ability to make the calls.

I will always be interested in the truth, yeah.

If you create a vision for yourself, and stick with it, you can make amazing things happen in your life.

You do what you have to do to compete, and that takes you to places where you are in a relentless state to find an edge and compete. That mentality keeps you on and on point. The how is following the drive, being resourceful and creative.

I had no plan for that year but it wound up being one of the most important years of my football coaching career. It hit me along the way that I needed to really get at the heart of what's really true to myself. And then I was able to mold it and shape it in the years at SC to become the approach and the concept and the culture that we try to create here at Seattle.

One of my favorite guys was Ronnie Lott. I had and have such tremendous respect for him that when I finally got a chance to coach him, I couldn't get enough of uncovering and understanding what made him tick and what made him be who he was.

Congrats to Clare Farnsworth on a legendary career! One of the all-time great Seahawks! We will miss you Clare!

Winning Forever is not about the final score; it's about competing and striving to be the best. If you are in this pursuit, then you're already winning.

If you want to win forever, you've got to ALWAYS COMPETE.

I’ve learned that possibly the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure. If you can eliminate that fear—not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation—you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face.

My dad was a great competitor in his own way. He would never let us win at anything, and we had to work our tails off to beat him.

It’s simple, really: Be great right now so that you can be great later on.

We're not going to do anything different for this game since we're not treating this game any different than another game. Every game is a championship game for us, so we'll treat this one, the last one and the next one exactly the same. And that goes for our practices leading up to it as well.

It's not that you're not smart anymore; it's that you're unwilling to do it. Coaches who coach know what I'm talking about. You just keep battling to help your coaches and your players, to refine your scheme, to break down your opponent, to find ways to travel and take care of your players.

Russell Wilson has got a tremendous competitive mindset and it stems from the confidence that he feels based on the preparation that he puts in.

It's about being the very best you can be. Nothing else matters as long as you're working and striving to be your best. Always compete. It's truly that simple. Find the way to do your best. Compete in everything you do.

The how-to is all about day in, day out finding a way to feed the monster, the drive that lives inside.

I learned a tremendous amount about what was important to me as a head coach in that I was not in charge. I didn't have final say about what was going on, and I was always having to represent other people's views, and it was very difficult to be real, to be authentic, to be true because there were a number of people who had say about what was going on.

People make mistakes all the time. We learn and grow. If theres patience and love, and you care for people, you can work them through it, and they can find their greatest heights.

I think that drive to fight the fight day in and day out, I think that can go away. You can lose that. As long as you continue to be consumed and overwhelmed with the desire to get better and find another way and keep competing to figure out what you can do to help make this guy be better than he was a day ago, as long as that's there, I don't agree.