It was an emotional and hard day for Pete Carroll, but he made sure to honor one of the closest people to him.
After stepping down as the head coach of the Seahawks in a move that shocked the football world, Carroll is now moving into an advisory role with the club.
But during his Wednesday press conference, Carroll, 72, had to fight back tears when speaking about the love and support he’s received from his wife, Glena.
As he started to pay tribute to Glena, calling her a “loving partner” and “the angel in my life,” Carroll had to pause as he fought back tears at the podium.
“This is worth crying for. Glena, nobody would ever understand how significant,” Carroll said before pausing again. “She’s been through all of the stuff that we’ve been through and how important she is. She has just been the angel of my life.”
Carroll, whose new role has not been defined by him or the club, finishes his 14-year coaching tenure in Seattle with a 137-89-1 record, winning Super Bowl 48 in a rout of the Broncos during the 2013-14 season before following that up with an NFC title the next year.
“I competed pretty hard to be the coach, just so you know,” Carroll said during the press conference, per the Associated Press. “I just wanted to make sure I stood up for all of our coaches and the players and the things that we had accomplished. Not just so we could be the coach still, but so we could continue to have a chance to be successful and keep the organization going. That’s what I was fighting for.”
Out of his 14 seasons in Seattle, Carroll led the Seahawks to the playoffs 10 times, recording at least one postseason victory in seven different seasons.
Overall, he had a 10-9 playoff record with the club.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve had this run. I really am. This level of consistency that we’ve demonstrated is such that it makes you proud,” Carroll added.
The team finished 9-8 this season, falling just short of the playoffs after the Packers held the tiebreaker for the seventh and final spot.
It was his 11th winning season with the team.
“It’s about this organization being successful and being on course for the long haul of it, as well. And I realize that,” he said, per The Athletic. “I mean, I’m about as old as you can get in this business, and there’s come a time they got to make some decisions.
“So moving toward the future, if there’s some way I can add something to them down the road, we’ll see what happens.”
