Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy after beating the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Years from now, we’ll be looking back on the 2013 Seattle Seahawks as one of the most complete teams in NFL history. Today, I’m looking at them and thinking “how far away are our beloved Tennessee Titans from being at that level of competition?”
Pete Carroll has completely overhauled the philosophy of football. His ideal is simple: be the best you, and you’ll do your job 10 times better. By installing this way of thinking, he has taken players with chips on their shoulders, and molded them into gridiron warriors.
Look at all the things the Seahawks did right this season. It’s not just skill and hard work. We’re talking about a mentality, a quarterback, a fan base, and an idea that hasn’t been present in the football world.
In Seattle, players’ mental and spiritual health has been emphasized along with physical health. By allowing players to simply be themselves, Carroll has brought to surface a feeling of calm, loose football.
However, it is his and his staff’s attention to fundamental football that has helped foster in this new ideology, and he will certainly be quick to remind you that the “loose” perception of his team would be impossible without an emphasis on foundationally strong football.
Pete Carroll has a certain type of guy in mind when looking for additions to his team, yes, but he’s almost the anti-Bill Belichick. There is no rigid, “Patriot Way” or schematic complexities like the ones that define New England’s club.
Relaxed. Fast. Fundamentally sound. Fierce.
These are all words one could use to describe the Seattle Seahawks.
So, naturally, as a Nashvillian, I can’t help but wonder what our Titans have in place to build towards that type of environment?
Since Delanie Walker came out and said there were at least 6 or 7 cancers in the Titans locker room last season, building a team-oriented culture might be a bit of an important step.
There’s certainly no quarterback on the roster that measures up to Russell Wilson, and maybe the closest talent we have to Percy Harvin is Kendall Wright.
The coaching staff is a huge question mark, and the pass rush of the two teams simply doesn’t compare.
There’s a pretty good defensive backfield in Nashville, and that’s about it. So, I answered my own question pretty quickly.
If you start comparing the Titans to the Seahawks, you’ll likely induce panic.
The good news…..the Titans won’t have to be the Seahawks to win a Super Bowl. They’ll just have to be the Titans….really, really well. The fans in Seattle have waited a long time for another professional sports championship. It’s a nice story.
It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion of the Super Bowl. It’s easy to say that Pete Carroll is ushering in a new way of football, and it’s the best way to win Super Bowls in this day and age.
But don’t we say that just about every year?
Each Super Bowl champion is a dynasty in the making. Every MVP quarterback has won the first of many….etc.
Remain faithful Titans fans. You’re a long way from Seattle, but then again, you don’t necessarily have to be them to beat them.
This post comes from Stoney Keeley of The SoBros Network. You can follow the SoBros Network on twitter at @SoBrosNetwork, and read all of Stoney’s work at The Southern Brothers Network