As you’d probably expect, Friday’s trade that sent Percy Harvin to the New York Jets was still a topic of conversation on Monday. Here’s what Carroll had to say.
Perhaps most telling, unless Carroll misunderstood the question, was when he was asked how long he had recognize Harvin might be an issue that the team would have to address
“I’ve known Percy since he was in high school,” Carroll said. “We recruited him in high school—didn’t get very close to getting him—but I’ve followed him for a long time.”
Again, it’s possible he misunderstood/misheard the question, but that sure sounds like Carroll is saying he has known Harvin was potentially trouble since the receiver was in high school.
Harvin, of course, isn’t the first high-profile player with potential character red flags to play under Carroll in Seattle, and some have worked out very well for the Seahawks, such as Marshawn Lynch, while others haven’t, like LenDale White. Carroll sees himself as a coach who can reach players and help them be their best, while also being flexible enough himself to understand that not all players can be handled the same, so Carroll was disappointed he couldn’t make things work with Harvin.
“For ever in my recruiting days, and being in the league, I’ve coached all kinds of different guys—and this isn’t going to surprise you—but I’ve always felt like it was going to work out, that I’m going to be able to figure out a way to make it work,” Carroll said. “With everybody that we decide to bring into this program, we do it for a specific reason with great consideration, and we have a plan, we have a vision for how it’s going to go, and we didn’t quite get there.”
On the conversation he had with his players on the flight to St. Louis Friday, Carroll said, “We had a really good talk about it. I talked with guys from across the board on our team, and I think it was pretty clear that it was accepted as the next thing we had to do and we did the right thing and on we go. It was a team decision.”
Asked if players were upset, Carroll said they were not.
As for how his team handled the news, Carroll said, “I think they handled it really well. They took it in stride, I think they trust our decision making; they’ve stood by us throughout. I don’t think there’s any fallout at all. Obviously you’re human, you react, you have a response to it, but I don’t think anybody had any problem. Everybody was getting to the business of playing football, so I think it was fine.”
Without Harvin, the Seahawks lost Sunday, but they also had one of their better offensive halves of the season when they scored on three long touchdown drives to nearly come back from an 18-point deficit. Asked if that performance was most representative of what he wants the offense to be, Carroll said, “I think so, yeah. That’s why we’re encouraged by it. We saw the whole run mechanism work together. Marshawn drew a lot of attention. Marshawn had a couple of runs called back that would have given him significant yardage in the game. His factor allowed Russell to get out a little bit on the edge, then the third down situation in the second half, we were four out of five, it was very sharp, and that’s the way we like to look and much more in the direction we were hoping to go.”
Finally, at the end of the press conference, Carroll was asked about Harvin not wanting to go back into the Dallas game in the fourth quarter, to which he only responded, “He’s a Jet.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
