Pete Carroll likens Seahawks management to marriage

The secret to the Seahawks’ overwhelming success may have something to do with the relationships at the top. Coach Pete Carroll says his relationship with owner Paul Allen and general manager John Schneider works much like a marriage.

“The idea here for us is to really respect one another, to listen to one another, and to always have open lines of communication,” Carroll said in this week’s episode of The Pete Carroll Show. “Well, that sounds real familiar doesn’t it? In a marriage, that’s what we have to orchestrate if we’re going to make it a great one.”

From the beginning, Carroll said he and Schneider made a point to set up a relationship that would benefit them both.

“We just declared that we were going to make this a famous relationship. I was hoping John would be recognized as the best general manager that anybody could remember in the time he’s here. To do that, we had to be together so we could function at a really high level.”

They combined that with a similar effort to keep things tight with Allen.

“We had to find out what he needed and what was important to him,” Carroll said. “John has worked really carefully with Paul to make sure that he gets the information that he wants and we keep him abreast of everything. It’s a really wide open conversation and a very comfortable communication with us.”

Allen has been “tremendously supportive” of them, Carroll said, noting that Allen extends them a lot of trust.

“I’ll support John in any way I can possibly do it,” Carroll said. “He’ll do the same for me and we’ll do the same for Mr. Allen.”

All the effort put into their relationships has clearly paid off and Carroll said they’re all enjoying the benefits.

“We’re just having a blast, trying to keep it going, and working to use everybody’s strengths to get everything we can to help us be as good as possible.”