Winning different in both coaches

A media member's cell phone rang during one of conferences conducted by Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll this week.

Carroll picked up the reporter's phone and answered the call himself, leading to guffaws throughout the room.

It's the off-the-wall type of thing Carroll is likely to do at times, whether in the locker room with players or while dealing with media. His persona is about 180 degrees different from Bears coach Lovie Smith.

But when their teams meet today at noon in a divisional playoff game at Soldier Field, they both will command the complete respect of their 53-man rosters.

Coaching a winning NFL team is not as much about relating to fans and media as it is relating to players.

“It's all about a culture,” said Bears place-kicker Robbie Gould. “It's all about having guys buy into the system and understand what the system is.

“When it comes down to it, like I've said, coach Smith has been here long enough and there's been enough guys around this locker room who have been here to know he's a great players' coach. He takes care of us in the sense that we practice hard all the time, but he keeps everybody healthy.”

Smith frequently gets criticized for being easy on players in training camp and practice, but he is tending to his flock and doing it on a personal level in a way most fans or media members will never witness.

The perception Smith is a cold fish, or too laid back, stems from the simple fact he isn't former Bears coach Mike Ditka. He's not yelling at his quarterback after an audible until his face turns blue. Yet he has won three division titles.

“He definitely is an emotional, passionate coach,” said rookie defensive end Corey Wootton. “Maybe he's not a yeller, like some of the other coaches, but he definitely gets his point across when things need to be said.”

Smith appeals to a player's personal pride without insulting him.

“He lets you know where you stand,” said linebacker Brian Urlacher.

Carroll, on the other hand, relies on his years of experience and his outgoing personality.

Although Carroll came to Seattle after building USC into a powerhouse, Seahawks players don't view him as a college- style coach.

“I think he's got that reputation as a rah-rah guy, but I wouldn't say that,” said Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

“He looks young, but I think he's the second-oldest coach in the NFL. He is very much an old-school guy.

“Most of his talks to the team go back to guys like John Wooden, Bud Grant or different people he coached or played with in San Francisco or wherever, even in college, stories that none of us even remember, hardly.”

Hasselbeck had a talk with Carroll about the 1985 Bears this past week. Carroll witnessed first-hand the devastation that the Bears' defense piled on the league as he was an assistant under Grant that season.

“We had to suffer through those matchups with them when I was with the Vikings back then,” Carroll said. “I was tight ends coach in the 80s. ... They just had amazing players in those days.”

Carroll admits he probably had to overcome the reputation as a college coach when he first came to Seattle, but the players quickly saw him only as their coach.

“I know he spent the last nine years at USC as a college coach, but I really see him as a longtime NFL coach who happened to go to USC for nine years to perfect his coaching style,” Hasselbeck said. “He was able to do it. They had a dynasty going there. He built that program up, took them from the ground and brought them back up.

“And that's exactly what he's trying to do here with us.”

Coaches out of the Carroll mold have succeeded plenty of times before in the NFL. Longtime Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy was a classic rah-rah, optimistic type who was much older than his players and told stories about people many never heard of — but they appreciated his messages. George Allen was much the same with the Washington Redskins.

Similarly, coaches who stalk the sidelines without much emotion, like Smith, have succeeded. Grant, Bill Belichick, Tom Landry ... the list is probably longer than those who wore their emotions on their sleeves.

So it irritates Bears players when they hear their coach compared to a bump on a log.

“What's funny is everyone wanted his job (to be lost) in Week 1, but now they want to give him a contract extension,” Gould said. “It's kind of interesting how those emotionless things get written, interpreted.

“He's a great coach. He motivates us. We know what his demeanor is. It helps this team because I think his demeanor is what a lot of the guys' demeanors are in the locker room. We never get too high. We never get too low. And we understand our jobs, and we understand what we have to go out and do.”

It's definitely a case where many roads can lead to coaching success, as long as the teaching part gets accomplished.

“He and Carroll, they differ in their coaching styles, but both are tremendous coaches,” Wootton said. “You have to have a lot of respect for the way they coach the game.”

“I think he's got that reputation as a rah-rah guy, but I wouldn't say that. He looks young, but I think he's the second-oldest coach in the NFL. He is very much an old-school guy.”

Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck on Pete Carroll

“He motivates us. We know what his demeanor is. We never get too high. We never get too low. And we understand our jobs, and we understand what we have to go out and do.”

Bears kicker Robbie Gould on Lovie Smith