In Age-Old Battle, It’s LaFleur vs. Carroll

Pete Carroll has age and playoff experience in his favor. Will it matter?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On one sideline for Sunday’s NFC Divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field will stand Matt LaFleur, the Green Bay Packers’ 40-year-old rookie head coach.

On the other sideline will stand Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks’ 68-year-old head coach. As the NFL’s oldest coach, how has he survived the grind that has chewed up and spit out so many of his contemporaries.

“What grind are you talking about?” was Carroll’s retort during a conference call with Packers beat reporters on Wednesday.

“I don’t see the grind. I don’t see it that way,” he continued. “The difference between being in college and here is somewhat significant, you know? That’s really hard. That thing taxes you forever because recruiting never ends. This job has its rhythms to it. You push and you push until you get through the season and then you break and go to the draft. It’s real doable.”

Video: Matt LaFleur on the Seattle defense

Almost at the opposite end of the age spectrum is LaFleur, who was the fifth-youngest coach in the league this season. He’s taken a Packers team that went a combined 13-18-1 the past two seasons and went 13-3 this season. Carroll, meanwhile, is coming off his eighth consecutive winning season and has won at least one playoff game six of those seasons.

When Carroll was 40, he was defensive coordinator under Bruce Coslet with the Jets. Can LaFleur see himself coaching a team when he’s as old as Carroll 28 years from now?

“That seems like a long time from now,” LaFleur said with a laugh. “We’ll see. He’s sure doing it, and I’ll tell you what, he’s got a lot of energy, too. He’s done it for so long at such a high level, I’ve got a lot of respect and admiration for him, just what he’s been able to accomplish throughout the course of his career.”

Carroll’s list of accomplishments are long – and gives him a potential advantage in Sunday’s game. He will be coaching in his 20th playoff game on Sunday, is in the divisional round for the seventh time with the Seahawks and has a Super Bowl ring.

LaFleur, on the other hand, will be taking the next step in his young career.

“Yeah, tell Matt it’s a big advantage for us, OK?” Carroll joked. “I don’t know that. It’s the next football game. There’s a lot of talk made about the playoffs and this and that. There’s so much more riding on everything and everything’s so different and all that. I don’t see it like that. I just think it’s just football. He’s obviously very well situated and very well equipped with his team. He’s had a fantastic season. Such an accomplishment for Matt to have pulled this together and this fast order. Of course, it helps when you have your quarterback like that. But fitting together with Aaron Jones and getting Jimmy (Graham) to keep playing for him and using Davante (Adams), they’ve done a magnificent job. And the defense has played and caused problems, too. It’s a really good setup and he really deserves a ton of credit.”