Long before Pete Carroll became head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, he was the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.
In 1995 and 1996, Carroll was a part of George Seifert's coaching staff.
It was during that time that former 49ers head coach Bill Walsh returned to the franchise in an administrative role after spending three seasons coaching at Stanford.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
During a podcast for The Ringer with Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Carroll recalled a story about his interactions with Walsh, and how he had used it as a teaching lesson for Kerr, who had spent time with the Seahawks coach when he got hired by Golden State in 2014.
"When he came back to be an advisor, they hired him back I think after the Stanford days, he came in the building and no one wanted to talk to him," Carroll said. "They were scared to death of him, everybody was afraid they would say the wrong thing. I didn't know anything, I grew up a Niners fan and loved all their success, but I hadn't been overwhelmed by him in the coaching process. So anyway, he was kind of by himself, he had a little office in the back corner, so I just started going in and hanging out and he let me come in and nobody else was coming by, so we developed a really great relationship.
"And what was so exciting about it was I had loved for the 49ers and the system and the history of how they had put it together, all of that. But I had a chance to ask him about all of 'How did you do it? Why did you do this? What was your thinking here? Why this play or why this coach?' And even talking through their cycles of their time together with Joe [Montana], Jerry [Rice], all those guys and Steve Young coming up, we talked through all that stuff. It was fun anyway, whether it had to do with coaching or not, it helped me."
Under Carroll, the 49ers had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 1995 and 1996.
San Francisco 49ers
Carroll would leave the 49ers after the 1996 season and take the head coaching job with the New England Patriots. After three seasons there, he went back to college and returned USC to glory.
Carroll's conversations with Walsh were the foundation for the coach he would develop into.
"I was just trying to understand it better and learn," Carroll said. "So it just became an extraordinary resource because I knew why he had done what he did, why he had chosen to do the things he had done, but what came through wasn't really any of the specific particulars, you know, it was that he knew what he was doing, he knew how he wanted his program to go and he was really, really adamant and emphatic about the things that were important to him, the execution, the discipline, practice, the approach to the players, how you dealt with the coaches and the players.
"It just reminded me so much of when I look back now, it reminded me of what I had learned and what I loved so much about [UCLA] coach John Wooden, that he was so unique and so extraordinarily his own guy with his own way, totally different from anything I could ever put out there as a coach. But it was more about figuring out that you needed to know you."
Carroll then referred to the time when Kerr, a first-time coach in 2014, went up to Seattle and spent time with the Seahawks during training camp.
"That's why I asked you the question: 'How are you going to coach your team? Now what? OK, you've been around us a little bit, you're thinking about it and you're thinking about X's and O's and I'm going to go to camp [with all this.' But that's not what came through during all the lessons with Coach Walsh. It was about knowing who you are. The more I look back at the people that have impressed me over the years, major influences from Bud Grant from when I was in Minnesota those five years and Monte Kiffin, a guy I coached with for years. It was these unique people and they had their way and their style.
"So that's what I wanted to get you to start thinking about. 'Who are you as a coach? What are you all about? Where are you coming from? What's important to you? What are you uncompromising principals? What are you going to stand by? What are you going to stand for?' All of those things are going to come into play because you're going to be in camp and some guy isn't going to show up for a meeting and then he's going to be late for the bus and then he's going to spout off at one of your players during a game. You've got a million things that are going to happen. How are you going to react to them? It has nothing to do with X's and O's. It's who you are."
"And then any time you deal with any situation, you're making a statement about who you are, what you are and then they are going to watch it. Do you really believe in something or are you dealing with things randomly. So that's the really cool stuff about figuring how to coach. Unbelievable job you did. I can't even imagine how you pulled it off."
[RELATED: Kerr's first message to Warriors]
As is well-documented, Kerr's first head-coaching gig came in 2014 with the Warriors and he guided them to an NBA championship in his first season. The team would go back to the NBA Finals the next four seasons, winning two more titles during that span.
Despite his short tenure, Kerr's voice around the NBA has become respected. The culture he has built with the Warriors is envied around the league.
Carroll's lesson to Kerr appears to have paid off.