Pete Carroll Shares Wild Story About Robert Kraft, Bologna Sandwiches

Younger Patriots fans might not know Pete Carroll was the bridge head coach between the Bill Parcells era and Bill Belichick era, and Carroll’s time in New England apparently was bizarre from the get-go.

The Seattle Seahawks head coach was the top man on the sidelines for New England from 1997-1999, and he took over after the Patriots lost Super Bowl XXI when Parcells left for the New York Jets following disagreements with Robert Kraft.

Carroll had his own issues with the Patriots owner, one of which involved sandwiches.

“That situation from the start was a little challenging,” Carroll told Richard Sherman on the “Richard Sherman Podcast” on Tuesday. “We did everything first class in San Francisco. I mean, top drawer, treated the players great. It was a clear philosophy that I was bringing, I was excited to unveil. We’re having a minicamp, and I’m just checking the setup of it, how it’s organized.

“I’m figuring into the menu for the players on that weekend. And Kraft comes to me and says, ‘Well, you know, we’re not gonna feed them like that. We give them bologna sandwiches, and chips and stuff like that.’ It hit me just as clear as a bell. I thought, ‘I’m in deep trouble. I mean, if I can’t even feed them the way I wanna feed them, what’s gonna come …’ I mean, he didn’t know what he was asking for at the time. We didn’t cover bologna sandwich stuff in interviews.

“They had had good teams before I got hired after they’d lost in the Super Bowl. I went in there thinking I was gonna kick ass on Bill Parcells. What in the world was I thinking? He’s like the coach of the decade, and here comes Pete all fired up. I wasn’t even surprised because of the way I could see it unfolding, but I was pissed.”

Carroll won the AFC East in his first season in New England but losing seasons led to his departure. The rest is history, of course, but it appears fans also can add bologna sandwiches to the Carroll era in New England.