Pete Carroll is among the winningest active NFL head coaches. In fact, Carroll’s 163 career victories are the fourth-most in the league right now, behind only Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, and Mike Tomlin. Carroll is currently 17th on the all-time wins list but is within striking distance of the top 10.
The 72-year-old has been lead skipper for the Seattle Seahawks for so long (13 seasons and counting) that it’s easy to forget his dominant stint as head coach of the USC Trojans. Carroll is one of three coaches who can boast both a collegiate national championship and a Super Bowl title.
Carroll will look to put another tally in the win column tonight when his Seahawks square off with the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. The 12s will be solidly in Carroll’s corner, as usual.
Also in Carroll’s corner is his wife of 47 years, the former Glena Goranson, who has supported the old ball coach on every leg of his journey through the coaching ranks.
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Who Is Pete Carroll’s Wife, Glena Goranson?
Carroll met Goranson when the two were undergraduate students at the University of the Pacific in California. That’s not too surprising, given his apparent affection for the Pacific Northwest.
In their nearly half-century together, the couple has welcomed three children into the world: sons Brennan and Nate and daughter Jamie.
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Brennan played collegiately at Delaware and Pitt and is presently offensive coordinator at the University of Arizona. Nate jumped straight into the coaching ranks, working his way up to senior offensive assistant with the Seahawks.
In my view best #ArizonaWildcats OLine is:
LT: #JordanMorgan
LG: #WendellMoe
C: #JoshBaker
RG: #LeifMagnuson
RT: #JonahSaviianaeaI asked OC #BrennanCarroll how #RaymondPulido graded out in 1st appearance.#BearDownArizona pic.twitter.com/1JaOqKKmKT
— David Kelly (@DavidKelly1290) September 27, 2023
Jamie also got to show off her athletic chops playing collegiate volleyball, like her mother, at USC. She pivoted away from a career in coaching, instead working in media as a content developer for Amplify Voice.
The couple has managed to keep their private life largely private. One interesting tidbit about Glena you might not know is that fairly early on in Carroll’s coaching career, when he was a graduate assistant at the University of Arkansas, she lent a hand to the coaching staff by babysitting the son of then-defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.
That young man would grow up to become Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin. In the amusing “Mic’d Up” clip below, Carroll talks about how Glena helps keep him in check.
"I'm a little unruly… my wife tells me all the time."
Pete Carroll mic'd up is the best.
(via @NFLFilms) pic.twitter.com/riSQe66zmW
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2021
That kind of wifely support behind the scenes has helped rein Carroll in and forge the prolific, decades-long coaching career that’ll likely earn him a slot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.