“I said no,” Carroll recalled. “But I’d like to hire him.”

That was the crucial piece for Carroll in taking the NFL job he never thought he’d want. He had been burned already, had lived a life of limited decision-making and confused organizational structure. That was never going to happen again. Instead, he was content to remain at USC for the rest of his career, a place where he never had to fight for control.

But Seattle said the right things. Seattle knew what he needed.

“They wanted me to come here on my terms,” Carroll said. “And I trusted them. That was part of the deal. When I had talked to anybody in the past, [it was] whether I could really believe that it was the sales pitch to get you or that it was truly the structure that they believed in.

“That’s why I never even considered any of the other jobs.”

And that was all because of his three years in New England, because of a setup that didn’t work for Carroll or the Krafts or the Patriots.

Really, though, it all started with Bill Parcells — as so many things do in the recent history of the Patriots. It is something, too, that has informed the current Patriots power structure, as Robert Kraft has loosened the reins, finding the right touch with Bill Belichick.

“The experience with Parcells and Carroll really helped me in my decision with Belichick,” Kraft said. “Because I sort of had two extremes, and then I had a balance. I still kept the personnel separate when I originally hired Bill Belichick, but then over time, he earned his way in.

“I think in fairness to Pete, if I had given him more access, he would have done better. He was right in a lot of the things he said.”

That sentiment is gratifying to Carroll now, more than a decade after he coached his final game in New England. Though he has moved on, to USC and now to Seattle, finding great success at the former and increasing success at the latter, regrets remain.

Some of that came from not understanding himself and his philosophy. Some of that came from the working conditions, a structure that left him fighting to be heard.

“I’m not sure when he was here I gave him enough support in the personnel area,” Kraft said. “I had been so burned by my first experience, and so you learn. Sometimes in life and business or relationships, it’s where you catch someone.”

Carroll coached the Patriots from 1997-99, catching them at the end of the Parcells tenure, a time that brought respectability to the franchise but also left it saddled with onerous contracts. The Krafts had just paid the highest price ever for an NFL franchise, were anticipating a privately financed stadium, and were concerned about unwise spending.

So they gave the decision-making to Bobby Grier. Not to Carroll.

“It could have been all of the right decisions for another coach; it wasn’t for me,” Carroll said. “It didn’t work with the stuff that I needed to do. That’s where it became so clear, with how I needed to do it next time, if I would ever get a chance again.”

Kraft had initially gravitated toward Carroll for a couple of reasons. He was comfortable with the coach and his personality. He loved that Carroll, who was coming off a stint as the 49ers defensive coordinator, was a defensive guru. And he didn’t think Carroll had gotten “a fair shake” in his one year as head coach of the Jets (1994).

But it didn’t work, as Carroll managed just a 27-21 record in his three years in New England.

So even though the Carroll era has been ridiculed by many, perhaps some of the freedom that Belichick enjoys these days can be traced to the freedom Carroll didn’t have.

As Kraft said, “I hope we’ve learned from some of the mistakes I’ve made and tried to grow from it. You grow, you evolve, you develop, and I think Pete was helpful to me in under­standing the right way to do things.”

The way the organization did things then wasn’t the right way. That’s clear when talking to anyone who was around the Patriots at the time. There was frustration for the players, the coach, ownership. The moves weren’t right, and the dysfunction reflected that.