Bruce Arians, Pete Carroll display different styles of leadership

By Stephen Spiewak | Posted 10/25/2016

During Sunday night’s 6-6 overtime tie between the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals, the kicker from each team missed a critical field goal down the stretch.

Neither coach was particularly happy with the mistakes in the kicking game nor how they influenced the outcome. However, the respective reactions of Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians seem to reveal contrasting styles of leadership.

As highlighted by Inc.com, Carroll offered support to Seahawks kicker Stephen Hauschka after he missed a potentially game-winning 28-year field goal with 28 seconds remaining in overtime.

"[Hauschka] made his kicks to give us a chance and unfortunately he didn't make the last one. He's been making kicks for years around here ... but he's gonna hit a lot of winners as we go down the road here," Carroll said afterward. "I love him and he's our guy."

Meanwhile, Arians adopted a tough-love approach toward kicker Chandler Catanzaro and his missed game-winning opportunity with slightly more than 3 minutes remaining in overtime.

"Make it. This is professional, this ain't high school, baby. You get paid to make it," he said.

At face value, it might seem like two very different styles of leadership. But Arians, like Carroll, cares for his players.

Arians may have come across as more coldhearted than Carroll in this situation. However, this tough love approach is consistent with his “Coach ‘em hard, hug ‘em later” philosophy, which Arians learned from Bear Bryant.

As such, Arians’ immediate reaction probably shouldn’t be surprising because it fits with his coaching philosophy and a leadership style that works well for him and his team.

However, with the microphones gone and the game now in the rearview mirror, Arians is likely upholding the second part of his coaching mantra, building up Catanzaro and every other player on the roster during the week, so they’ll be ready to contribute this Sunday at the high level that Arians expects of his players.

The styles might be different, but both Carroll and Arians displayed leadership in their own way, with the same goal: pushing their players to be great. 

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