Pete Carroll ushered in a radical new era when he arrived as head coach of the New England Patriots on Feb. 3, 1997.

Under predecessor Bill Parcells, players had to be five minutes early to a meeting, otherwise they were locked out and wouldn't dare interrupt.

Abrupt. Demanding. Intolerant. Intimidating. Old-school North Jersey. That was Parcells, and for four years the Patriots and their fans ate it up.

Robert Kraft hired Pete Carroll in 1997 after Bill Parcells spurned New England for the rival Jets. AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Until early 1997, when Parcells -- famously frustrated by not being allowed to "shop for the groceries" in compiling a roster -- finalized a divorce with the Patriots after taking them to the Super Bowl. He wanted control of the roster. Patriots owner Robert Kraft wasn't willing to give it to him. So in a deal brokered by then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, the New York Jets sent the Patriots four draft picks in exchange for Kraft releasing Parcells from his contract.

Parcells became the Jets' head coach, and Kraft hired Pete Carroll to follow a legend.

Carroll was the antithesis of Parcells. Upbeat. Positive. Friendly. Encouraging. California cool. It didn't play well, not with the media and not with some of the veterans who were loyal to Parcells despite his defection to a division rival.

Carroll only had one year of NFL head coaching experience, having gone 6-10 with the Jets in 1994. Parcells had taken over a moribund New England franchise -- one that hadn't been to the playoffs since 1986 and had posted a 14-50 record in the four seasons before his arrival -- and took it to the Super Bowl.

"I think when you look back on it, guys that were there through the bad times where the Patriots hadn't won and then with Parcells, who was rough and gruff, we went to the Super Bowl," said Drew Bledsoe, who was the Patriots' franchise quarterback from 1993 until getting injured in 2001 and losing his starting spot to Tom Brady. "They equated that demeanor with success. So from that standpoint, I could see where there could have been some veterans who had a hard time with that transition."

SUPER BOWL XLIX Get all the news and commentary on the Patriots-Seahawks matchup on ESPN.com's Super Bowl Central. ESPN.com's NFL Nation: • Terry Blount, Mike Reiss: Rapid Reax • Reaction to Seattle's play calling • Pats coverage | Seahawks coverage • Grading the Patriots and Seahawks

• Inside Slant: Was Edelman concussed? • Best, worst from Super Bowl XLIX • Photo highlights | Gallery | Chat recap • History: NE | SEA | Super Bowl

Said Willie McGinest, the Patriots' first-round pick in 1994, "I think it was a little tough because Parcells drafted me. I'm sure I share the sentiment of a lot of players. We wanted him to stay. I wanted him to be our head coach.

"Some people were probably excited; some people probably not. I know a lot of people probably weren't big fans of Parcells. That's what I was used to. Some liked the other person. The one thing you know is Pete's totally different. If you're an immature player or didn't conduct yourself the right way, you could get away with more with Pete. He would discipline you, but you didn't fear things. Bill was totally different."

Parcells led by intimidation. Carroll led by inspiration.

"Some guys couldn't see through the success with Bill Parcells," said longtime Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "Whether you were too young to realize there was more than one way to do things, or you were too old to try to do something else, that's where the problems started."

Because Carroll followed such an iconic figure in Parcells, those close to Carroll feel he never had a legitimate chance to succeed.

"Yeah, definitely I think he got a raw deal in New England," Bledsoe said of Carroll. "And I'm so happy for Pete that he's been able to go on to such great success at USC and now with the Seahawks to really prove what guys that played for him back then believed. The guy's a heck of a football coach and probably deserves to be mentioned in that top echelon of coaches."

In New England, Carroll inherited a team fresh off a Super Bowl run led by Pro Bowl QB Drew Bledsoe. Frank O'Brien/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Like most players, Lawyer Milloy didn't meet Carroll until April 1997. Carroll had served as defensive coordinator for San Francisco from 1995-96 and spent his first couple of months in New England breaking down film of the 1996 Patriots. Offense. Defense. Special teams. Every player. Strengths. Weaknesses.

In what Milloy called "a classy move," Carroll met with every returning member of the Super Bowl team individually. For Milloy's meeting, Carroll had cued tape of his 49ers defense, which Milloy, a safety heading into his second pro season, thought was "weird."

"How did you think your year went?" Carroll asked Milloy, the Patriots' second-round pick out of Washington in 1996.

"As a rookie, it obviously took me a while to get to understand the NFL in its entirety, the lifestyle and how you play on the field," Milloy answered.

"I agree," Carroll replied. "How did you think you did?"

"I did my part," Milloy said. "I could've played better in the Super Bowl."

"Here's what I think," Carroll said, turning to the tape. CARROLL'S PATRIOTS YEARS Where Pete Carroll's New England teams ranked in terms of scoring offense, total offense, scoring defense, total defense: Yr W-L SO TO SD TO TD '97 10-6* 8 15 8 9 '98 9-7^ 10 21 17 23 '99 8-8 20 18 7 8 * 1-1 in postseason ^ 0-1 in postseason

Carroll showed Milloy highlights of San Francisco strong safety Tim McDonald, who had been to six Pro Bowls. Carroll thought Milloy had that kind of potential, that kind of talent. He wanted Milloy to aspire to greatness.

"I was really taken aback and surprised that he viewed me that way individually," Milloy said.

Milloy was on board.

Bruschi was another young player Carroll targeted to be a team leader. A two-time consensus All-America defensive end at Arizona, Bruschi had not played linebacker until the Patriots selected him in the third round of the 1996 draft. Parcells moved Bruschi to linebacker his rookie year, and by the time Carroll arrived, Bruschi still was feeling his way through the transition.

Carroll wanted Bruschi to take a leadership role and grab command of the team by being outspoken and demanding more of his teammates.

"I was learning to transform myself into this player they wanted me to be," Bruschi said. "I could not grasp what he wanted me to be as a leader because I was so worried about solidifying my spot on the team. I heard what he was saying, but I wasn't ready to do the things he wanted me to do. I think that could've been a theme for him."

Like left tackle Bruce Armstrong, tight end Ben Coates, running back Curtis Martin and to an extent Bledsoe, McGinest was a Parcells guy.

"The one thing you knew with Parcells is if he gave you a compliment, that meant you did something right," said McGinest, now an NFL Network analyst. "He didn't pass out compliments or pats on the back very often."

When McGinest met with Carroll, the new coach told him about the "elephant" position on his defense. Carroll wanted McGinest to roam the defensive line, play side to side and rush the passer, and McGinest said Carroll had him study film of five-time Pro Bowler Charles Haley.

"It puts you in position to make a lot of plays and cause havoc, so I was excited about it," McGinest said.

In succeeding the legendary Bill Parcells with the Pats, Carroll faced herculean standards for success. im Davis/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Carroll's practices were crisp, fast and organized. One former assistant, Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton, said Carroll was one the first coaches for whom he worked that focused on situational football in practice: the two-minute drill, four-minute drill, downs and distances. A defensive tackle for the Patriots from 1973-81 and a longtime defensive line coach, Hamilton said Carroll implemented 10-10-10 practice schemes, where the team would work on one aspect of the game for 10 minutes, then another, then another.

Carroll blasted music during practice. During lunch breaks, he often played basketball with his assistants. On Saturday nights the week after a win, he would show players clips from the television broadcast of their previous game.

If the Patriots had lost the week before, Carroll wouldn't show any clips. The message was: Celebrate the positive and forget the negative. Most players, Hamilton said, "really, really liked it," although he acknowledged that a handful of them never bought in.