Pete Carroll remains in Geno Smith’s corner.
In his first interview since being fired by the Las Vegas Raiders, Carroll told ESPN’s Rich Cimini that he sees the positives in the quarterback’s return to the New York Jets.
“If he found out [New York] was a good place for him and he wanted to do it, and he was part of the decision, I couldn’t support him more,” Carroll said of Smith, who was traded this week. “If he saw the rationale and felt the support and the opportunity, I couldn’t be more in favor of it. I love the boy and wish him the best. He deserves it. He worked hard to get where he is.”
It’s a reunion for Smith, who spent his first four seasons with the Jets before taking a journeyman route to another starting opportunity.
“I had to laugh a little because of the story and all that,” Carroll told Cimini.
After finding a renaissance under Carroll in Seattle, Smith was traded to the Raiders last year, but struggled with a woeful offense and led the NFL with 17 interceptions and 55 sacks. The former coach took the blame for the QB’s struggles.
“He’s a tremendous quarterback, he really is,” Carroll said. “He had a great offseason and preseason with us, and he’s coming out in the first game, having a great first game. It was all right. It was just the right time for us. So we just kind of faltered and faltered. We didn’t do well, coaches.
“We should have prepared him better for what happened and it didn’t happen,” he continued. “I take a lot of responsibility for that. We didn’t prepare him well enough during the holiday even though he looked good and we thought we had everything in order. It was very, very disappointing for both of us.”