PHOENIX -- A lot has been written this week about how things didn't work out for Pete Carroll in his three seasons as the head coach of the New England Patriots.

On Monday, Carroll explained a little bit about why it has worked with the Seattle Seahawks when it didn't work for him in New England.

"Well, it's an entirely different formula," Carroll said. "Really, it came out of the years at SC [University of Southern California] where you have an athletic director and then you're the football guy. I had the opportunity there to make every decision from recruiting to academics to everything, and you're responsible for all of that. That's why I thought that would be the only job that I liked, because I felt like it really gave me an opportunity to be at my best."

Carroll wanted to return to the NFL at some point, but only if he had the same type of control structure.

"When this opportunity came here, it was expressed and clearly laid out that I could have the same kind of responsibility and the same kind of approach," Carroll said. "So it's been really instrumental, because the way we do things isn't the way a lot of other people do things. We really needed our own way to do it. We needed our own language and our own control and our own decision-making process."

Now Carroll is one win away from winning back-to-back Super Bowl after five seasons with the Seahawks. Carroll and general manager John Schneider make all the team personnel decisions together without much interference from team owner Paul Allen, who gives them all the financial support they need.

"It's what every coach needs, I think, to be at his best," Carroll said. "The format and the structure that is generally accepted in the league is not that. I understand why, but this is a football game that we play. There's a business that goes along with it, but the football, I think, has to be run by the football people, and so I feel very, very fortunate.

"I thought this was an extraordinary opportunity from the day that I arrived in Seattle to prove that. We've set out to kind of show that this is the way organizations can be run. I'm really excited to be here today, where we are. It's been a lot different. This has been the best format for me. Maybe it isn't for other people, but it is for me."