Pete carroll and the seahawks

New Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday that he is a different person than the man who left the NFL after the 1999 season.

Carroll, hired Monday as the team's head coach after leaving USC, said what he learned running the Trojans football program has better armed him to be a head coach in the NFL.

"If there was a difference from when I was in the NFL before, it is the experience that I had in college football to see what it's like to run a program," Carroll said. "And to come here with the freedom that we're going to have here ... is exactly what I was looking for."

Carroll went 33-31 in four seasons coaching the Jets and Patriots in the 1990s. He said he was still "developing" as a head coach at that time. He then coached USC to two national titles and elevated it into one of the nation's premier college programs.

PHOTOS: Carroll's first two stops in the NFL

"I've always loved the NFL so much," Carroll said.

"Always I had a thought that maybe it would come together in a manner that would fit right, that would give me a chance to do things the way I like to do it. And it's come together."

Carroll signed a five-year deal to be the head coach in Seattle. He will hire a general manager, but Carroll will have significant input into player personnel.

At USC, Carroll noted that he was judged by "perfection" every year, and he said he wants to be judged by a similar standard in the NFL.

"People from where I come from want to say 'Gosh why would you do that when you will all the time in college football and here you going into the meat grinder of the NFL?' " Carroll said.

"I'm ready. I couldn't be more prepared for it. I couldn't be more excited about it."

Carroll reiterated that he did not leave USC because of pending sanctions that the NCAA may be considering against the school.

The coach did not reveal what assistants he will bring him with to Seattle. ESPN reported that he will hire offensive line coach Alex Gibbs and USC QB Matt Barkley said former Trojans offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates is going with Carroll