Levi Nelson, EdD

Pete Carroll says the Seahawks’ scouting department had a 1–7 competitor scale, and says only two or three players ever reached a seven “You’re unfortunately right on what everybody always wants to know, because they want to know who that guy is, the seven. But there aren’t hardly any sevens. I’ll share with you, I don’t share this very often, but it’s the competitor scale. And this is not about what kind of player somebody is, it’s what is their nature, what is their makeup, and who are they?” “It’s the same thing I’ve been talking about, that’s the guy we’re looking for. If you’re one or two, you’re a survivor. You’re just barely, you’re one, you’re just hanging on, you’re barely there, but you’re there. Two is a guy who’s just a step ahead of the guy who’s just here surviving it and getting through, but he’s got a chance.” “Let me say this, the whole point of the scale is to figure out where somebody is so that we can identify it and agree on it. And then now we can go to battle for the guy to work, elevate him up the scale. The basics of it are really about internal motivation, guys that are internally, naturally motivated to try to get something and do something with whatever they’re faced with.” “So a three and four on that scale, that’s pretty good, you’re a competitor. But you’re likely competing for external factors, money, for the stature, for the status, ‘I want to be a football player.’ They’re not really centered on what drives them. So as you go to the threes and fours, those are competitors, but that’s not the level that we want.” “We’re trying to work them into the fives and sixes. A five is a guy who’s internally motivated, and he’s got his act together. Everything is pretty much in line, and he can pretty much run his own world and control it because he’s driven. You get to be a six, now that’s it, you’re the real deal.” “You don’t care what anybody thinks. You do stuff because you know what you need, and you’re willing to do what it takes. We don’t really need to have to help you very much. We just kind of need to get out of your way, but put you in the position so that you can be successful.” “And so that’s where we’re trying to get people to achieve the seven. Now, that’s a whole other deal. Yeah, we’ve had them, you’ve been with them. There’s only been two or three guys.” “I’m not going to unveil it all, but I’ll tell you that what the ultimate true competitor is to us is the guy has everything going. He has everything in line, everything in order, he’s got his world, he’s maximizing who he is, but he also is compelled, he’s got to take people with him. He has to take people with him, and not only does he have to take them, but they’re going to go with him.” “That guy to me, that’s the true seven. That’s the guy that is so much of a leader, so much of a competitor, and not just that they can see that, but that he has it in him that he needs to take people with him. That’s the ultimate guy that we’re shooting for. And we don’t win and lose based on that guy, you’re just lucky when you’ve got him.” “It’s the sixes that we need. We need all those guys that are internally motivated, driven, focused. They’re going to give you everything they’ve got. You never have to worry about where they’re coming from.”