Up next in our "New England Roots" series: Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, Jr. Born in Framingham, raised in Medway and a former Boston College baseball captain, they don't come much more New England than Carmichael.
The son of the late longtime football coach, who assisted three different Boston College coaches (Joe Yukica, Jack Bicknell and Tom Coughlin) and then went onto coach in the NFL with the Jaguars and Browns, Carmichael was a baseball star for the Eagles before moving into football coaching. He's been an NFL assistant since 2000, and Sean Payton's right-hand man and Drew Brees tutor with the Saints since '06.
BSJ: You grew up in Medway. What was youth sports experience like there when you were growing up?
PC: For our family, it was a great town. It was a close-knit community. I think it’s grown quite a bit since I lived there but overall, you’d say it was a passionate sports town just like all the towns up there for the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins. But as far as youth sports, we moved back to Medway when my dad went back to coach at Boston College, so I was 9 when we moved back there. I got involved in the sports there and I was fortunate to have some great coaches. And, really, it was where you started to build your friendships and relationships that you still have today. They were passionate about their youth sports. I thought they did a great job, had great facilities and so it was great to go up there.
I was involved in baseball and basketball. I didn’t play football until high school. And then as far as hockey, I gave it a try as a young kid and my dad let me know who the good players were out there and I wasn’t one of them. (laughs) So that didn’t last very long.
What’s your most vivid youth sports memory?
I would say it was Little League baseball. When you’re 10, you’re starting to enter Little League baseball and the way they did it then, when you were put on a team, you were with that team for the next three years. And so you ended up having a lot of pride in your team and really started to build some relationships. My greatest memory was after the last year, at age 12, they formed an all-star team and the kids you’re competing against, you’re getting together and competing against other towns. That summer we had a really good team and traveled around, playing every day and it brought the families really close together. We had a really good team and only lost one game the whole summer. Unfortunately, it was a game I pitched. But I can just remember, you were playing with the kids you would be playing with through high school.
My senior year in football was 1993, and for Thanksgiving, it snowed and they postponed most of the games. We beat Millis and it’s snowing and I win MVP. I definitely didn’t deserve it because I think the people who were voting on it didn’t come to the game because it was so cold and snowing and just assumed the quarterback should win it. I know my first pass went back for a pick-six, but we ended up winning 21- or 23-6. Chris Magliaro, who I’m still best friends with today, I played Little League with him, he had a kickoff return for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass, but I got the MVP. Chris was robbed.
Favorite Boston sports team growing up?
I was a big baseball guy so my favorite team was the Red Sox. I was born in Framingham but we had moved to New Jersey for a couple years, then New York. Just about that age was when I started getting into it, so there was a period of time when I was a big Yankees fan. But when we moved back to Massachusetts I quickly became a Red Sox fan and still am today. And since my dad was coaching there at the time, Boston College football was big for me.
Favorite Boston sports athlete growing up?
Mine would have been Doug Flutie. Just being around him, being in that environment, just knowing the type of person he was. I was always a big (Larry) Bird fan, and with the Red Sox, I loved Marty Barrett, being a little middle infielder myself.
So I guess you were around those Eagles teams quite a bit.
My dad coached the defense for Jack Bicknell and he had two sons, so by the time I got to be 12, 13, Jack Jr. was a player for BC and then Bobby was old enough to play high school at that time and couldn’t go to the BC games so I became the cord guy for Jack Bicknell. When I was 12, that 1984 season I got to travel to every game. The only I missed was West Virginia, so I was next to Jack Bicknell holding his cord when Flutie threw that pass.
A young Pete Carmichael next to Jack Bicknell after the "Miracle in Miami."