When agent Mike Tannenbaum asked Steve Kerr if he wanted to visit the Seattle Seahawks' camp in July, Kerr, who spent time growing up in Southern California and played at Arizona, jumped at the chance.

"I always loved Pete Carroll," Kerr said recently. "Hated USC (Carroll's former coaching stop) but loved Pete Carroll. And loved the way his teams played.

"They just won the Super Bowl. They play this fun, entertaining, energetic style. That's exactly how I want my teams to play."

A few months earlier, Kerr spent time with Bill Parcells -- another Tannenbaum connection -- and Kerr had previously sought advice from many of his former coaches, including Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson.

Kerr picked up a lot about how to set a practice vibe from Carroll.

"We talked a lot about just kind of the atmosphere around a team and how you're going to approach the daily routine," Kerr said.

"To me, the X's and O's ... they're an important part of coaching but a relatively small part. Eighty percent of it is just relationships and atmosphere, what your daily routine and culture is.

"Are players engaged, are they enjoying themselves, are they competing? All those principals he talked about, and we talked about different ideas of ways to make those things come to life. To me, that's his gift."

Kerr saw how Carroll's players reacted when the Seahawks played music throughout practice, so he installed speakers at the Warriors site, and there is now music playing through most Warriors sessions.

"It's a staple for the Seahawks -- it's really uplifting and it's fun," said Kerr, who has piped in an array of rap and rock.

"Everybody's bouncing around and energetic, but you've got to focus, too. So there's different reasons to employ that. But that came from Pete."

"It made sense to Steve on some levels," Carroll said of the Seahawks' style. "And I was mostly just supporting him to be himself, find his voice and be the way he felt strongest and most confident, and that would be his best way. So whatever he's done, it's working out great."