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Pete Carroll

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Pete Carroll

Peter C. Carroll (born September 15, 1951, in San Francisco, California) is the current head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans football team, having held that position since 2001. In his time at USC, the Trojans have made it to multiple national championship games (winning the National Championship in 2004 and splitting the National Championship in 2003) and have consistently emerged as Pac-10 conference champions.

Early life and college

Pete Carroll was born in San Francisco to Jim and Rita Carroll. He and his older brother Jim were raised in nearby suburban Greenbrae, in Marin County, where his father was a liquor salesman.[1] The Carroll household was popular with the neighborhood, and local kids often went there to play sports and watch them on television.[1]

Carroll attended Redwood High School in nearby Larkspur, where he was a three-sport standout in football, basketball and baseball, earning the school's Athlete of the Year award as a senior in 1969. After high school, he attended junior college at the nearby College of Marin, where he played football for two years (lettering in his second year), before transferring to the University of the Pacific.[2] At Pacific, Carroll played free safety for two years, earning All-Pacific Coast Conference honors both years (1971-72) and earning his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1973.[2]

After graduation, Carroll tried out for the Honolulu Hawaiians of the World Football League at their training camp in Riverside but did not make the team due to shoulder problems.[1] To make ends meet, he found a job selling CertainTeed roofing materials in the Bay Area, but he found he wasn't good at it and soon moved on; it would be his only non-football-related job.[1]

Coaching career

Collegiate assistant (1973–1983)

Carroll's energetic and positive personality made a good impression on his head coach at Pacific, Chester Caddas. When Caddas found out Carroll was interested in coaching, he offered him a job as a graduate assistant on his staff at Pacific.[2] Carroll agreed and enrolled as a graduate student, earning a secondary teaching credential and Master's degree in physical education in 1976, while serving as a graduate assistant for three years and working with the wide receivers and secondary defenders. The assistants at Pacific during this time included a number of other future successful coaches, including Greg Robinson, Jim Colletto, Walt Harris, Ted Leland and Bob Cope.[2] He was inducted into the Pacific Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

After graduating from Pacific, Carroll's colleague Bob Cope was hired by the University of Arkansas and he convinced Lou Holtz, then the head coach of the Razorbacks, to also hire Carroll.[2] Carroll spent the 1977 season as a graduate assistant working with the secondary under Cope, making $182 a month.[3] During his season with Arkansas, he met his future offensive line coach Pat Ruel, also a graduate assistant, as well as the future head coach of the Razorbacks Houston Nutt, who was a backup quarterback. Arkansas' Defensive Coordinator at the time, Monte Kiffin, would be a mentor to Carroll; Carroll's wife Glena would help babysit Monte's two-year-old son Lane Kiffin, who would later become Carroll's offensive coordinator at USC and then head coach of the Oakland Raiders.[3] The Razorbacks won the 1978 Orange Bowl that season.

The following season, Carroll moved to Iowa State University, where he was again an assistant working on the secondary under Earle Bruce.[2] When Bruce moved onto the Ohio State University, he brought Carroll, who acted as an assistant coach in charge of the secondary. The Ohio State squad made it to the 1980 Rose Bowl where they lost to USC.

Carroll next spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at North Carolina State University. In 1983, Cope became head coach of Pacific and brought Carroll on as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.[2]

National Football League (1984–1999)

Carroll left Pacific after a year and entered the NFL in 1984 as the defensive backs coach of the Buffalo Bills. The next year he moved onto the Minnesota Vikings where he held a similar position for five seasons (1985-89). His success with the Vikings led to his hiring by the New York Jets, where he served as defensive coordinator under Bruce Coslet for four seasons (1990-93). When there was an opening for the Vikings' head coach position in 1992, he was a serious candidate but lost the position to Dennis Green.[1] In 1994, Carroll was elevated to head coach of the Jets. Known for energy and youthful enthusiasm, Carroll painted a basketball court in the parking lot of the team's practice facility where he and his assistant coaches regularly played three-on-three games there during their spare time.[4] He was fired after one season, finishing with a record of 6-10, one of the first things done was the removal of the basketball court.[4]

Carroll was hired for the next season by the San Francisco 49ers, where he served as defensive coordinator for the following two seasons (1995-96). His return to success as the defensive coordinator led to his hiring as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 1997, replacing respected coach Bill Parcells, who had resigned after disputes with the team's ownership. His 1997 Patriots team won the AFC East division title, but his subsequent two teams did not fare as well—losing in the wild card playoff round in 1998, and missing the playoffs after a late-season slide in 1999—and he was fired after the 1999 season. Patriot's owner Robert Kraft said firing Carroll was one of the toughest decisions he has had to make since buying the team, stating "A lot of things were going on that made it difficult for him to stay, some of which were out of his control. And it began with following a legend."[4] His combined NFL record as head coach was 33-31.

Even though NFL teams approached with defensive coordinator positions, Carroll instead spent the 2000 season as a consultant for pro and college teams, doing charitable work for the NFL and writing a column about pro football for CNNSI.com.[5]

USC Trojans (2000–present)

Hiring

Carroll was named the Trojans' head football coach on December 15, 2000, signing a five-year contract after USC had gone through a tumultuous 18 day search to replace fired coach Paul Hackett.[6][7] He was not the Trojans' first choice, and was considered a long shot as the USC Athletic Department under Director Mike Garrett initially planned to hire a high-profile coach with recent college experience.[8] Meanwhile Carroll, who had not coached in over a year and not coached in the college ranks since 1983, drew unfavorable comparisons to the outgoing Hackett.[7][9]

USC first pursued then Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson, who instead signed a contract extension with the Beavers; then Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who similarly signed an extension.[8] The search then moved to the San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley, who had been an assistant coach at USC before later becoming the head coach of Oregon State. Stuck in contractual obligations to the Chargers (who were still in the midst of an NFL season) and hesitating about moving his family, Riley was unable to give a firm answer, opening an opportunity for Carroll.[8]

Carroll actively pursued the position, as his daughter, Jaime, was then a player on the Women of Troy's successful volleyball team.[8] After the first three primary candidates turned down the position, USC hired Carroll. USC under Garrett had actually tried to recruit Carroll to be their head coach in 1997, while he was coaching the Patriots, but Carroll was unable to take the position.[6] Garrett cited Carroll's intelligence, energy and reputation as a defensive specialist as reasons for his hire.[6]

The choice of Carroll for USC's head coaching position was scrutinized by the media and vocally criticized by many USC fans, primarily because of USC's stagnation under the outgoing Hackett and Carroll's record as a head coach in the NFL and being nearly two decades removed from the college level.[9][10][6] Former NFL players (including USC alumni), such as Ronnie Lott, Gary Plummer, Tim McDonald and Willie McGinest offered their support for Carroll, who they noted had a player-friendly, easygoing style that might suit the college game and particularly recruiting.[6][4] The USC Athletic Department received 2,500 e-mails, faxes and phone calls from alumni—mostly critical—and a number of donors asking for Carroll's removal before they would donate again.

Tenure

The criticism of Pete Carroll became louder when Carroll's first USC team opened the 2001 season going 2-5, with some sportswriters writing off the once-domineering Trojans, who were the only Pac-10 football team to never finish in the national top 10 during the previous decade, as a dying program.[11] However, after the slow start, Carroll's teams proceeded to go 62-7 over the next 69 games, winning two national championships and bringing USC back to college football prominence.

Carroll is considered one of the most effective recruiters in college football, having brought in multiple top-ranked recruiting classes; he is also known for getting commitments from players who are still only Sophomores in high school.[12] His son, Brennan Carroll, is USC recruiting coordinator as well as tight ends coach.[12]

As of September 15, 2007, Carroll is 67-12 (85%) as a head coach at USC. His team won a school-record 34 straight games from 2003-2005, a streak that started after a triple-overtime loss to California and ended with the national championship game in the 2006 Rose Bowl, against Vince Young's Texas Longhorns. During his tenure, USC has broken its average home attendance record four times in a row, without any stadium expansions (they play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum); the USC home attendance average in 2001, his first season, was 57,744; by 2006 it was over 91,000.

In coaching style, Carroll is known for using an aggressive, nonconservative play-calling that is open to trick plays as well as "going for it" on 4th down instead of punting the ball away.Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).

Because of his aggressive style, the USC Band has given him the nickname "Big Balls Pete". At football games, when Pete Carroll decides to go for it on 4th down, the USC band will start a chant of "Big Balls Pete" that carries over to the students section and the alumni.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/allthingstrojan/2007/08/salute-to-troy-.html


Carroll has been known to plan elaborate surprises during practice to lighten the mood and reward the players, such as having USC alumnus and comedic actor Will Ferrell suit up and play during practice.[13]

Accomplishments

Since becoming USC head coach Pete Carroll has led a resurgence of football at the University of Southern California. Carroll himself has been compared to the College Football Hall of Fame coach Knute Rockne.[14][15] Here is a summary of program highlights:

In July 2007, ESPN.com named USC its #1 team of the decade for the period between 1996 and 2006, primarily citing the Trojans' renaissance and dominance under Carroll.[16][17]

Coaching records

National Football League

Year Team Record Playoffs Other Notes
1994 New York Jets 6-10 none Lost final 6 games; Carroll was fired
1997 New England Patriots 10-6 1-1 Division champions
1998 New England Patriots 9-7 0-1
1999 New England Patriots 8-8 none Carroll was fired

College

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
University of Southern California (Pacific Ten Conference) (2001–present)
2001 USC 6-6 5-3 5 L 10-6 Las Vegas Bowl
2002 USC 11-2 7-1 1 - T W 38-17 Orange Bowl† 4 4
2003 USC 12-1 7-1 1 W 28-14 Rose Bowl† 2 1
2004 USC 13-0 8-0 1 W 55-19 Orange Bowl† 1 1
2005 USC 12-1 8-0 1 L 41-38 Rose Bowl† 2 2
2006 USC 11-2 7-2 1 - T W 32-18 Rose Bowl† 4 4
2007 USC 2-0 0-0 1 1 1
USC: 67-12 42-7
Total: 67-12
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Personal awards

2003

  • 2003 American Football Coaches Association Division I-A Coach of the Year
  • Home Depot National Coach of the Year
  • Maxwell Club College Coach of the Year
  • ESPN.com National Coach of the Year
  • Pigskin Club of Washington D.C. Coach of the Year
  • All-American Football Foundation Frank Leahy Co-Coach of the Year
  • Pac-10 Co-Coach of the Year

2004

  • 2004 National Quarterback Club College Coach of the Year
  • 2004 ESPN.com Pac-10 Coach of the Year

2005

  • Pac-10 Co-Coach of the Year

2006

  • Pac-10 Coach of the Year[18]

Personal

Carroll's wife Glena (née Goranson) played indoor volleyball at the University of Pacific.[19] Together they have three children, oldest son Brennan, middle daughter Jaime, and youngest son Nathan.[20] Brennan Carroll played tight end at the University of Pittsburgh after transferring from University of Delaware; he graduated from Pitt in 2001 and joined his father as a graduate assistant (he is now Tight Ends Coach).[21] Jaime Carroll started attending USC in the fall of 2000, several months before her father was hired as football coach, she was a player on the Women of Troy's women's volleyball team.[22] Nathan Carroll is an undergraduate student at USC.[5] The Carrolls live in Rolling Hills, California.[19] Carroll's late father-in-law, Dean Goranson, graduated with a Master's degree from USC.[21] His older brother, Jim Carroll, played tackle at Pacific, took over businesses in the upper Midwest and is now retired in Phoenix, Arizona.[1]

Carroll draws coaching inspiration from the 1974 book The Inner Game of Tennis, by tennis coach W. Timothy Gallwey, which he picked up as graduate student at the University of the Pacific; he summarizes the philosophy he took from the book as "all about clearing the clutter in the interactions between your conscious and subconscious mind" enabled "Through superior practice and a clear approach. Focus, clarity and belief in yourself are what allows you to express your ability without discursive thoughts and concerns."[23]

Known for his high-energy and often pleasant demeanor when coaching.[24] In a 2005 interview, Carroll explained his motivation:

I feel like I should be playing now. What really pissed me off was going to the WFL (World Football League) and getting cut and having the NFL go on strike and not being able to get a connection with the scabs (replacement players). Just one game and I think I would have been happy. Absolutely it was a motivator for me later in life. It's one of the biggest reasons I've been coaching all these years. I tell the players all the time, I wish I was doing what they were doing.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Mark Whicker, More than a passing fancy, The Orange County Register, September 2, 2005.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jason Anderson, Pete's party began at Pacific , The Record, Aug. 2, 2006.
  3. ^ a b Rhett Bollinger, Back where they started, Daily Trojan, August 31, 2006
  4. ^ a b c d Sam Farmer, "Spirit of Carroll Also Haunting Him ", Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2000.
  5. ^ a b Profile: Pete Carroll, USC Athletic Department.
  6. ^ a b c d e David Wharton, "Coaching Search Ends After 18 Days: USC Goes Carrolling", Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2000.
  7. ^ a b David Wharton, "Trojans, Carroll Keep Talking", Los Angeles Times, December 15, 2000.
  8. ^ a b c d David Wharton, "All Signs Point to Carroll", Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2000.
  9. ^ a b Bill Plaschke, "For Pete's Sake, USC, Why Did You Do It?", Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2000.
  10. ^ "Pete Carroll Letters: Initial Reaction Could Be Better", Los Angeles Times, December 15, 2000.
  11. ^ Bill Plaschke, "Westwood, Ho!", Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2001.
  12. ^ a b Mike Farrel, Times are a-changin', SI.com, June 15, 2007
  13. ^ Dave Albee,Carroll Chronicles: Celebrities love to practice with Pete, Marin Independent Journal, August 29, 2007.
  14. ^ Mike Celizic, Carroll could be the next Rockne, Associated Press, August 2, 2007.
  15. ^ Mike Lopresti, A few legends might enjoy success of Carroll's Trojans, USA TODAY, August 24, 2007.
  16. ^ Ivan Maisel, Carroll's coaching propels USC to top of decade ranking, ESPN.com, July 27, 2007.
  17. ^ Storied programs dominate Ladder 119's top rungs, ESPN.com, July 27, 2007.
  18. ^ Gary Klein, Carroll is selected coach of the year, The Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2006
  19. ^ a b Jill Painter, For USC coach Carroll, coaching is part fun and sun, Los Angeles Daily News, August 12, 2007.
  20. ^ USC Football Riding 10-Game Win Streak Hosts Hawaii For First Time Since 1930, USC Athletic Department, September 8, 2003
  21. ^ a b Profile: Brennan Carroll, USC Athletic Department.
  22. ^ Player Profile: Jaime Carroll, USC Athletic Department.
  23. ^ Kurt Streeter, Carroll goes by the book to teach football at USC, Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2007.
  24. ^ Doug Krikorian, Commentary: Trojans feed off Carroll's charisma, Daily Breeze, August 21, 2007.


See also: USC Trojans football
Preceded by New York Jets Head Coach
1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New England Patriots Head Coach
1996–1999 		Succeeded by
Preceded by University of Southern California Head Football Coach
2001– 		Succeeded by
incumbent


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