MORE THAN 2,500 E-MAILS, faxes and phone calls poured into USC after Pete Carroll was named the Trojans coach in December 2000. The vast majority expressed outrage at athletic director Mike Garrett's decision to hire a twice-fired NFL coach nearly two decades removed from the college game. "One of the strangest, off-the-wall choices for a coach in recent memory ..." was how the Orange County Register described it. Fans and alums wanted Oregon State's Dennis Erickson. They wanted Oregon's Mike Bellotti. They wanted then-San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley. They wanted anybody but the man who with a win over Cal at Memorial Stadium on Saturday will have won his 32nd straight game and will be on track to do what no college coach has ever done: win three straight national championships. They might call him Re-Pete now, or even Three-Pete if his Trojans prevail in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4. Back then they called him Re-Tread. This is not intended to point out how wrong fans, alumni and the media can be. Everybody realizes that the sports world is full of instant opinions. There are countless examples of unpopular hires who far exceeded expectations. The difference is that none of them have succeeded as spectacularly as Carroll has. "He's one of those guys who just comes along," said Bob Troppmann, who was Carroll's high school coach at Redwood High School-Larkspur and still receives a phone call from Carroll before every USC game. "Maybe he's like Rockne himself." It's only natural to seek an explanation. Has Carroll become a better coach since he accumulated a 33-31 record in four seasons with the Patriots and Jets? Is he more suited to the college game? Was he able to re-evaluate himself during his time off between leaving the Jets and being hired by the Trojans? The answer to all three questions is yes, but there are myriad other factors. He has a sincerity that makes him a natural recruiter for a program that is a magnet for elite athletes from talent-rich Southern California. He can X and O defensively and finds someone just as competent to run his offense. His enthusiasm and team-first message is more suited to the college game. "I don't know if there is an answer," Troppmann said. "Pete is just Pete and if you watch him around the office and around his players, everybody has the same feeling about him that he has about them. They're a family."
The people closest to him say the explanation is simple: autonomy. What he didn't have with the Jets and Patriots made all the difference. Control is something every coach desires and not every coach can handle. Bill Belichick got it and has built the NFL's new dynasty in New England. Mike Holmgren had it before having much of it taken away. The 49ers have given Mike Nolan control and now it's up to him to prove he knows what to do with it. "What attracted Pete to USC was the amount of control he was allowed," said Mark Jackson, Carroll's director of football operations with the Patriots and at USC before becoming an associate athletic director at Syracuse. "He has every element of control from how the program is shaped to the kids he brings in. Everything has Pete's fingerprints on it, and in his NFL experience that was sorely lacking. That was the ultimate element for Pete." Autonomy liberated Carroll to rebuild a USC program that went 19-18 under predecessor Paul Hackett, unencumbered by the whims and wishes of superiors, or so claims Jackson. He had the freedom to hire his coaches and support staff. "Think about what you deal with in the NFL," Jackson said. "You get one first-round draft pick per year, but at USC you get about six or seven." Carroll realized during his year off that he had little interest in returning to the NFL as a defensive coordinator. He got a taste for being a head coach and wanted to continue in that capacity even if the NFL was no longer an option. He wanted to build something in his image. He wanted to call the shots. During that time he solidified his team-first philosophy. He knew what kind of program he wanted and how to implement it regardless of where he landed. "This was a different opportunity," Carroll said. "But when I walked in here I felt I was ready. I had been in two difficult situations (in the NFL)... I had been through the wars. USC was an awesome opportunity."
Not even all this explains how Carroll has done what he has done. There is no complete explanation for what he has managed to do in this era of parity. Maybe he is one of those guys who just come along, like Troppmann said, somebody who is the perfect fit at a perfect time and goes on to accomplish what not even his most staunch supporters, few as they were, thought possible.
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