By Jon Wilner
LOS ANGELES - Pete Carroll's moment of clarity came when he realized he needed a moment of clarity. He had just been fired by the New England Patriots following the 1999 season and was out of coaching for the first time in his adult life. Someone gave Carroll a copy of John Wooden's book, ``A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court.'' ``The part that really got me was that Coach Wooden didn't win his first championship until his 16th year, and then he won something like 10 of next 11,'' Carroll said after a practice last week. ``I closed the book right there. Once Coach Wooden figured out exactly what he wanted to do, no one could touch him. I thought, `I better get my act together.' He took 17 years, I might not have 17 months. ``It's about knowing what you believe. Until you find that clarity, you're searching, and when you're searching, you make mistakes. I needed to define what I was all about.'' Five years later, Carroll is the king of college football. The top-ranked Trojans have won back-to-back national championships and 31 consecutive games entering Saturday's date at
But Carroll wasn't USC's first choice to replace Paul Hackett following the 2000 season, and his hiring was met with outrage by a constituency desperate for success. The once-mighty Trojans had slipped into a prolonged stretch of mediocrity under Ted Tollner (1983-86) and Larry Smith, who went to three consecutive Rose Bowls in the late 1980s but was fired after winning just nine games (combined) his final two seasons. Not even John Robinson's return in 1993 could lift USC out of the mire. The program bottomed under Hackett, who couldn't connect with the players and was dismissed after the 2000 season. ``As a head coach, Paul tried to be somebody he isn't,'' said former USC quarterback Paul McDonald, the team's radio analyst. ``I think in Coach Robinson's return, he didn't have the same staff he did first time around. And I'm not quite sure Larry Smith got what it was all about at USC. ``You have to win every week, treat the alumni well, be glib with the media and recruit like hell. It takes a unique individual to understand it all. Pete has the whole package.'' Athletic Director Mike Garrett's first choice to replace Hackett was Dennis Erickson, fresh off a 10-win season at
But this wasn't the same coach who lasted just one season with the New York Jets and three with the Patriots. ``I knew I might only get one more chance, and I needed to define what I was all about,'' Carroll said. ``And that was competition. I've tried to be as true to that as possible at USC. We designed the program around competition.'' It's visible in the way Carroll conducts practice, distributes playing time and runs his life. He challenges Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart to passing contests. He throws brush-back pitches when playing whiffle-ball against USC athletic department employees. Some believe he has his sights on winning five national titles, which would eclipse the four won by legendary USC coaches John McKay and Howard Jones. ``It's insanity,'' McDonald said of Carroll's competitiveness. ``It's all the time with Pete.'' But Carroll is as personable as he is competitive, described by many as a 54-year-old in a 20-year-old body. (After one practice, he walked to a nearby swimming pool, jumped off the high dive and challenged his players to do the same.) Some believe he was too friendly with his players in the NFL, but the combination of drive and zest has served him well on the recruiting trail. ``He loves the chase and works harder than everybody else, even now,'' said Greg Biggins, a Southern California-based recruiting analyst for Student Sports Magazine. ``We ask kids, `Who recruited you the hardest?' And nine out of 10 times, they say it's USC. They make a kid feel like he's the only one they're recruiting. They are absolutely relentless.''
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