University Southern California Trojans
Carroll Enjoying Return to Campus
August 29, 2001 | Football
Aug 29, 2001
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Pete Carroll realizes high expectations come with the job as the USC Trojans' football coach.
Although he was not the school's first choice for the job, nor was his hiring exactly heralded, Carroll said he has been warmly received by alumni and other USC football followers since he became the coach last December.
"I've had nothing but extremely positive response from the people I have come in contact with, and not just the alumni at Trojan functions," Carroll said Tuesday. "The support has been wonderful and I think people can sense that there is a new energy around this team.
"I hope our fans see it when we play."
Carroll said many have wished him well.
"They say, `Aw, good luck.' It feels a little like you're being pushed over the falls in a barrel," he said, smiling.
Carroll replaced Paul Hackett after the Trojans finished tied for last in the Pac-10 last season with a 2-6 conference mark. They were 5-7 overall, only their third losing season in 39 years, and Hackett was fired with two years remaining on his contract.
USC athletic director Mike Garrett said then that he wanted a coach who was a proven winner at the college level, and Oregon State's Dennis Erickson and Oregon's Mike Bellotti, thought to be the top choices for the Trojans' job, each signed a contract extension at his school.
Afterward, San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley, a USC assistant from 1993-96 and head coach at Oregon State in 1997-98, seemed to become the leading candidate but decided to remain with the Chargers.
Carroll, who was a head coach with the New England Patriots for three years and for one year with the New York Jets but never at a college, came into the picture and eventually was hired.
An assistant at the University of Pacific, Arkansas, Iowa State and North Carolina State before moving on to the NFL as a Buffalo Bills assistant in 1984, Carroll said he's happy to be back on campus.
"I underestimated what it would be like. I did not give the athletes enough credit at this level," he said. "Their responsiveness, their intensity, their attitudes and their willingness to learn - it has really made this a fun experience so far, more so than I would have imagined.
"Obviously, since I have been comparing it to the NFL, it has been very different and exciting."
Carroll is eager for USC to play its first game, coming up Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum against San Jose State.
"We have been working hard for a long time with one single focus - to start the season - and now it's finally here," he said. "We want to get off to a good start, so this is a critical game for us."
Last year's Trojans at times seemed a team in disarray under Hackett, with an abundance of talent but plagued by turnovers and breakdowns in the kicking game, among other problems.
"I think last year, you couldn't tell what that team was about," Carroll said.
The Trojans again appear to have many talented players, including quarterback Carson Palmer, tailbacks Sultan McCullough and Malaefou MacKenzie, and wide receiver Kareem Kelly.
"I want to see us play really good football so that we can find out how good we are," Carroll said.
