University Southern California Trojans
Different Styles Suit Carroll, Carr
December 30, 2003 | Football
Dec 30, 2003
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Football Writer
LOS ANGELES - Asked for his favorite Pete Carroll story, USC defensive end Kenechi Udeze didn't hesitate.
It came earlier this year when the coach got so fired up he risked injury to teach a lesson, diving over the offensive line like a running back.
"We were doing goal-line drills, and Coach got so juiced up for the play that we looked up and saw this aged man flying," Udeze, an All-American, said Tuesday.
"We're in full pads thinking, 'He can get hurt. What kind of a coach is this?' He definitely has the best vertical leap of any coach I've seen. It was nice to see a coach with so much energy."
The 52-year-old Carroll is a new-age kind of coach. He makes points without yelling, plays pickup hoops with his players and even will throw himself into drills if necessary.
It's a refreshing change from previous regimes at Southern California. His players say it's a big reason why Carroll returned the Trojans to the top of the polls and led them to a Rose Bowl berth Thursday against No. 4 Michigan.
Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr has a different - yet effective - style. Cut from the same cloth as Michigan legend Bo Schembechler, Carr used his intensity to build a consistent winner in nine years.
The two styles fit their teams perfectly - Carroll's California cool and Carr's hearty Midwestern approach.
"He comes from the same mold as Bo Schembechler," said Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards, who had his run-ins with Carr this season. "He's more of a disciplinarian, and Pete Carroll is more of a players' coach, which is cool. Coach Carr runs a tight ship."
When Carroll arrived in Los Angeles, he brought the same style that NFL people thought was too soft. He was fired twice from head coaching jobs in the pros.
In one of his first team meetings at USC, he brought the players to the Coliseum late one night, prompting some to wonder what the new guy was doing.
He pulled out a rope and started a tug of war between the offense and defense. With neither side having much of an advantage, Carroll then had his players all move to the same side and pull the rope together.
"Then we all stood back-to-back on the 50-yard line, and he said, 'Remember what happens when we all come together,"' defensive line coach Ed Orgeron said.
It took time - USC lost five of Carroll's first seven games - but soon the Trojans began playing as well as the powerhouses that won shares of three national titles in seven years in the 1970s.
The Trojans have won 26 of their past 30 games. They finished fourth in the nation last year and are in line for a share of a national title for the first time in 25 years.
They'll have to beat Carr's Michigan, though.
"USC is one of those programs with a great tradition. Pete Carroll deserves a lot of credit for restoring that around here," Carr said. "He's instilled a great attitude and he's been able to capitalize on the pride here."
Carroll has won his team over with his backslapping, low-key approach. He puts together 3-on-3 basketball games in the summer, and Udeze says the coach has the best jump shot on the team.
But Carroll bristles at the suggestion that he runs a loose ship. He points to the lack of off-field problems and the way his team plays on the field to show that he is a disciplinarian - albeit not in the traditional football coach's manner.
"A lot of people just don't get what we are," he said. "We take care of the football. We're the best team in America taking care of the ball, and to me that's the biggest sign of discipline. We don't commit a lot of penalties. It's not about how you dress and what you say - it's about how you play."
Carr has a different approach.
His players cite his intensity when they describe him, while the Trojans use words such as "fun" when they talk about Carroll.
Carr jokingly described himself as a "flamboyant guy" but that's not the persona he shows publicly.
It's more stomping on the sideline, yelling at officials and cutting short a nationally televised halftime interview during the Ohio State game.
That attitude is not surprising coming from a man who spent 10 years as an assistant to Schembechler, who was so intense that he had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl as a head coach at Michigan.
Carr is "an unbelievable man," tight end Andy Mignery said. "He's a man's man. He's an intense, intense football coach on the practice field. When he steps off it, he's the king of Michigan football."
