After an offseason of dormancy, the circus that is Coach Carroll's on-field warm-up routine at the start of practice has returned.
If only a big top could house it.
While players churn through individual drills each practice, Carroll goes through a series of goofy, often-hilarious rituals at midfield alongside football equipment coordinator Tino Dominguez. It starts with his attempt to catch as many packs of bubblegum in one toss and continues on with a throw (or two or three or eight) at a target along the west fence of the field. On Monday, the target was a bag of ice hanging over the gate to Dedeaux Field, but other days it's been a water bottle or a first down marker. He often misses -- it's hard nailing a small target from 40 yards away! -- so equipment managers typically have to scurry for the lost balls that fly over the fence and toward the baseball field.
It all ends with Carroll usually inserting himself as the quarterback in defensive back drills, as he shows off the drop-back steps and pump fakes that surely made him a standout quarterback at Redwood High in Larkspur, Calif., in the late-'60s.
The one area of the Carroll Carnival -- as Dominguez has named it -- that the coach is trying to improve?
The gum catching event, as his record currently stands at snagging five packs at once. Miraculously, that's two hands snatching five small packs of bubblegum.
"I got four yesterday morning," Carroll said with childlike jubilee. "I ain't got six yet."
Coach Carroll attempts to catch six packs of bubblegum at one time during Monday's practice, just one of the events in the daily "Carroll Carnival" on the practice field. Carroll's all-time record is five packs in one grab, and he's now striving for six.
