| Pete Carroll |
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| Written by Michael Ritter | |||||
| Monday, March 13 2006 | |||||
Page 2 of 3 Let’s jump into some football talk. Where do you keep your championship rings? I have them at home. I don’t wear them. The rings mean different things to different people, and to me the trophies are more important. That (winning the rings) already happened, so I don’t like to dwell on the past. Are your rings in a nice case? No, [laughs] in the case they came in. When you go out and recruit a player, what is your biggest selling point? The University really sells itself. The University has a tremendous setting; the school has great history and great character to it because of the combination of the academic side of things and the athletic side of things. The football team is fun to talk about. The biggest issue that comes to mind other than academics, kind of career oriented is the Trojan family, which is unique and special. You mention the Trojan family. Many people don’t know that you are actually a Trojan parent; your daughter, Jamie Carroll went to USC. What has been your experience as a parent on campus? It is very interesting because she was here before I was here. When the offer came along I called Jamie and asked her if it would be ok if I came to USC, too. She was happy about it. It really gave me a special insight in coaching, when talking to families and having players come in. I have been through what they have been through. I was across the country in New England when Jamie decided to come out to Los Angeles, so when I recruit kids from across the country I know exactly what it is like. It definitely gives me some credibility. How do you manage the star power of some of your players like Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart? In the fashion we do everything. We are about ‘team’ and as long as we maintain a connection and a relationship with how important team is, then the guys who become the highlighted guys in terms of the media shouldn’t factor in to what  is going on. We have ways that we talk about it and deal with it.It is amazing how [Bush and Leinart] handle it. A lot of times in the pros players can’t handle it, which leads to fighting and anger amongst each other. Is there anything you specifically tell Matt or Reggie? For instance when it gets close to the goal line and Matt wants a pass play or Reggie wants to run a play to boost his numbers? It could, but it hasn’t really. Guys have their role. Lindale is the guy who pounds the ball inside the ten-yard line and Reggie scores from way out. If a guy isn’t satisfied with his role, then he has to work his way into an expanded role. This is how we talk. You do that by performing on the field and at practice. I don’t mind hearing from a guy, if he has frustrations. I want to hear from him so that I can put it in perspective and deal with him and act on it. A lot of people were upset about USC missing out on the Sugar Bowl two years ago. You stayed so calm. I remember seeing you interviewed on TV… I wanted to ring the necks out of the voters. How did you stay so calm? I tried to look at the situations that were presented and the opportunities. I couldn’t do anything about it, it was already done. So I just looked at what our options were, which was go to the Rose Bowl which we loved and win a national championship. What could be better than that? It was a home game, 50,000 fans could see us rather than 20,000. I saw the positive in it and presented it in that manner. |
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