Fight on for old S.C.! The Trojans are back doing it for Pete Carroll

Coach and Athletic Director, August, 2003 by Skip Corsini

Where did you grow up and how old were you when you started playing football?

CARROLL: I was born in San Francisco and grew up in the Greenbrae area of Marin County, just north of the city. I started playing football in the Pop Warner League just before my 11th birthday. John Pagliaro taught me the game in the three years I played for the Redwood Junior Giants. I played both ways in Pop Warner as a receiver and defensive back.

COACH: When did you begin playing the game on an organized level?

CARROLL: In my first year of high school I had to take a physical to determine whether I was tall enough and fit enough to play. I think the minimum weight at the time was 115 pounds and I weighed 110. That night I cried because I didn't think they would let me play football. They did. I played outside linebacker as a freshman and then went on to play three more years at Redwood High.

COACH: By what route did you matriculate at the U. of Pacific? Were you a scholarship player?

CARROLL: I went to junior college (College of Marin) after high school, where I played two seasons for coaches Dick Read and Pete Limm. On defense, I played safety and on offense I played receiver and did some quarterbacking.

I was good enough to win a scholarship to the University of Pacific (UOP), where I played safety for two years. As a senior I was the back-up QB but never got to play. I graduated in 1973. Defense was always my natural position so I stayed there.

COACH: What or who turned you on to coaching? Was it true that you started at UOP as an unpaid assistant?

CARROLL: As a freshman in high school, the head coach, Bob Troppmann, asked me to help him coach the younger players in a summer football camp, the Diamond B, in exchange for a free ride at his camp for high school players.

That was my first coaching job, at the age of 13! I worked at the camp for another eight years. After graduation from UOP with a degree ill business, I really had no intention of going into coaching and 1 took a job selling roofing materials in the East Bay. But I still had the desire to play, and so I tried out for the Hawaii team in the World Football League.

After I was cut, I went back to UOP as a graduate assistant. I stayed for three years while getting my teaching credentials and a master's degree.

COACH: How did you get your job as a defensive coach at Arkansas under Lou Holtz? How long did you stay at Arkansas and what induced you to switch to Iowa State under Earle Bruce?

CARROLL: The defensive coach at Pacific, Bob Cope, left for SMU for a year, and then joined Lou Holtz at Arkansas in 1977. Bob asked me to come with him as a GA and, rather than coach at the high school level in the Bay Area, I decided to interview with Lou Holtz and got the job. It was a great career move because the contacts I made at Arkansas helped me form a base of knowledge and move forward in my career. I was there for one year, after which I interviewed at UCLA and Iowa State and chose the latter. 1 was finally going to get paid to coach.

COACH: Under Lou Holtz you coached a winning team in the Orange Bowl. Under Earle Bruce you coached in the Hall of Fame Bowl. And the next time you went bowling it was with Ohio State in the 1980 Rose Bowl. Then you moved over to North Carolina State as defensive coordinator and secondary coach for Monte Kiffin.

By then you had played or coached for Chester Caddis, Bob Cope, Lou Holtz, Earle Bruce, and Kiffin. How did all these fine coaches influence your thinking and work ethic?

CARROLL: They all were tremendously influential for me as a young coach, but by far the one who influenced me most was Monte Kiffin, for whom I worked at Arkansas. He took me under his wing and, as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in America, taught me everything.

We worked together at NC State, the Vikings, at Buffalo, and with the lets, and we still are very close. Of course, his team won the Super Bowl this year. He had a huge effect on me as a coach and otherwise.

COACH: By the mid-80s you were in your 30s and ready for the pros. Was this a conscious decision on your part or were you simply offered a job at Buffalo and then at Minnesota under Bud Grant? How did you find professional coaching after all your years in file college ranks? What were the differences between the two fields? Were you able to retain your terrific enthusiasm for the game?

CARROLL: I had just finished my second year as an assistant under Bob Cope at Pacific when I got the call to join the staff at Buffalo. Coach Kay Stephenson and staff were let go after one year and I was fortunate to get hired by Bud Grant at Minnesota after sitting out a year.

Next to my relationship with Monte Kiffin, my association with Bud Grant was the most important in my career. The football part of coaching in college and the pros is very similar more so than many people realize, whether it has to do with schemes, teaching methods or motivation techniques.

The players in college are younger, more pliable, and respond better to coaching than players in the NFL. I had a blast coaching at the highest levels of the game as a pro coach but I don't think my particular style was as much appreciated in the NFL as it had been in college coaching.