Trojans of Southern California get spark from coach Carroll
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Grinning and clapping his hands, Pete Carroll sprints to the scrimmage line like a gleeful kid, yelling, "All right, third-and-8. Let's go!"
The Southern California Trojans' coach barely scoots out of the way before the offense runs its next play.
Carroll is smack in the middle of everything in USC football these days, and his enthusiasm -- and coaching skills -- have the No. 4 Trojans looking like a team from the school's glory years.
"Every drill, he's trying to hop up in there and tackle somebody," defensive tackle Shaun Cody said with a chuckle. "He loves it."
"Our approach has been received very well. We've had a lot of fun and enjoy the hard work and challenges," a sweaty Carroll said after the lively practice. "The players have been very refreshing. They like getting fired up, getting excited and playing with a lot of energy, which is the way I like my teams to play."
Defensive end Omar Nazel said Carroll "genuinely enjoys football, and he encourages us to have fun."
"That's what brings it out in the players, when they can see the coach trying to get in there on the goal-line stands, getting a little roughed up, and still come out of it with a big smile," Nazel said.
A good fit
Carroll, 51, spent 16 years in the NFL as an assistant and head coach before coming to Southern California in December 2000. It was his first job as a college head coach.
He's proved a good fit for USC, a former national power that's struggled through much of the past decade.
"I would call him one of the few defensive geniuses in the business, pro or college," USC athletic director Mike Garrett said. "There are not a lot of them."
National champions in 1967 and 1972 and runner-up four times in the final poll by The Associated Press later in the 1970s, the Trojans finished in the top 10 three times in the 1980s. They didn't make it back until finishing No. 4 last year, Carroll's second season.
Quarterback Carson Palmer also had a great season, becoming the school's first Heisman Trophy winner since Marcus Allen in 1981. Garrett won the Heisman in 1965, the first of five USC players to get the trophy.
Conference play
The Trojans, who have a bye this week before opening Pac-10 play at California, have won 11 in a row, including a 38-17 Orange Bowl victory over Iowa to wrap up last season.
They've started this year with impressive victories over Auburn, Brigham Young and Hawaii, vaulting from eighth to fourth in the rankings.
Carroll, the New York Jets' head coach in 1994 and the New England Patriots' coach from 1997-1999, is happy to be on a college campus. He's not only the coach but the equivalent of a general manager.
"I like the whole atmosphere, the support. I think that there's a level of understanding and tolerance by the fans and the media that's refreshing compared to what it is in the NFL," he said. "I love representing the university and all that goes along with that."