Bumped...YEAP! - P

For the first time since 2003, Trojan fans, not the bandwagon guys, but real Trojan fans will have realistic expectations. Looking back at the beginning of the Pete Carroll era the general wants and needs of the fans changed drastically over the course of 3 seasons.  There was a massive infusion of fair weather, bandwagoneers, that showed up in 2003, and the press jumped into the fray shortly after 2004 and declared every USC season without a BCS championship to be a failure after that point.

I've always tried to be realistic.  Some have chided me for being that way.  Some expect to win it all every year.  Most of those people have only known Pete Carroll as coach of the Trojans, and have no idea what real college football is like.  Pete had an extraordinary run.  You will probably never see anything like it again in your lifetime.  For that I thank Pete, and I wish him all the success, health, and good fortune to him and his family.  

These are a few reasons why 2010 is going to be exciting for me:

1.  No expectation to win the BCS.  This was the burden Pete had to endure every single season after 2005.  When he didn't get to the top, once only losing 1 game, he was called out in the press and by fans for being a failure.  It is unreal that he was expected to go undefeated every year.  No one can be held to that type of standard.

2.  No more boring 4th quarters.  There were a lot of games in the middle of the Pete Carroll era that featured a completely boring 2nd half because the score was so out of hand.

3.  No more revolving door of assistants.  Finally we might actually get some continuity with our assistants.  The NFL and other college teams consistently would raid Coach Carroll's cupboard every season to try to recreate some of the magic that USC experienced.  All of them had varying degrees of success and failure.  None of them have been hugely successful yet.

4.  We get to start over.  This feels like 2001 again.  We have a QB that I'm not really sure what to think about.  Carson Palmer was atrocious before Carroll and Chow took him out of the West Coast offense.  The rest of the team is talented on paper, but how the new head coach molds this team remains to be seen.

5.  No more grudges.  I think its safe to say that the entire Pac-10 had an axe to grind with Pete for one reason or another.  Now that he is gone, its going to be harder for these guys to justify the same level of animosity towards a different staff.  This excludes the bruins.  They hate us no matter who is coaching us.  I feel bad for Little Ricky.  He will never get a chance to beat Pete with his bruins.  At least Karl Dorrell can say that he did.  How is Rick going to pump up the alums now that the big bad guy across town is gone.

Its a clean slate, and a fresh start.  The team will look different and play differently in 2010.  The cycle begins again, and Pete has left a lofty legacy to the future head coachs of the Trojans to aspire to.  I hope someone beats Pete's records, but I don't think it will happen.

Thanks for everything Pete:

2 National Championships

3 Heisman Trophy winners

1 Mackey Award Winner

7 Consecutive Pac-10 Titles

7 Consecutive BCS Bowl Appearances

Rose Bowl Victories 2004,2007-2009

Orange Bowl Victories 2003,2005

34 game winning streak

8-1 against Notre Dame

8-1 against ucla