After watching Pete Carroll on 60 Minutes last night its hard to argue just how lucky USC is to have him. While some will continue to be skeptical or simply hate on Pete Carroll the fact remains that what we saw last night is a person who is selfless and who wants to give back to the community outside of football.
Yahoo's Dan Woike is a believer (via Rivals)
As someone relatively new to Carroll’s culture and philosophies, the wide-eyed idealism struck me as silly at first.
“Win forever,” “Always compete,” and “Fight on” were just empty phrases without any real substance. Sure, Carroll might show that side to his players and to the media, but behind closed doors, he’d have to let his guard down.
But after a season of covering the Trojans, I’m convinced he doesn’t.
First of all, Carroll’s players buy into his philosophy. If it weren’t genuine, they’d be able to see through it.
But, they don’t. Instead, they work extra hard for Carroll, pushing themselves to the limits in practice in order to be best prepared each time they step onto the field.
Every coach has his own style but Pete Carroll continues to buck conventional wisdom that coaches are Ogre's who eat, sleep and drink football. There is no question that Pete Carroll's energy is the main reason that USC has been so successful during his tenure. Yes, there will still be some who think that USC could have been even more successful had certain things not happened but thats a whole other discussion.
I think Pete Carroll's work in the inner city is way for him to keep that positive flow going. It gives him reason to continue to strive for high levels of success. Even a skeptical officer of the LAPD was won over by Pete's enthusiasm.
The officer admits he was skeptical of Carroll’s efforts at first, saying: “I thought it was a joke.”
Then the cop says: “He’s actually rejuvenated me as a police officer. He’s actually given me hope.”
That’s Carroll’s overriding message — hope — and, smartly, that’s how Pitts and his producers end the segment:
Carroll: “Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest of things can happen.”
Pitts: “You believe that?”
Carroll: “No, I know that’s true. I’ve seen it. I’m living it.”
I have seen some of the things said about this segment on other teams message boards and sites and I just have to laugh and shake my head. They simply miss the point. It hasn't been perfect under Pete Carroll but it has been a great experience watching how he has brought this program back from obscurity and made it fun to cheer for this program again.
This is Pete Carroll's way of giving back...Other coaches do what works for them, this works for Pete Carroll and he is getting results!