Pete Carroll has a difficult job ahead of him as the head coach of USC. The biggest obstacle he faces is changing the attitude of the USC players and bringing some much needed stability to the program. We'll get to the attitude in a minute, but let's look at the lack of stability first.
At first glance, becoming the head coach at tradition-rich USC is a dream job. However, when you look closely, one can see that the job can be a nightmare. There were 25 Division 1-A coaching vacancies following last season, and none was harder to fill than the USC job.
|  | | Newly named University of Southern California football coach Pete Carroll speaks to reporters in December. |
After having only two coaches in 23 seasons (John McKay and John Robinson from 1960-1982), USC has had four coaches in the past ten years. That kind of a quick hook doesn't motivate a guy to rush and apply for the job. Oregon's Mike Bellotti and Oregon State's Dennis Erickson both turned down the chance to lead the Trojans.
Instability makes it hard to win. USC has finished in the bottom half of the Pac-10 in four of the last five years, including a tie for last place last season. The highest finish in the last five years was a 4th in 1998. USC is the only Pac-10 team that hasn't finished in the Top Ten in the last ten years. Think about that -- even Cal and Washington State have finished in the Top Ten during that period.
Talent isn't the problem at USC. The problem is the USC attitude. The Trojans have talented individual stars who haven't played as a team. Watching them on film, it is easy to spot defensive players trying to make spectacular plays and leaving their assignments; or running around a block (instead of taking it on) because he didn't trust his teammate to be in the right spot to make the tackle. This led to big plays. USC gave up an average of 32 points in its last nine games. Every Pac-10 team scored at least 28 points on the Trojans.
USC has too many high school stars who believe that they should be The Man at USC. The Trojans need more role players -- more guys willing to do the dirty work and not get the headlines. That's the attitude that Carroll has to instill in the Trojans. He has to sell that to the players, and they have to buy into it. If they don't, the defense will continue to be mediocre.
Carroll faces another obstacle: Carson Palmer. A couple of years ago, former coach Paul Hackett chose Palmer as his QB over Jason Thomas. That doesn't look like a smart decision right now. Thomas is blowing up in Las Vegas while Palmer has struggled in Los Angeles. Palmer has 26 TD passes and 27 picks in his career -- a horrible ratio. Thomas, on the other hand, had 14 TD passes and nine picks last year, and a number of Michael Vick-like highlights. Thomas, not Palmer, is considered a Heisman Trophy candidate this season.
Whether Carroll can salvage Palmer's college career will be a significant determining factor regarding whether Carroll will succeed in his first year at USC. That's why he brought in Norm Chow as his offensive coordinator and QB coach. Chow worked wonders at North Carolina State last year with freshman QB Philip Rivers, and tutored several great QBs at BYU before that.
The formula for Carroll may sound simple -- stabilize the program, change the attitude and get Carson Palmer to be successful -- but it's not an easy task for anyone.
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