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USC salutes Pete Carroll following end of coaching tenure with Seahawks

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•01/10/24
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October 3, 2009; Berkeley, CA, USA; USC Trojans head coach Pete Carroll calls a play during the fourth quarter against the California Golden Bears at Memorial Stadium. The Trojans defeated the Golden Bears 30-3. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

With the surprise retirement announcement made by Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, another legendary college football head coach’s news has gotten lost in the shuffle. Although under entirely different circumstances, national championship and Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll is no longer the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks made the announcement Wednesday morning, and their head coach addressed the news later in the day. And although Carroll will no longer be Seattle’s headman, he is expected to still hold a significant role within the franchise. Still, that did not stop the other program Carroll has led to a national title, the USC Trojans, from celebrating and honoring their former BCS national championship-winning head coach on Wednesday.

Carroll has cemented his spot among the best of the best when it comes to coaching football. The former Trojans headman is part of an elite coaching club for individuals who have won a college football championship and an NFL Super Bowl trophy.

Along with Carroll, only Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer hold that honor. Johnson won a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes. He then led the Dallas Cowboys to multiple Super Bowls in the early 1990s. Switzer won his college national championship, leading the Oklahoma Sooners. He followed that up with a Super Bowl win with the Cowboys in 1996 following Johnson’s run with the team.

Carroll reflects on Seattle Seahawks head coaching tenure

The Seahawks and Carroll amicably agreed that his role will evolve from head coach to remain with the organization as an advisor. Carroll, speaking with the media just hours after the news broke, was emotional in reflecting on the past 14 years in Seattle.

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“It’s been an honor,” Carroll said. “I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Carroll, 72, was the oldest head coach in the NFL, though you would have never known. Energy is a word that comes to mind when you think of Carroll, something he said Wednesday he still has plenty of.

“I’m freaking jacked,” Carroll said. “I’m fired up. Not tired. I’m not worn down. You guys tried your best, but you didn’t wear me out. It’s the end of the season and I’m supposed to go lay down on a cot somewhere. But I ain’t feeling like that. What’s coming? I don’t know. And I really don’t care right now. But I’m excited about it because there’s a lot to learn, a lot to study.

“There’s great discoveries that are going to come our way. And as my all-time mentor Bud Grant said in not so many words, ‘There’s rivers to wade, there’s waves to catch and there’s mountains to hike.’”