Lincoln Riley on Pete Carroll back at USC: 'We'd be crazy to not take advantage of having him around'

Former USC head coach Pete Carroll is back with Southern Cal, working as a teacher at the school. Current Trojans coach Lincoln Riley is friends with Carroll and hopes to have him around the football program regularly, too.

It remains to be seen if Pete Carroll will be on staff at USC in any type of official role, but Riley made it clear that he welcomes any help he can get from Carroll.

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“Oh I’d love to have him. He’s great. Coach has been great to me,” Riley said recently. “We’ve had a chance to catch up pretty often, check in with each other. He’s been a great resource and a great person to be able to pick his brain.”

Pete Carroll was the head coach at USC from 2001-09, winning a pair of national titles and seven Pac-12 championships during that time. He then left for the NFL and coached the Seattle Seahawks from 2010-23, winning a Super Bowl along the way.

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Carroll left his head coaching job with the Seahawks at the end of last season and now may be ready to once again help at the college football level.

“He’s been very good to me. So yea, shoot, I’m excited he’s going to be here more and would be crazy to not take advantage of having him around,” Riley said. “So whether it’s in an official role or not, he’s made it very clear that we’ve got a good, open line of communication.

“It’s one that I appreciate and respect very much. And we’ll always never hesitate to pick up the phone and call him or reach out to him because of obviously how successful he was as a coach.”

As for Lincoln Riley, he is entering his third season at USC after a successful run at Oklahoma. The Trojans have had mixed results thus far under Riley, going 11-3 in Year 1, before falling to 8-5 last year.

Perhaps having Pete Carroll around can help Lincoln Riley and company get over the hump.

“He’s obviously got a great knowledge of this place. So I’ve been appreciative of his help and his friendship and will be glad to have him around a lot more,” Riley said.

The Trojans are set to open the 2024 season with a huge matchup as they will face LSU in Las Vegas on Sunday, Sept. 1. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. as both the Trojans and Tigers will find out early on what kind of team they have.