Mediocrity was Carroll’s biggest obstacle

By Marc Hudgens  |   Tuesday, July 08, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

USC Trojans
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Some believe that elevating a college football program from the doldrums to mediocrity is far easier than taking a middling one to a championship. The coaches who have guided poor programs to respected, average ones deserve great respect. Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe, Rutgers’ Greg Schiano and Missouri's Gary Pinkel are among a few who have accomplished that at their schools. But with all due respect to them and others, there is a smaller pool of coaches who have done more, and USC's Pete Carroll is at the top of the list.

The reason failed programs are more prone to significant improvement is because there are no preexisting expectations to begin with; it’s a generally accepted belief that the program is terrible. The coach, thereby, gets somewhat of a free pass. Besides, it’s akin to the belief that there's nowhere to go but up. Mediocre programs, however, are a different animal, and that's what USC used to be.

Prior to 2002, Carroll’s second year in L.A., the last time the Trojans won a mational title was in 1978, which was during John Robinson’s first tenure. The last Pac-10 title prior to Carroll was in 1995, which was in Robinson’s second tenure. From 1979 through 2000, USC recorded a 162-92-8 mark, a 109-56-5 conference record and seven Pac-10 championships. But here’s where the real mediocrity begins: A 7-17-1 record versus Notre Dame during those years, 14 bowl appearances with a 6-8 mark, and only six Rose Bowl appearances (4-2). Over a 22-year period, that’s fairly average. That’s close to a quarter century for a team that had eight national titles before that. Talk about a drought for a college football juggernaut.

Enter Carroll. During his first year he went 6-6, failing to win a conference title. Once again, mediocrity appeared to have reared its ugly head, but USC re-exploded onto the scene soon after, going 70-7-0 the next six seasons, accumulating an unprecedented six consecutive Pac-10 titles and two national championships. Of course, that's not to mention six straight wins over the Irish. It’s pretty clear Carroll, who is on his way to a College Football Hall of Fame induction at some point, smashed through the mediocrity that plagued the program for decades and frustrated the fans during that time.

One can only imagine that it must have been difficult for Carroll to make needed changes to take USC to the next level. Certainly, he was caught from time to time between those who felt the program was doing OK and those who thought the Trojans should be better -- those who wanted the team to rock the college football world again and those who didn’t want to rock the boat. But now, entering his eighth season, one wonders if there are those now who still don’t want Carroll to rock the boat. Probably not.

Because, as another old expression goes, winning solves everything. And you can bet Carroll’s winning has made those who were once satisfied with the previous era’s status quo forget those days.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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