Jones, McKay, Carroll: The Trio That Created a Trojan Dynasty

The USC Trojans have won 11 NCAA football championships. The trio of Howard Jones, John McKay, and Pete Carroll is responsible for all but one.

The process began after Howard Jones left Iowa and came west to take the head coaching job at USC. The move came after he was recommended by none other than Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne after Troy had attempted and almost succeeded in coaxing the Irish coaching legend to leave South Bend.

Jones began in 1925 and three years later his 1928 varsity garnered his first title, which was cemented by a 27-14 win at the Coliseum over Rockne’s Fighting Irish.

In 1931, Jones secured his second national title after USC achieved one of the most exciting comeback victories in its history against Notre Dame in South Bend. Rockne had died in a plane crash after achieving his final national title in 1930. Successor Hunk Anderson piled up a 14-0 lead and appeared to have the game in hand, but the Trojans mounted a ferocious comeback and won on a Johnny Baker field goal in the closing seconds.

The 1932 Rose Bowl saw Jones, who generally combined a bruising running attack and stout defense for victories, using a shrewd strategy ploy to defeat Tulane 21-12. Tulane’s All-American end Jerry Dalrymple was a defensive speedster who liked to get the jump on opponents. Recognizing this, Jones used his speed against him as Trojan All-American single wing quarterback Ernie Pinckert, a blocking back, scored on three reverses.

Jones achieved back to back titles as his super stingy 1932 team went undefeated and yielded only 13 points all season. The crowning achievement was a 35-0 shutout of Pittsburgh in the Rose Bowl.

The mid-30s resulted in some disappointing seasons for Jones. Just as some alums and fans were shouting for his removal he came back strong with two winning Rose Bowl teams in succession. His conquests came over teams that had previously been undefeated, untied, and unscored upon. The Doyle Nave to “Antelope” Al Kruger passing team brought a thrilling 7-3 victory in the closing seconds over Duke in the 1939 contest while the following year Troy prevailed in a 14-0 shutout over Tennessee.

The 1939 team was Jones’ final national championship squad. After coaching one more season he died of a heart attack at 55 in his North Hollywood home.

It was not until 1962, three years into the regime of John McKay, that the Men of Troy achieved another national title. The innovative McKay employed an imposing I-formation attack highlighted by an elusive as well as bruising tailback. Two of them, Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson, won the Heisman Trophy. The 1962 team featured the running of Willie Brown, the passing of Pete Beathard, and the receiving of Hal Bedsole. The 1963 Rose Bowl put the cap on an unbeaten season, a thrilling 42-37 win over Wisconsin.

In Simpson’s junior season of 1967 the Trojans secured McKay’s second national crown. The season’s capstones were a 24-7 win at Notre Dame, the first Trojan win at South Bend since 1939, and a 21-20 thriller over crosstown rival UCLA pitting Bruin 1967 Heisman winner Gary Beban against Simpson, the following year’s recipient.

McKay’s next national titlist has been called by many grid analysts the greatest college team in history. The 1972 squad featured a devastating defense led by three time All-American linebacker Richard Wood that suffocated opposing offenses. Sophomore Anthony Davis set a record against Notre Dame with 6 touchdowns, two on kickoff returns, in a 45-23 victory to end the regular season. After that Woody Hayes’ Ohio State Buckeyes were victimized in the Rose Bowl, losing 42-21.

The final McKay national championship was garnered in the 1974 campaign. Many USC fans believe that the most exciting win in Trojan grid history came in the season finale against Notre Dame. After falling behind ND 24-0 in the first half the Trojans outscored the visitors 55-0 to emerge with an improbable 55-24 triumph, sparked by four Davis touchdowns and passes from quarterback Pat Haden to the coach’s son, J.K. McKay.

John Robinson’s first of two tenures at Troy produced a national title in 1978 and two second place finishes in 1976 and 1979, but there was a 25-year drought before Pete Carroll produced one in 2003. After a disappointing road loss to Cal, the Trojans were unbeaten the rest of the way, scoring an impressive 28-14 Rose Bowl win over Michigan.

The following season an unblemished regular season culminated with the Trojans facing equally unbeaten Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. While a close game was predicted, the Trojans turned the Miami night into a nightmare for the Sooners as USC prevailed 55-19.

Carroll almost scored a three-peat in next year’s national championship clash at the Rose Bowl. Putting not one, but two Heisman winners on the field in quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush, the Trojans came up just two inches short of obtaining a first down against Texas that would have kept red hot quarterback Vince Young and his Longhorn mates off the field. The resulting 41-38 Texas win has been called one of the epics in college football history.

USC football has a storied tradition with the names of Jones, McKay, and Carroll the dominating coaching influences.