USC Wins Their First One In 2009: PAC-10 Media Day

Pete Carroll is the football coach of the University of Southern California and he is all smiles.  Why not?  The PAC-10 media picked USC to win the PAC-10.

This was the seventh consecutive year that USC was selected to win the Conference Championship.  USC received 28 of 32 first-place votes. 

Pete Carroll has only coached USC for eight seasons, yet he has the highest winning percentage of any active FBS coach with at least five years on the job.  No, that's not all.  In fact, it's far from it.

The losses of Pete Carroll's Trojans would make even the most confidant of coaches jealous.  The few teams that managed to win against USC, did so by only a couple of points.

Pete Carroll began coaching USC in 2001.  The Trojans lost six games.  They lost by four, two, three, five, eleven and four points.

In 2002, USC lost a game by seven and one by three.

In 2003, USC lost one game by three points in triple overtime.  USC shared the National Title when the AP awarded them their National Title.  The BCS considers an AP National Championship a shared or split Title.

In 2004, USC didn't lose a game.  USC won both the BCS and AP National Titles.

In 2005, USC lost the BCS game to Texas by three points.  Texas scored on fourth down in the final twelve seconds.

In 2006, USC lost one game by two points and another by four.

In 2007, USC lost one game by one point and another by seven.

In 2008, USC lost one game by six points.

Even a casual observer can appreciate that just a few points would give Pete Carroll and his Trojans an even more unbelievable record.

Pete Carroll's Trojans have also had a winning streak of 34 games.  The Trojans also set a NCAA record of 65 consecutive games of scoring 20 or more points. 

This year, Pete Carroll is looking forward to seeing his Trojans extend their NCAA records to eight consecutive: BCS Bowl appearances, a final AP ranking of four or higher and eleven or more-win seasons.

Pete Carroll also wants to see his Trojans win or share their eighth consecutive PAC-10 Championship.  This would be a continuation of their PAC-10 record of seven consecutive years. 

Following the PAC-10 Media Day, reporters approached Carroll and asked him questions about an accusation against the USC football program.  The accusation dealt with USC using a NFL consultant in violation of a NCAA rule.

Carroll denied that his use of a former NFL special teams coach violated any NCAA rules.  Carroll stated that USC went through all of the proper channels and documented it.  Carroll stated, "We did our homework before we used him."

This is accusation season at USC.  Pete Carroll knows that unnamed sources make accuasations against the Trojans at three specific times of the year.  The first is recruit Signing Day.  The second time of the year is during fall practice.  The third time of the year is during the first game. 

I spent 30 years in law enforcement.  There are certain things that a detective experiences which can relate to any investigation. 

Detectives know that an unnamed source is usually the writer of the article.  It has been my experience that the longer the investigation, the weaker it is.  Apply those two things to anything you want.

I can guarantee you that Pete Carroll's smile causes other coaches to frown.  Pete Carroll is pumped, excited and looking forward to seeing his team, and new coaches in action. 

In many ways, Carroll will see more enthusiasm in the 2009 team than the one last year.  There will be more competition in the air.  The will be more slug-fests to get that extra inch of ground. 

ESPN sends their reporters all around the nation to watch teams practice.  All of them say the same thing.  Without question,  USC conducts their practices with more enthusiasm and intensity than any other team in college football.

While some see USC as having lost ten players to the NFL last year, Pete Carroll just watches the next group fight their way to the top.  Don't get me wrong.  When Pete Carroll saw his ten players go into the NFL, he was hurt.  He was hurt for a New York second.