Stanford vs. USC: Is Jim Harbaugh or Pete Carroll Missed More?

Tonight, when the Stanford Cardinal and the USC Trojans take to the field, it will be a great matchup in the Pac-12. This game has all of the ingredients of a fantastic football game.

It has a top-ranked team going up against a tough home team in search of the big upset. One thing this classic matchup is missing is Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll.

Pete Carroll is now coaching in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, but he is most famous for his resurrection of the USC Trojans. Carroll made the football program at USC what it is today. He posted a record of 97–19 (83.6 percent) before NCAA sanctions and consistently had the Trojans at the top of the college football rankings. Now Lane Kiffin is at the helm along with the controversy he brought with him after abandoning his job at Tennessee.

Jim Harbaugh also made the jump to the NFL and is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh gave the Cardinal program the national notoriety it has today and introduced the world to quarterback Andrew Luck. He guided the Cardinal to its first BCS bowl victory in the history of the program. Harbaugh was eventually replaced by David Shaw when he made the jump to the NFL.

The Jim Harbaugh vs. Pete Carroll rivalry was always entertaining, as both coaches took shots at one another. However, there is nothing to suggest that either program misses their former coaches.

Both programs are successful and the Cardinal are on pace to go undefeated if they could secure a few more wins on the season. USC is doing well despite a current bowl ban.

Although Harbaugh and Carroll will be missed by some, both of their former programs are still top teams in college football.

James Brown is a B/R Featured Columnist. Feel free to contact James at [e-mail], follow him on Twitter