Pete Carroll Night Job Pete Carroll Pete Carroll 60 Minutes

It seems like 60 minutes had another great broadcast when they interviewed Pete Carroll tonight. Carroll who has been doing a night job was interviewed right after the Ravens vs. Steelers game.

Source: http://ratevin.com/story.php?title=Pete_Carroll_Night_Job_Pete_Carroll_Pete_Carroll_60_Minutes


Lost in the euphoria Saturday -- the gutty little Bruins showing up, not quitting against USC as if that's some sort of victory and recording four whole wins this season against teams not worthy enough to merit bowl invites -- was yet another amazing accomplishment by Pete Carroll.

Not to say he won't get teased, prodded and even poked in the weeks to come on Page 2, but the admiration for the guy here grows every year.

OK, so there was lots of room to grow after contending from the start he wouldn't make it, but that was after watching him try to follow Bill Parcells as coach of the New England Patriots.

But now, coaching unpredictable kids as he does, he has shown an uncanny ability to consistently get their attention and get the best out of them.

Seven straight BCS appearances, seven straight seasons of at least 11 wins, and seven Pac-10 titles in a row in this upset era is just greatness at work.

A few folks e-mailed, though, with a "ha ha" for USC for not making the championship game, and to criticize Carroll for allowing his team to enjoy itself too much.

The Orange County Register highlighted one comment in Monday's newspaper from Huntington Beach's Bev Airhart: "Pete Carroll says that's just USC being USC. You mean immature, taunting, and arrogant? Such a non-class football team! Hopefully they'll be humbled and humiliated in the Rose Bowl -- then their antics can be squashed while Penn St. does their own dancing."

Penn State doesn't have a chance against USC, but then I understand frustrated UCLA fans wanting to knock the cross-town rival and diminish the coach's achievements because they don't have a football team to follow anymore this season.

They probably had their hearts set on following the team to yet another Emerald Bowl.

But it's another UCLA shortcoming if folks don't recognize and even admire the emphasis Carroll places on competing for the fun of it all. He has also done something that is probably the hardest thing to do today in sports -- remain on top.

It's true, the Trojans will not be in the BCS title game, finishing the season with the same number of losses as Oklahoma, Florida and Texas, and then losing the subjective argument.

Some years they're going to make their point with voters and computers and win that argument, and some years they're going to have to settle for the Rose Bowl.

But for the last seven years Carroll has put the Trojans in the hunt with the very best, and as UCLA knows, that's almost impossible to imagine right now, let alone accomplish.

YOU AND I might know DeWayne Walker has done a solid job coaching defense at UCLA, but it's ridiculous to make a case there's something wrong because another school won't name him head coach.

When it comes time to fire up boosters, sell tickets and hype hope with a school's introduction of a new coach, a 17-21 record in his three years at UCLA isn't going to excite anyone.