LOS ANGELES — Southern California coach Pete Carroll is sitting pretty again, and not just because he has a great view from his Palos Verdes Peninsula home. His Trojans are No. 1 again, they look invincible again and he is beaming again.
Meanwhile, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino is back in his college perch. His flirtation with the NFL lasted less time than most shallow long-distance affairs. After only 13 games with the Atlanta Falcons, Fayetteville, Ark., suddenly looked a lot better than Hotlanta.
He joins Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier before him as men lured away by the big money and big lights of the NFL only to realize there are no North Texases on their schedule.
Carroll, 56, knows what they went through. He lost jobs with the New England Patriots and New York Jets before settling into college fame. What is the lure of the NFL, and could he be lured back? The Denver Post sat down with Carroll in his Heritage Hall office and discussed it.
Q: A lot of coaches in recent years have gone into the NFL and come running back to college. Why is college coaching better?
A: The difference in coaching the kids at this level and the other level is in the springtime in the NFL when you bring in your rookies and free agents, it’s the same as coaching these guys. They’re all hungry. They’re all excited, ready to go. They want to work. They want to prove themselves. They don’t posture like some of the other kids do when they’ve been in the league and they’ve been around a few years. They only have to work out when they have to. They’re not as voluntary-oriented as our guys are. There’s more of a willingness. That’s all a coach ever wants, is to coach guys that are really excited about going on and hungry to learn it all. . . . People thought there was something wrong with me when I said no to the NFL at times. But I haven’t changed at all.
Q: Then what’s the allure? Why are these guys all trying?
A: It’s something that you dream about. It’s something we grew up as kids liking and dreaming about and the level of exposure, and the heightened level of the greatest players and greatest resources you can possibly have for competition. All those things are what I still love about the NFL. And I can understand other guys, too. But the reality of it is it’s very, very difficult to control what’s going on in the NFL. That’s a huge difference for the coaches. We have much more control of what’s happening. We have athletic directors and presidents of universities who have big jobs that carry them elsewhere. So you get to run these programs by yourself.
Q: But isn’t that too much for one person? People are saying it’s too much for Mike Shana- han. Can you make that work?
A: Sure, you can. Sure, you can. You have to have really good people you work with. It’s never a one- man show. You have to have a great department around you. But unfortunately, the guys who are doing it, it’s rare that you get to hire everybody who’s grown up with you, that know how you act and react and how you evaluate. . . . Bill Polian and their head coaching staff (in Indianapolis) have done a wonderful job. There’s a few of them who’ve done this. Bill Belichick has been able to run his own show. He’s doing it in the most classic fashion, like a college coach, but rarely does the GM and the head coach see eye to eye so well. . . . We’re so tied to a tightly formatted philosophy that I couldn’t share it with somebody else and they’d stand up for it. I have to do it by myself, then everybody else has to flow with it. That’s why the NFL doesn’t have a place for me. There’s no spot. And there’s nothing wrong with it. That’s just the way that they do it. The owners don’t want to give up that much authority.
Q: If you got it, would you go to the NFL?
A: I’ve already looked and watched. Guys who position themselves to offer that kind of format still have other issues. There are still other people. There are still other factors that didn’t offer the freedom that I know that I need, to do it the way I know how to do it. So just for the thrill of the attraction of being in the NFL, that’s not good enough for me. . . . Everybody’s worried about their own jobs and covering their (rear). When you’re in that kind of situation it’s hard to think in support of the cause. This game of football and these big-time games we’re coaching, it’s still about team. It’s still about philosophy. It’s still about having single leadership. It’s hard to find people to understand that and value that and structure accordingly. They’ll hire an offensive coordinator from here, a defensive coordinator from there, they’ll paste them together with a young head coach and they’ll think it’s going to work. It’s so much more than that. It’s about how well you can function efficiently with the same approach, the same message, the same plan, everybody on board.
Q: In light of that, you’re probably not surprised Petrino and Saban didn’t last long.
A: Not a bit. They knew what college football was like and they went ahead and went for it and found out they didn’t have the control — I’m guessing — that they were accustomed to. They felt really frustrated by that. It’s terribly frustrating to have your name out there and you’re the face of the program and you’re not calling the shots. You’re standing up for a collection of thoughts and philosophies and directions. And in that, it’s really hard to make it. I have two (NFL) head coaching jobs in my background. One was an absolute blur. I don’t remember the Jets at all. But the other one, I think I know what it is. Everybody thinks I’m a good candidate to go. I’m not a good candidate. I’m one of the guys who knows what it is. So the guys who haven’t been there are the more likely candidates than I am.
