On Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks announced they are moving on from Head Coach Pete Carroll. He is set to move to an advisory role within the organization. 

Many Trojan fans were stunned and saddened to witness the end of Carroll’s exceptional tenure in Seattle, as they fiercely root for his success given how he’s served the USC football program. 

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

Carroll is undoubtedly a USC football legend. It’s almost unfathomable that when he was hired, it was received with widespread criticism. After he started 2-5 in his first season, some sports writers labeled USC football a dying program.  

He shut the haters up quicker than prime Russell Wilson escaping defensive linemen in the pocket, leading the Trojans to the most dominant era not only in USC history, but perhaps even all of college football history. 

The Trojans were 97-19 in Carroll’s tenure, which is incredible, but so many stats beyond that illustrate just how dominant they were. 

Back-to-back national titles in 2003-2004, and nearly a third in 2005. Six Bowl Championship Series  wins. A 14-2 combined record against bitter rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. A 34-game winning streak from 2003-2004. 25 players were first team All-Americans under Carroll and 53 were selected in the NFL draft. Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush each won Heisman Memorial Trophies under Carroll, and it’s about time the NCAA gave Reggie his trophy back. 

But almost anybody who was around campus between 2000 and 2010 will tell you that Carroll’s impact was hardly just about winning football games and accolades. It was about something beyond that, something the NCAA couldn’t strip away in a hilariously overblown punishment based on recruiting violations that wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow in today’s game. 

The Pete Carroll era was defined by Pete Carroll, the Man. Anyone who has ever watched Carroll coach knows he leaves his heart on the field every single game. Anytime one of his players has made a play, there is Carroll, his infectious smile beaming, his arms open to embrace his guy. He brought a passion and joy to the football program that won over players from all kinds of backgrounds. 

His impact spread beyond what happened on the field as well. Carroll cared about the University at large, and the greater Los Angeles area. He’d show up to other L.A. sports events, do outreach in the community and even hang out with gang members and encourage them to end the cycle of violence in South Central. He was a caring man in an often unforgiving city. 

Of course, the world fought back and tried to crush his spirit. In 2010, the NCAA vacated a shocking amount of his wins (14 total) from 2004-2006, including the 2004 national title, all because Reggie Bush received “improper gifts” which did not enhance his playing abilities and would be totally legal in today’s NIL landscape. 

Nonetheless, it was held as a crime against all that is sacred in the game of football by the court of NCAA football media at the time. 

So you can hardly blame Carroll for what happened next. He distanced himself from USC after being hired by the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. His legacy was on the line. 

And, of course, he saved it. He has been the head of the most successful era in Seattle Seahawks history, with 10 playoff appearances in 14 seasons and highlighted by securing the franchise’s lone Super Bowl win, beating the Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII. 

So much success has brought so many priceless memories for Seahawks fans, from the “Beast Quake” to Geno Smith refusing to write the haters back. It’s undoubtedly going to be hard for Coach and the franchise he loves to part ways, and that was evident in his emotional farewell interview. 

But, at age 72, it doesn’t seem like Carroll feels ready to be done with coaching. 

“I’m not tired, I’m not worn down … it’s the end of the season, I’m supposed to be laying on a cot somewhere, I ain’t feeling like that,” Carroll said in his farewell press conference. “What’s coming? I don’t know.” 

For the foreseeable future, Carroll will still be associated with the Seahawks. But he’s got far too much energy and far too much heart to be satisfied in that role for long. He’s going to be restless to be part of a championship team more directly again, even if it’s not as a head coach. 

USC could use that energy, and Trojan fans would surely welcome him back with open arms. If Head Coach Lincoln Riley added Carroll to his staff, he would be getting a defensive whiz and a master recruiter. 

And for Carroll, this would be an opportunity to use the energy he still clearly has to continue to relate to players and ride off into the sunset at a university that dearly loves and misses him. 

So Pete, when you inevitably get bored, your happy ending awaits at Heritage Hall. 

But even if you never return, know that there is still so much love for you in Los Angeles, and you’ll forever be regarded here as a winner, a champion and one of the best sportsmen we’ve ever had.