USC’s Pete Carroll Knows A Thing Or Two About Team Work
February 10, 2009 – 3:52 am PT by MikeTags: Hula Hoop, Jim Rome, PacSun, Pete Carroll, Surf Team, USC —
Why do I say this? Well there’s the obvious. Back when he was a teenager in 1962, Pete and his gang (a gang back then was a lot different than today’s GANG) entered a Hula-Hoop contest. The objective of the contest was very simple. The team who can hula the longest without dropping the hoop wins all the other contestants Hula-Hoops. He knew that he could not let his team down. Before the Hula contest was about to begin, Pete gathered his troops and gave them a pep talk.
“Okay gang. Here’s our chance to show the other teams what we’ve got. Timmy! Remember no looking down. Joey Joe Joe! Don’t hesitate to shake your hips a little harder at 12 O’clock. And Sanchez! Remember what you’re mother told you. Hula’s are for girls. Now let’s go team!” They went out with this ROUTINE and the rest is history.
With that kind of inspiration, you know that Pete Carroll has something innate that most of us lack. That characteristic is leadership. Even JIM ROME says so. That’s why it must be an honor for the PacSun USA Surf Team to have Pete in their presence on Friday February 13th for a pep talk. Who know what they will be talking about. Football? Surfing? Hula Hooping? Whatever it is, I’m sure that PacSun is pretty psyched.
“Surfing America is deeply honored to have Coach Carroll lend his support,” said executive director Mike Gerard. “This is a tremendous boost for the program and a once in a lifetime experience for the kids!”
All this week, the PacSun USA Surf Team will be training in Huntington Beach in their final National Training Camp before traveling to the World Championships in March. Currently, there are 33 members of the Under 18 squad–and that number will be cut down to the final 15 Traveling Team members on Thursday night.
Friday February 13 will mark the first session of the final Traveling Team and Coach Carroll–an ocean sports enthusiast himself–has offered to spend some of his extremely valuable time with Head Coach Joey Buran and the PacSun USA Surf Team.
“This is unbelievable!” said Buran. “I personally believe that Pete Carroll is absolutely the very best coach in all of Division 1 college sports and major pro sports in the United States. Along with John Wooden, Pete Carroll has had the greatest impact on me and coaching philosophy with regard to how I approach the USA Surf Team. This is a great honor! I save articles on Pete Carroll… watch videos… He never misses a beat and his optimism is insane. But the gnarliest thing about Pete Carroll’s program is that every practice is a competition. His athletes are constantly competing for starting positions–and it works. It makes everybody better. How he runs his practices is what I believe in and what we apply to the USA Surf Team.”
Energetic and charismatic, eighth-year USC head football coach Pete Carroll quickly restored the glory of the Trojan football program and has returned Troy to national prominence. He is 76-14 (84.4%) in 7 years (2001-2007) as a college head coach (all at USC), the best winning percentage of any current Division I coach with at least 5 years of experience.
