College Football: 25 greatest head coaches of the 21st century

Best college football coaches of 21st century: 4. Pete Carroll

• USC Trojans (2001-09)

He’s been out of the college coaching game for quite some time, but you can’t deny what Pete Carroll did with the USC Trojans. If you avoid wins being redacted by the NCAA, Carroll only had two seasons with less than 10 wins in his nine-year career with the Trojans. Overall, he had a 97-19 record over nine seasons, and he won a BCS title.

Even in years where the Trojans didn’t win the BCS Championship, they were very close. In the year where LSU won it all in 2004, USC won the AP championship. This doesn’t carry as much weight as the BCS, but it shows how close they were. They also lost the iconic 2005 Rose Bowl to the Texas Longhorns.

Although it didn’t come with as many rings as some had hoped for, USC had a miniature dynasty in the 2000s. Carroll and the Trojans ended the season in the AP top five for seven straight years. He also went to five Rose Bowls, winning four of them. If he had stayed in the college ranks, he might have reason to be in the discussion for the top three coaches of the 21st century.

Although the Reggie Bush scandal plagued this time period, you cannot deny the results that Carroll earned while on the field. He won the Pac-10 consistently, made it to the highest bowl game he could at the time and he won a lot of those games. His 7-2 bowl record is one of the best in college football history.

Although many think of the Seahawks and the NFL when they hear Pete Carroll’s name, you have to respect what he did with the Trojans. He was one of the best college coaches at the time, and people tend to forget that. He recruited studs on both sides of the football, and he turned them into championship contenders and NFL stars.