USC Hires Carroll

L O S  A N G E L E S, Dec. 15 -- Pete Carroll, fired from his two NFL coachingjobs and out of college football for 17 years, was hired today tosucceed Paul Hackett as coach at Southern California.

Carroll was to be introduced at an afternoon news conference.

Carroll wasn’t USC’s first choice, and his selection wasexpected to meet with disapproval from some boosters and alumni.

However, as other candidates went by the wayside, he moved tothe top of the list by impressing the hierarchy at USC.

Plus, the need to have a coach in place grew greater every day,what with this being a prime time for recruiting.

Other Candidates Considered

Carroll hasn’t coached in college since 1983, when he wasassistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Pacific. He hasno past ties to the Trojans, although his daughter, Jaime, is afreshman on USC’s women’s volleyball team.

Hackett was fired Nov. 27 — two days after the Trojans completeda 5-7 season — their first losing campaign since 1991 and onlytheir third in 39 years.

A winner of eight national championships, USC went only 19-18 inHackett’s three seasons. He was fired with two years left on hiscontract.

When Hackett was fired, athletic director Mike Garrett said hewanted a coach who was a proven winner at the collegiate level, andimmediately took steps in that direction.

However, Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson and Oregon coachMike Bellotti both signed contract extensions at their respectiveschools within a week of Hackett’s firing, taking themselves out ofthe running.

Since then, San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley, an assistant atUSC from 1993-96 and head coach at Oregon State in 1997-98, wasbelieved to be the leading candidate.

However, the two sides were unable to complete a deal, and theChargers didn’t make it easier by saying they wouldn’t allow Rileyout of the final three years of his contract, at least before theend of the NFL season Dec. 24.