Kevin Carden Scout.com A: Well, this is my first time back to college. I was never a coach or a grad assistant in college. Everyday I’m learning something new but they have a great staff and they are helping me out with all the rules, hash marks, splits, all the things that are different. I love the excitement and I love working with Coach Carroll and just the energy of these kids is fresh, it’s really powerful. Q: What has been the biggest difference so far? A: Recruiting has been different. In the NFL you kind of sit in your office, you watch tapes for fifteen hours, there’s not much socializing going on, there’s not much communication besides you and the players and the staff. We’ve already had three recruiting weekends and a junior day. I think I’ve already talked to more people in that time than I have in seven years in the NFL. That would definitely be the biggest change. Q: Recruiting is a huge part of the college game. Is it something that you look forward to doing here at USC? A: I love it. This is your future. You’re going out there to get future USC Trojans that are going to win PAC-10 championships. There are some great athletes in California and around that want to be Trojans, so it’s different than the draft. We have an opportunity to get the best of the best and that’s our job to go get them. Q: Obviously, there is a good deal of talent here at USC. What has been your impression of this team? A: You know I’ve studied USC in the NFL every year during this time because they always have six to ten players coming into the league. What you see, number one, is you see a pro style offense so the guys have an opportunity to go from USC to the league real easy. They are still doing what the NFL is doing as far as running the ball, the keeper game, and the drop-back pass so it’s fun to watch USC from an NFL coaching standpoint just because it’s what we do. And then you look at the players. There’s eleven guys on the field that are unbelievable. They work their tail off together, they are well coached, they’re hustling, they’re fighting and again, they’re the best athletes in the country out of high school and now they’re going to be the best coached athletes out of college. Q: There are four solid quarterbacks on campus. Have any of them stood out in the film study you have done, and what do you expect from the quarterback competition in the spring? A: It’s exciting. It’s a great opportunity for all four of them and all four of them have a chance. We’re not going into camp saying ‘this guy’s leading or this guy’s behind’. They are all going to get reps, they are all going to get opportunities in scrimmages. They are all impressive guys. They were all great high school players and they have all done some good stuff in the past here at USC, whether it be in spring practice or games, but it’s exciting. All four of them can play so that’s a good problem to have. Q: You have coached with guys like Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan, which coaches have had the biggest influence on your coaching philosophy? A: I think everyone I have been around. I mean my dad’s a football coach so I’ve grown up around coaching since I’ve been young. My dad was my biggest influence, that’s why I became a football coach. But you know Coach Gruden and Coach Shanahan really did a great job of bringing me up and teaching me how to work, and how to be a grinder, and teaching me the game. I owe it all to them and now I’m fortunate enough to be around another great one, Coach Carroll. Q: You were a highly sought after coach. What was it about this opportunity that drew you to USC? A: I think it’s important to understand, and I’ve told a bunch of the juniors this past weekend, I wanted to come here because they win and that means a lot. My first year in the NFL I won a Super Bowl and the last six I haven’t been back to the playoffs. USC wins and I wanted to get that formula again. I wanted to see how Coach Carroll wins 90% of his games over the last eight years. I think that’s what drew me back the most was the winning attitude, how to become a winner again. I’m thirty-two and I want to gain that again. There’s something special, no matter what you do in life, if you’re a winner and that’s why I came back here. Plus, the tradition, the pro-style offense and Coach Carroll, I have respected him from afar and I just think it’s a great fit for me. Q: Talk about Coach Carroll and what it has been like to work with him? A: What you see on tape or at any press conference is what you get. It’s exciting every day. He’s a real guy and that’s what’s neat. You don’t know what to expect the next day, it’s been fun working with him, and I look forward to this year. Q: What sort of changes can USC fans expect to see with you taking over the play-calling duties? A: We are still in the film process. I don’t make any calls right now. They have won the last seven PAC-10 championships so I’m not going to change much. They have been successful. I’m going to try to bring some things I’ve learned from Tampa and Denver and continue on that winning tradition.
Jeremy Bates was one of the most respected young assistant coaches in the NFL and Pete Carroll was able to lure the highly sought after assistant to USC. In an exclusive interview with SCPlaybook.com, Bates talks about his offensive philosophy, biggest coaching influences and much more.
Q: First off, how has your transition been going from the NFL to the college game?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Talking Football with USC's Jeremy Bates
Monday, February 23, 2009
USC's Pete Carroll tops national salary list
By Gary Klein
February 23, 2009
USC won its only Bowl Championship Series title four years ago, but Coach Pete Carroll still ranks No. 1 in at least one category.
A new report released today says Carroll was the highest-paid private university employee in the United States during the 2006-07 fiscal year.
Carroll earned $4.4 million in total compensation, four times as much as USC President Steven B. Sample, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
"I'm humbled by it," Carroll said of his position atop the national list.
The study was completed with information from reports that private colleges are required to file annually to the Internal Revenue Service. The 2006-07 fiscal year was the most recent for which complete data are available.
An analysis of compensation packages for employees at 600 private colleges and universities showed Carroll first, followed by dermatologist David N. Silvers, a clinical professor at Columbia University, who earned $4.3 million.
Carroll, 57, has guided USC to two national titles, seven consecutive Pacific 10 Conference championships and seven consecutive BCS bowl games. He ranks among college football's highest-paid coaches.
And Carroll is not alone among football coaches in substantially out-earning college presidents.
Brad Wolverton, an editor for the Chronicle of Higher Education, said coaches' compensation in "football-crazy" conferences often dwarfs college presidents' pay.
In 2007, the Chronicle of Higher Education extrapolated football coaches' salary information contained in a report by USA Today and found that most of the 10 highest-paid presidents at public universities with Division I football programs made half as much as the head football coach.
Texas' Mack Brown, Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Florida's Urban Meyer each earned about four times as much as the presidents at those schools.
That is consistent with Carroll's $4.4-million package in 2006-07, when Sample earned $906,778.
A USC spokesman declined comment.
Carroll signed a five-year contract worth approximately $1 million annually when he was hired to succeed Paul Hackett in December 2000. He received a significant raise after the 2002 season and earned close to $3 million in the 2004 season, which ended with USC winning the BCS title in January 2005. He agreed to a contract extension in December 2005.
David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute, said coaches such as Carroll are often the most high-profile personalities on campus and that their roles for their schools go beyond winning games.
"They're involved in business development, not the least of which is helping to build the brand," Carter said. "You really aren't just paying for a coach."
Carroll's hiring has paid off for USC in more than just football titles.
The football program's success also has fueled athletic-department revenue that has grown from $38.6 million in Carroll's first season at USC to more than $76 million in 2007-08.
That includes donations and endowment income that has risen from $13.7 million in 2001-02 to $39 million.
"I just try to do my part," Carroll said.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Three questions with Mark Sanchez
Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert
INDIANAPOLIS -- It's not exactly breaking news to reveal that Detroit has devoted a few more resources to Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford during the annual scouting combine than USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. While Stafford had dinner with all of the Lions' top brass, Sanchez lunched with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.
 | |
| Jody Gomez/US Presswire | |
| Mark Sanchez threw 34 touchdown passes in 2008. |
It's hard to imagine Sanchez as a candidate for the No. 1 overall pick at this point, but he can't be ruled out at the Lions' second pick at No. 20. So let's run through three questions with the player widely considered to be the second-best quarterback available in the 2009 draft.
You only started 16 games in college but USC has a pro-style passing offense. Can that help minimize the experience factor?
Mark Sanchez: That pro-style system really helps with the transition. While there might be different terminology, it's still the same language. For us, our protections and things like that I'm already starting to find out they cross right over. While they might have a different name, a lot of our route combinations and our progressions and our reads just have a different name. So for me that's great. I've heard similar things from [former USC quarterbacks Matt] Leinart, from [Carson] Palmer, from [Matt] Cassel, from John David [Booty]. All guys playing in the league. That speaks volumes for our program and the quarterbacks we produce.
Who did you meet with from the Lions?
MS: With Linehan. Everything's been great. Had fun. Mostly talked about family life, school. They're all excited hearing that I'm going to graduate
in May. That's a big deal. Really big deal to my parents, so they were happy to hear that. Asked about my older brothers and my upbringing. Stuff like that.
Stafford decided not to throw at the combine. Why did you decide to do it?
MS: It's neither here or there to me whether he throws or not. That's just me. I've got to do it. I feel like I want to do it. I'm a competitive person. I want to win, and that's what I'm about. It would kill me not to throw. Too fun.
