The Great Debate: Pete Carroll Cont'd  

Some quick responses to my esteemed colleague:

• USC does have a money recruiting base, but you still have to tap the potential. Carroll is considered one of the best recruiters in the country, and he isn't doing it from his own back yard. Their 2007 recruiting class consists of 10 of the top 20 players from the Rivals.com top 100 recruits. These players are from DC, LA, MI, AZ, GA, and CA. He has as many guys from Florida and Louisiana as he does from California. That is stunning. He made USC such a hot-bed that OJ Mayo decided he could best grow his reputation for the NBA by spending his lone college season at USC, and Tim Floyd uses Carroll for his basketball recruiting. Carroll is building top programs in TWO sports!
• In response to the Cincy Kid, recruiting is a HUGE part of being a college football coach. That's one of the biggest differences in the NFL, everyone's got the same "money" so you have to pick your guys and make them want to play for you. Can't be understated.
  
• In the five years previous to Carroll's tenure, USC went 37-35, compared to 65-12 in his six seasons at the helm.
• As stated here previously, Carroll takes him team to at least one challenging road contest against a major BCS foe every single year, and he wins.
• Who the hell was Lane Kiffin (other than Monte's son) before Carroll took over USC? After Chow left, the Trojans won with completely unproven guys running the offense.
  
• While UCLA may have dropped, Cal is as good as its' ever been, so it's not like California is going unrecruited by others.
• Carroll didn't recruit Palmer, but he did salvage his career. Carson was one of the great disappointments of all-time until he started winning under Pete.
  
• Finally, did Pete Carroll force Reggie Bush to make the most bone-headed play in history on a forced lateral when they would have put that game away? And what did Mack Brown do other than say, "he, Vince, win this one for us"? That was an astonishing singular effort, but not exactly a Mack Brown coaching clinic.