Yeah, but the stars were aligned just right for those 3 National Championships:
2003: Nick Saban was the coach
2007: Les Miles, it was Saban's 1st year at Alabama, besides Ohio State should have won.....
2019: Ed Orgeron just got real lucky in the transfer portal (the same year) that he had a few really good assistant coaches.
The stuff that Petey pulled at USC could easily be legal under NIL now. A National Championship for USC doesn't go through Tuscaloosa like one for LSU would. USC is a "National brand". Under Carroll, USC did have the majority of their recruits from CA; however, they did successfully recruit nationally too. I do remember that they did get a 5 star receiver from Ohio (i.e. Fred Davis) that Ohio State really wanted. Besides it doesn't matter where the recruits come from, just so you get a top class, which Petey did:
2001: #20 class
2002: #8 class
2003: #2 class
2004: #2 class
2005: #1 class
2006: #1 class
2007: #2 class
2008: #4 class
2009: #2 class
2010: #3 class (Pete Carrol left USC on 11 Jan 2010 but probably still had recruited most of them)
Fair points, but how many coaches have failed vs. succeeded there over the last four decades?
John Robinson - started coaching there in ‘77, left after ‘82 for the Rams. Had a really good first 4 years (42-6-1, three #2 finishes), “meh” from ‘80-82 (25-8-1, two bowl-less seasons).
Ted Tollner - coached in LA from ‘83-86 going 26-20-1 before being fired.
Larry Smith - ‘87-92, 44-25-3 overall. Went to Rose Bowls in each his first 3 seasons including beating scUM in Bo’s last game. Then went 17-17-2 the next 3 years and was fired.
John Robinson (rd 2) - ‘93-97, back to this well 11 years later after Robinson was fired by the Rams. Wasn’t as successful this time around going 37-21-2, though he did make (and win) a Rose Bowl in year three. Retired following the ‘97 season after going just 12-11 with no Bowls his last two years.
Paul Hackett - ‘98-00, This was where it was evident USC was no longer a “destination” job. Hackett had one failed stint as a HC at Pitt in the late-80s/early-90s and was nobody’s idea of a hire that could reinvigorate a slumping program. Predictably, he was a miserable failure going 19-18 and missing out on Bowls in the last two of his three seasons before getting fired.
Pete Carroll - ‘01-09. Clearly their best coach since McKay. Oddly enough, everyone HATED this hire. They were drubbed for “settling” for a 2x failed NFL HC. Won a couple of NCs (One shared), though things have since been unearthed that makes all of his success rather dubious. Regardless, he made USC a national power again. Things began unraveling by 2009 and after a disappointing 9-4 record that year, he jumped ship to the NFL.
Lane Kiffin - ‘10-13. Despite the walls closing in regarding improprieties during the Carroll years, USC decides to stick to the Carroll tree and hires his former “boy wonder” OC. Kiffin failed in the NFL and was coming off of a 7-6 first year at Tennessee. Things started slowly under Kiffin with scholarship reductions and a Bowl ban, but by the end of year 2, they seemed to be on a decent track. They were preseason number 1 in his third year, but they came unglued and finished just 7-6. After a slow start to his 4th year, he was famously fired on the tarmac after getting boat raced by Arizona St, finishing with a so-so 28-15 record.
Steve Sarkisian - 2014-15. They just couldn’t break themselves from the Carroll era. Sark after Dark comes down from UW and goes 12-6 before being terminated 5 weeks into year two after several boozy incidents.
Clay Helton - ‘15-21. Helton gets the interim gig following Sark. Goes 5-4 the rest of the year and gets the interim tag removed. The decision sends fits of laughter across the CFB world because Clay Helton. Somewhat underwhelming “hire.” Helton actually goes 21-6 including a Rose Bowl we all may remember in his first two full years. However, a deeper look shows he was simply the biggest fish in a small pond as the PAC-12 was terrible. The next three years are “meh” and he’s shot into the sun after a week 2 loss at home to a bad Stanford team, ending his 6 year term 45-24.
so there ya have it. Not much to speak of other than the questionable Carroll years. Their average coach (excluding Petey) since Robinson left for the first time lasts about 4.5 seasons. They’ve had the odd season here-and-there where they bubble up and win 10-11 games and maybe make a Rose Bowl, but they’ve largely been a 7-8 win team over the last 40 years (again excluding the Petey years, which seem to be an anomaly).
Maybe they find another Carroll, but far more likely they don’t.
