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'Always Compete' reveals Pete Carroll's prankster side

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Updated Aug 6, 2009 7:42 PM ET
     
 
It is the day before Halloween, and USC is wrapping up an otherwise uneventful Thursday afternoon of practice heading into the Washington game. The players gather around Pete Carroll as they usually do at the end of drills, but their attention is diverted by offensive line coach Pat Ruel, who suddenly starts screaming at the other end of the field. He is shouting angry words at one of the cameramen who tapes practice at the top of a 50-foot crane that sits above an equipment truck across the street from Howard Jones Field. Everyone is watching as Ruel shouts and the cameraman shouts back, then, as a collective gasp goes up from the field, the cameraman falls, tumbling toward the concrete below with his arms flailing. "Oh my God!" one of the players yells. Others put their hands over their eyes. On the sidelines, Adam Maya, a young writer from the Orange County Register, appears to have the blood drain from his face. The fence surrounding the field is covered, so no one can see the result of the fall. Everyone can only imagine. A panicked looking Brennan Carroll, the coach's son and the team's tight ends coach, bolts across the field and out the door to see if he can help. He is followed by an onrushing Steve Sarkisian, the offensive coordinator. A few emotional moments go by and a young woman bursts through the door unto the field. "He caught him! He caught him!" she shouts. "Oh my God, he caught him!" While everyone stands there stunned, in walks Will Ferrell, the popular actor and noted USC alum, dressed in some kind of Captain Marvel costume, with the presumed cameraman, who turned out to be a stunt man, in his arms, trying not to smile. Turns out, unbeknownst to the players and everyone else at practice, a large cushion had been set up outside, allowing the stunt man to land safely. Just call it a typical Pete Carroll prank. "We thought we'd try to have some fun for Halloween," the coach says, grinning. The players are laughing and joking about it, but later, some admit they thought it was for real. "It felt awful," says fullback Stanley Havili. "Seriously," says freshman defensive tackle Armond Armstead, "I thought we just watched a dude die." The regular Carroll-watchers laugh and say this was nothing. You should have been here a few years ago when he pulled the LenDale White stunt. White, now a tailback for the Tennessee Titans, was the "Thunder" in the "Lightning and Thunder" tailback combination that also featured Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. On this particular afternoon, White gets into a presumed angry argument with a coach during practice and stalks off the field. Ten minutes later, a great commotion is heard on top of the three-story building directly behind Howard Jones Field. It appears to be White, still in uniform, wrestling with somebody as angry words are exchanged. The two disappear for a few moments, then the next thing everybody sees is White, still wearing his uniform, falling off the building. Many of the players honestly believed White had committed suicide. Turns out, much to everyone's relief, it was just a dummy with White's uniform on. He was in on the gag the whole time. Carroll actually took some heat for that one, with many feeling the stunt was in bad taste. But the coach didn't care. To him, it was just another example of trying to have some fun. Having fun is a big thing in Carroll's life. "It's that Peter Pan thing, man," says Dave Perron, one of his closest friends. "He's Peter Pan in some ways. He's got this wonderful, child-like way about him." The proclivity for pranks apparently started at an early age. His friends still talk about his favorite stunt in high school. He'd cruise the Marin neighborhood in a red Valiant, then slide over to the passenger side using his left hand to steer and his left foot on the accelerator. He would honk and wave at people, all of whom did massive double takes watching the driver-less car cruise by them. Carroll sharpened his prankster skills in his time as a defensive backfield coach in Minnesota. "That's why we got along so well," says Bud Grant, the legendary former head coach of the Vikings. "I loved pranks as much as he did. With Pete around, it seemed like we had one every day. His best stuff was with Floyd Peters. He was a former Marine who was very strait-laced and disciplined. Pete was totally different, a free spirit. I think Pete understood Floyd better than Floyd understood Pete. Anyway, this one time, Pete arranged this deal where he pushed a dummy off a building, and everyone thought it was Floyd Peters. It was pretty extravagant." Well, at least we now know where Carroll came up with this falling off the building/crane idea. "You might ask how does that help you as a coach," says Grant. "It helps you become a team. It is a bonding thing. I don't know how to explain it, but if you laugh at yourself, you're OK." If nothing else, you have to give Carroll points for creativity. Another time at USC, he coerced his celebrity buddy in playfulness, Ferrell, to walk into a team meeting dressed as Ricky Bobby, his character in the movie "Talladega Nights." Ferrell proceeded to deliver a hilarious, twangy attempt at an inspirational speech. But that's not the only thing that had the players roaring. Next to Farrell, standing there with an impish grin on his face, was Carroll, wearing a NASCAR jumpsuit. The players really loved that. Then there was the day this past spring when Carroll was in the midst of a serious talk with the players before practice. An officer from the Los Angeles Police Department interrupts the discussion by walking into the room. He whispers something in Carroll's ear, and the coach looks over with a furrowed brow at Everson Griffen, his young defensive end. "Everson, you need to go with these guys," he says.
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Griffen, looking solemn, stands up and is escorted out as Carroll and his assistants exchange serious glances at one another. The other players in the room look concerned and worried. Griffen eventually comes back and announces he was booked on assault of a freshman. Then Carroll douses the lights and plays a video of Griffen manhandling freshman tackle Matt Meyer in practice. The place explodes with laughter. "He wants to make it fun," says USC Sports Information Director Tim Tessalone. "It's loose, but he feels when people enjoy what they're doing they are apt to stay in line more often. You talk to any of his ex-players. They all tell you how much fun they had in the program." That is part of the reason Carroll is coaching in college, instead of the NFL. "There is a level of seriousness that gets a little crazy in the NFL," he says. "It's still a game. They lose track of that in the NFL sometimes." Fun is something Carroll manages to find every day at USC. You watch him for any length of time during the season, and you realize the thing you see him do more than anything else is throw the football. He throws it before practice. He throws it during practice. He throws it after practice. He throws it around during meetings. You suspect, before he goes to sleep at night, he sits up in bed tossing a football in the air. After one November week-day practice this season, Carroll pauses to sign autographs for two pre-teenage boys from the inner city. After he signs one's T-shirt and the other's football, he says, "OK, let's see what you got." The kids get wide-eyed when he instructs the first somewhat thinner boy to go out for a pass. He does and Carroll throws a soft spiral that the kid catches in stride. The other slightly plump boy goes out and Carroll's pass floats just beyond his reach. "Let's try it again," Carroll says, and on the next pass the young man makes a pretty one-handed snag. "That's what I'm talking about," Carroll says, as he turns and casually walks toward the team beat writers who have been waiting impatiently, the usual 20 to 30 minutes after practice, for their daily interview. "Is there anything you like better than throwing a football?" one writer asks. "Nope," says Carroll, with that trademark grin. Well, maybe an occasional elaborate prank, you're thinking. He'd probably like that better. One day, I ask Carroll if they ever make a movie of his life, what actor would play him. He never even hesitates. "Will Ferrell," he says. An advance copy of the book "Always Compete," autographed by the author Steve Bisheff, can be obtained here. Part of the receipts will be given to the Pete Carroll inner city charity "A Better LA".
Tagged: Washington, USC, Tennessee

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