Always Compete

Book excerpt: Always Compete is both a revealing look at the tactics and personality of one of college football's best coaches, Pete Carroll, and a thrilling chronicle of the 2008 USC Trojans' quest for another championship, culminating in their victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Just when USC football was in the midst of a horrific slump, when skeptics began to say the scholarship limits had conspired to make it impossible to recapture its old glory, Coach Pete Carroll arrived to transform and invigorate the program with his own bristling energy and style. He quickly reestablished the Trojans not only as the dominant college football team in the Pac-10 but as the preeminent program in the country, and the most entertaining team in the sport. During his tenure, Carroll captured two National Championships, made an NCAA-record seven BCS bowl appearances, and produced three Heisman Trophy winners as well as more than thirty NFL draft picks, including seven in round number one. For the first time ever, author Steve Bisheff has been given exclusive access to coaches and players, their meetings, practices, and locker room, as well as one-on-one interviews with Coach Carroll himself.