The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Pete Carroll

Followed Paul Hackett. Pete Carroll took USC from Power Program I to Blue Blood — 2 Dynasty seasons.

97–19
2001–2009 · 1 stint
USC
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerUSCDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderUSC, 2001: 6-6, Power Program II2001USC, 2002: 11-2, Power Program I2002USC, 2003: 12-1, Blue Blood2003USC, 2004: 13-0, Dynasty2004USC, 2005: 12-1, Dynasty2005USC, 2006: 11-2, Blue Blood2006USC, 2007: 11-2, Blue Blood2007USC, 2008: 12-1, Blue Blood2008USC, 2009: 9-4, Blue Blood2009+32.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Dynasty in his 4th career season — faster than 67% of the 15 FBS coaches who have ever reached Dynasty (rank #4 of 15 by seasons-to-arrival).

USC, 9 seasons
+32.1
Power Program II → Blue Blood.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

15–2 against his rivals. Just 1–2 against Jim Harbaugh.

Rivalry record
15–2
88.2% · 2 rivals
One-score games
21–16
56.8% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
7–1
87.5%
Rivalry ledger
Notre Dame8–189%
UCLA7–188%
The toughest matchup
vs. Jim Harbaugh1–2
3 meetings, 2007–2009
’07 L’08 W’09 L
33% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
7–1 87.5%
Power Program
37–9 80.4%
National Program
43–8 84.3%
Regional Program
8–1 88.9%

Coaching career

2001–2009
USCtransformer
Power Program I → Blue Blood
Pete Carroll took USC from Power Program I to Blue Blood — 2 Dynasty seasons.

1st-best USC tenure of 17 by the numbers.

Followed Paul Hackett (1998–2000) · succeeded by Lane Kiffin (2010–2013).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Grows Safety from high school
100%
#201 of 218 stints

63 NFL Draft picks: Markus Steele (2001), Zeke Moreno (2001), Ennis Davis (2001), Kris Richard (2002), Chris Cash (2002), Carson Palmer (2003), Troy Polamalu (2003), Justin Fargas (2003) + 55 more

97–19