Pete Carroll may be the perfect defensive coordinator for USC in 2026

5 days ago 3

Monday morning, the Pete Carroll era with the Las Vegas Raiders came to a swift and unforgiving end. The Raiders fired Carroll after just one season. Carroll and the Raiders went 3-14 in 2025, tied for the worst record in the NFL.

It was just not a partnership that worked. The Raiders hired Carroll in hopes that they could expedite their rebuild, and they hired a coaching staff and built a roster around that idea as well. Such a quick fix proved to be an impossible task.

This could be the career change that finally sends Pete Carroll into retirement. No one would blame him, he's 74 years old and is both a national champion and Super Bowl champion as a head coach.

But having watched much of Pete Carroll's career, I don't think he wants to go out like that. I think he wants to go out on top, and I think there's one place where he has a clear opportunity to do that: USC.

Defensive coordinator search continues

Look, USC needs to nail its defensive coordinator hire really badly. And with rumors tying Pete Kwiatkowski to Stanford, the clear cut No. 1 candidate for the DC job may not be an option anymore. USC is left needing to take a risk.

Bringing Pete Carroll would be high risk. But it could also be one of the most rewarding moves in USC football history.

Let's talk about it.

The most experienced candidate

Call Pete Carroll old if you want. Where you see age, I see experience.

Where else is USC going to find a Super Bowl champion, 2-time national champion and 7-time Pac-10 champion? How about a coach with 5 decades of defensive coaching experience in college and the NFL? They don't just grow on trees.

Carroll has seen it all. Every offense, every trend in the landscape of the last 5 decades of football history. And he knows his way around Heritage Hall to boot. USC would not have to worry about training up their new hire.

Carroll still has a great relationship with USC

Last spring, Pete Carroll taught a class at USC.

It was called "The Game is Life" and was taught alongside USC's Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life, Varun Soni and David Belasco, an adjunt professor of entrepreneurship. I have friends who took it and they all loved it.

What does Carroll teaching a class at USC have to do with the possibility that he returns to USC as a defensive coordinator, you might ask? One simple thing: he still has a good relationship with USC. He also clearly likes being on campus and around college kids. Why not do that on the football field?

Pete Carroll and Lincoln Riley both need to win NOW

Lincoln Riley is coaching for his job in 2026. Pete Carroll isn't getting any younger. If Riley hires Carroll, he can count on a coach that will desperately put in 110% effort to win a national championship ASAP. Pretty self explanatory.

This would be a huge win for USC's public relations and culture

Look, USC sports have been taking it on the nose lately. Football lost the Notre Dame rivalry, lost D'Anton Lynn, lost the Alamo Bowl to TCU and may be set to lose the Pete Kwiatkowski sweepstakes to a worse program with less money. Both basketball teams suffered embarrassing blowouts this weekend.

Bringing Pete Carroll back would be hugely popular amidst USC fans. Coach Carroll is the last USC coach who is basically 100% universally beloved by Trojan fans. Just getting to see him on the USC sideline in Cardinal and Gold again would be so exciting.

It would be a nod to tradition and give older alums who are skeptical about Lincoln Riley something to root for.

I also believe that Pete Carroll would improve USC's culture immediately. I've always thought that his personality and energy are a better fit for college than the pros. Even though he'd be the oldest guy in the building, he'd keep USC motivated with his youthful energy.

Coach Riley could learn from Coach Carroll if he has the right attitude

Over the course of this season at Trojans Wire and the Voice of College Football we've talked extensively about Lincoln Riley getting over the "smartest guy in the room" syndrome. I think that for Riley to have the most success, he needs to surrender some of his power and let other people lead aspects of the program that are not his personal strong suits so he can focus on building an elite offense at USC. Or, he at least needs people to help him out in those areas.

That's worked in recruiting with the hiring of Chad Bowden.

Bringing in Pete Carroll would be difficult for both Carroll and Riley to navigate to some degree, because Riley would be Carroll's superior while having much less football experience than Carroll. But if both men are willing to be humble and defer to one another, it's a partnership that could work. And, I think that Lincoln Riley could learn a lot about what it means to be a USC head coach, be a part of the Los Angeles community, and manage a whole program from Carroll's mentorship.

Also, Pete gets a smaller focus

Running an entire football team is a lot for someone who is 74 years old. It's okay for Pete Carroll to admit that, and admit that could be why this year went awry for the Raiders.

Being a defensive coordinator is still a big job, but it would allow Carroll a narrower focus. He'd have fewer media responsibilities, less pressure, and could lean on Lincoln Riley for the support a head coach brings.

Pete Carroll could really help USC's secondary, which we've needed for years

USC has struggled defensively since the end of the Clay Helton era in 2021, but the worst of it has been in the secondary. Too many times I have watched USC's secondary get shredded for big gains by the opposing offense.

I think that with Eric Henderson, Trumain Carroll and Zach Hanson in town, USC will continue to get better in the trenches on both sides of the football. But who wouldn't want the former leader of the Legion of Boom in charge of USC's secondary?

Fundamentals

USC's secondary had issues with fundamentals, communication and mental errors this season but the biggest issue in my opinion was a lack of swagger, confidence and agressiveness. That's one thing the Legion of Boom always had every single play: swagger.

I can't guarantee that Pete Carroll's return to USC would be a successful partnership, but I am confident that he and his players would leave it all out on the field and take risks. Playing conservatively this year on defense didn't work. It's time to get our swagger back.

Pete Carroll would have an opportunity to end his career on a higher note

There's no way that Pete Carroll, competitive as he is, wants to go out like this. 3-14 and fired after one season? That will have him tossing and turning even in retirement.

I think that even if Carroll is unsuccessful at USC and is fired after one season, coming back to work at Heritage Hall would still bring a sense of fulfillment and closure that ending his career with the Raiders never could.

Back home

Getting to be on the USC sideline, around USC fans, and feel the love that he never got to feel when his USC career ended amidst NCAA investigations over 15 years ago. Getting to mentor college aged kids. Again, even if USC disappoints in 2026 and Carroll is not brought back for 2027, that still feels like a much more fulfilling end than what happened in Vegas.

But, Carroll would be set up for a more fulfilling end on the football field too. The No. 1 recruiting class in the nation (which would be psyched to be mentored by Pete Carroll, as anyone would). A lot of talent on the offensive side of the football. A great support staff.

The Raiders are a mess of an organization, let's face it. USC is figuring it out organizationally.

A final note about Coach Carroll

Regardless of what Pete Carroll decides, or if USC wants to bring him back, I wish him the best in his next chapter. I've always been inspired by the way he approaches coaching.

At Trojans Wire, we will be following his next career move regardless of what it may be. Stay tuned!

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Pete Carroll fired by Raiders, is a USC football return possible?

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