Pete Carroll: ‘I thought I would never leave USC’

Pete Carroll has enjoyed tremendous success in his third stint as an NFL head coach and on Sunday will lead his Seattle Seahawks into Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos, and despite reigning over one of the greatest dynasties in college football in the last 30 years with the USC Trojans, this goal was always in the back of his head.

Speaking to the media on Monday for his Super Bowl press conference Carroll was asked if he believed the success he had at USC could translate to the NFL and if his style would work with professionals.

"“I thought I would never leave SC. It was a perfect situation, and I loved it. Everything was formatted the way I wanted to do it. I had tremendous freedom and support, but knowing the NFL was always the most competitive level you could get involved with the game of football. I always had that in the back of my mind that I wanted to see what would happen, particularly after the years at SC we had success. I wanted to see what would happen if we translated this to the NFL and see what the result was. The way we treated people at SC and the way we went about the expectations for individuals and how they fit into a team was what I wanted to carry to the NFL and see what happened. We’ve been rewarded well in the four years that we’ve been in Seattle, and I’m thankful for that.”"

Carroll’s success in the NFL has led to more teams looking at the college ranks to be their head coaches as Jim Harbaugh, Chip Kelly and Bill O’Brien are just a few to jump from the college game to the pro game.