Pete Carroll’s syllabus is as lively and star-studded as his sideline.
The legendary football coach, a guest professor at USC, has brought in a parade of celebrities to speak to his “The Game is Life” class of 56 students, chosen from a field of more than 300 applicants.
One week it’s Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr imparting his wisdom. Then, it’s author and new-age guru Deepak Chopra. Actor Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) has spoken to the class, as has Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from “The Office”) and Olympic gold medalists Rai Benjamin and April Ross.
In the auditorium in the Fertitta Hall basement, the biggest star of all is the eternally youthful, irrepressibly enthusiastic Carroll, 73, hired in January as new coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. His USC teams went 97-19 in his nine seasons with the Trojans, winning national championships in 2003 and ’04 — before many of his students were born. There was no NFL team in Los Angeles at the time, and Carroll’s sidelines were always a who’s who of the entertainment industry.
Read more:Commentary: Why Pete Carroll is the right choice to revive the long-suffering Raiders
“He’s very kind and he’s easy to talk to, so he’s honestly been one of my favorite professors I’ve worked with,” said teaching assistant Abby Louderback, a graduate student in USC’s business school. “I feel like he’s not what I would think of a football coach in my head.”
Each week, Carroll discusses his “Win Forever” philosophy with his students, then conducts a panel chat with his guest along with David Belasco, adjunct professor of entrepreneurship, and Varun Soni, dean of Religious and Spiritual Life. In the second hour, students are invited to ask questions of the guest.
“After I leave every class, I call my dad religiously and talk to him about what we talked about on that day, what I felt, what I experienced,” said Ari Naiman, a senior studying psychology and law. “I tell him every week that those are the two most valuable hours of my life.”
The class is on Thursdays and begins with informal breakout groups, with students discussing a given topic or getting to know each other against a backdrop of popular music piped through the auditorium sound system. Carroll happily moves from ...
