National Football League

Pete Carroll to be inducted into USC Athletic Hall of Fame

Published Jul. 7, 2014 5:44 p.m. ET

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USC fans love Pete Carroll. The university does too.

Carroll, the national championship winning and current head coach of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, headlines the 2015 USC Athletic Hall of Fame Class, which was announced on Monday.

Carroll restored the winning ways of USC during his nine seasons as head coach (2001-09). He won 83.6 percent of his games at USC -- leaving the program after posting a 97-19 record. (NCAA sanctions later adjusted that win-loss title to 83-19).

The run Carroll enjoyed at USC is unlike anything that may ever be seen again. Under his leadership, the Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for 33 straight weeks and in the AP Top 10 for 63 straight games, which is a USC record.

Carroll won an AP National title in 2003 and a BCS National title in 2004 with a team that went 13-0 and demolished Oklahoma 55-19 in the BCS National Championship Game.

USC appeared in an NCAA record seven consecutive BCS Bowl games and won 11 games in seven straight seasons which is also an NCAA record. Some of the winning streaks under Carroll included a conference record 35 straight home games, 34 games overall, and a school record 18 straight road games.

He also coached three Heisman Trophy winners and 14 first round picks. Carroll was named national coach of year twice and conference coach of the year three times before he resigned after the 2009 season to take the head coaching job with the Seattle Seahawks.

After leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title earlier this year, Carroll etched his name in an elite group becoming one of just three coaches to win an NCAA national title and a Super Bowl.

However, criticism came Carroll's way from those who believed his decision to return to the NFL was a timely one in an effort to run away from the program. Yet, Carroll continues to be vocal in defense of his tenure at USC and a huge supporter of the program.

In a visit to campus in February just weeks after his Super Bowl victory, Carroll continued to express his views about the NCAA saying they dealt with the matter "poorly and very irrationally."

"I sat in the meetings. I listened to the people talk. I listened to the venom that they had for our program," Carroll said in February.

Last month, Carroll declared to the Los Angeles Times he would "never have been able to leave" USC if he knew sanctions were on the way. 

USC athletic director Pat Haden told the paper Carroll is "revered" at the university and should be remembered as USC's greatest coaches.

His pending induction into the school's hall of fame backs up that notion.

Other notables to be inducted along with Carroll include former Cubs pitcher Mark Prior, Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, who played football and hit over .300 as a catcher for the baseball team for two seasons, former basketball All-American Harold Miner, and sprinter Don Quarrie.

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