USC’s Grootegoed Turns Nothing Into Something

Matt Grootegoed made quite an impression on USC Coach Pete Carroll during spring practice in 2001.

Working at safety, Grootegoed stood out -- for all the wrong reasons.

“He didn’t make any plays,” Carroll said this week, chuckling at the recollection. “He just looked like a nothing guy out there.”

Carroll, preparing for his first season with the Trojans, said he spliced together a “highlight film” of Grootegoed’s spring “lowlights,” and summoned the former Santa Ana Mater Dei star to his office for a chat.

Grootegoed, who sat out most of the 2000 season because of mononucleosis, entered the meeting as a possible backup at strong safety to future two-time All-American Troy Polamalu.

He exited as an undersized linebacker -- perhaps the most important position switch that Carroll has engineered in his three-plus seasons at USC.

Grootegoed, a fifth-year senior who is listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 215 pounds, is regarded as one of the top linebackers in the Pacific 10 Conference and, arguably, the nation.

“It’s made all the difference -- he’s a terrific football player,” Carroll said. “He needs to be around the action, up close and in the midst of it.”

As usual, Grootegoed was in the middle of USC’s defensive mayhem last week against Colorado State. He intercepted two passes, returning one 57 yards to set up a touchdown, and helped lead the top-ranked Trojans to a 49-0 victory at the Coliseum.

On Saturday, Grootegoed is looking forward to wreaking more havoc when USC (2-0) plays Brigham Young (1-1) at Provo, Utah.

“Interceptions are nice -- I like them a lot -- but I’d rather have 10 or 15 tackles,” Grootegoed said.

Grootegoed, 22, was a two-way player at Mater Dei, where he played safety, running back and, briefly, quarterback for a perennial high school power.

He still scratches the perpetually tousled hair on his head when he recalls the meeting with Carroll that changed the course of his Trojan career.

“At the time I was like, ‘What am I going to do? Play behind Troy?’ I could learn a lot from him but that was his spot,” Grootegoed said. “There wasn’t anybody at linebacker, so I figured I could try out for that.

“I figured I could always go back, but it didn’t quite work out.”

Not with the way Grootegoed performed at linebacker.

Much like his recently adopted dog, a miniature Doberman pinscher named Blitz, Grootegoed is feisty and without fear when it comes to standing up to larger opponents.

“Pound for pound, he’s the baddest guy on the team,” said graduate assistant Ken Norton Jr., a former All-Pro linebacker who played 13 years in the NFL.

In 2001, Grootegoed started at strong-side linebacker and displayed his trademark propensity for finding the ball and making plays. A shoulder sprain and broken leg forced him to miss four games, but his value to the Trojan defense was established.

“The closer he got to the football, everything started happening for him,” said former Trojan linebacker coach Nick Holt, now the head coach at Idaho. “He has good speed, not great speed, but he has an innate sense of how to play the game.”

Two years ago, Grootegoed had a breakout season. He led the team in tackles, tackles for losses and sacks and was named all-conference.

Last season, he suffered a high ankle sprain against Stanford that forced him to miss all or most of the final seven games. But Grootegoed still was second-team all-conference and was a semifinalist for the Butkus and Lombardi awards.

“I’ve never seen a guy like him,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. “Sometimes you look at him and wonder how he does it. Groots just makes plays.”

This season, Carroll switched Grootegoed to weak-side linebacker. While 6-5 junior Dallas Sartz handles tight ends, Grootegoed has been freed to home in on quarterbacks, receivers and running backs.

Looking back, Carroll said Grootegoed’s performance during that first spring practice probably suffered because the Trojans worked out so infrequently in full pads, which handicapped Grootegoed’s ability to make big hits.

“He’s in a zone during games,” Sartz said. “Lofa and I, usually we’ll talk a little bit on the field. But Grootegoed is in a zone.”

Grootegoed acknowledged that he used to pine for the chance to play safety. He reasons that he gets similar pass-coverage responsibilities as a linebacker.

A return to the secondary seems likely when Grootegoed attempts to make the jump to the NFL. Norton, however, said Grootegoed could play linebacker in the right situation.

“Conventional wisdom would say he’s too small, but there’s a lot of tough guys in the league that are small,” Norton said. “It depends on whether a team is stuck on profile, or if they’re stuck on heart.”

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Grootegoed’s Numbers

Statistics for Matt Grootegoed, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound senior linebacker for USC:

*--* Year Tack TFL/Yds PKA FR Int Int Yds 2001 32 8/13 2 1 0 0 2002 81 16.5/81 4 1 1 49 2003 41 4.5/24 1 1 0 0 2004 4 0/0 0 0 2 57 Career 158 29/94 7 3 3 106

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Tack-Tackles; TFL/Yds-Tackles for loss/yards lost; PKA-Passes knocked away; FR-Fumbles recovered; Int-Interceptions; Int Yds-Interception return yards.

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USC VS. BYU

at Provo, Utah

Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN