An Old Friend (and Enemy) Visits

An eager coach at USC’s practice Saturday sprinted from one field to another taking copious notes about everything from stretching exercises to pass plays that stretch defenses.

Lou Holtz, coach at South Carolina, was on a learning mission after the Gamecocks finished 5-7. Holtz, who won a national championship at Notre Dame, was impressed with the practice run by Trojan Coach Pete Carroll, one of his proteges.

“I’d never seen his practice,” said Holtz, who hired Carroll as a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 1977. “Normally most of my life, we’ve been in a bowl game. But this is one of those years. I want to make sure it never happens again.”

Carroll said Holtz called and asked if he could observe the Trojans, who are preparing for Thursday’s Orange Bowl against Iowa. Holtz joined the coaches for breakfast and was introduced to the players.

“I’ll go back and share the things with our team about the way Southern Cal does things,” said Holtz, who was 9-1-1 against USC when he was coach at Notre Dame. “You always learn. I’ve never learned anything by talking. I’ve only learned by listening and watching. When I do interviews I don’t learn a whole lot.”

Holtz said he was “privileged” to watch offensive coordinator Norm Chow in action.

“I’m just so glad he didn’t take the Kentucky job,” Holtz said. “I hope he stays out on the West Coast. I told him you get all kinds of viruses when you go East.”

Carroll was part of an Arkansas staff that coached the Razorbacks to an 11-1 record in 1977, including an Orange Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

“It’s one of the great memories I have in coaching,” Carroll said. “It’s one of the things that really showed me what the top end can be like. I was hooked from that point on.”

*

Carroll said the presence of former Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson and Holtz was not a distraction. “The energy on the practice field surprised me -- maybe that had something to do with it,” Carroll said. “Our guys are used to some flash and they kind of answered the call today.”

*

Some players were disappointed, others thrilled that a chartered fishing excursion was canceled because of high winds.

“We heard there were big swells,” Carroll said. “The guys can cast off the back deck of the hotel.”