Chow’s Touch Is Just Right for USC

If Norm Chow is going to get his due as the impact player around USC and the first drop of oil to come down Pete Carroll’s talent pipeline, he must learn to act the part.

Did you catch that little high five during the Trojans’ victory over Virginia Tech in the season opener? Not good. On the celebration scale, it was more Macaulay Culkin than Terrell Owens.

USC trailed by three points in the third quarter when Chow, the Trojans’ offensive coordinator, dialed up a play that isolated Reggie Bush outside and sent him deep. Matt Leinart uncorked a pass for 53 yards and a touchdown that turned the game around. Up in the booth Chow turned to wide receivers coach Lane Kiffin and gave him five. A replay was shown to a national TV audience.

Chow’s oldest son, Carter, saw it. He called his dad seeking an explanation.

The players saw it when they watched the game tape after returning to L.A. They kept hitting rewind.

“I laughed,” tight end Alex Holmes said. “We did tease him. It was pretty funny.”

This is where the offensive coordinator gets a little defensive.

“I didn’t know the camera was on me,” Chow said.

The camera should be on Chow. The spotlight too.

He’s the reason the Trojan offense actually improved last season, the first without 2002 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 NFL draft pick Carson Palmer. He’s the reason the Trojans produced 373 yards against Virginia Tech two days after star receiver Mike Williams was declared ineligible by the NCAA, and with running back Hershel Dennis suspended for violating team rules.

Yes, coaches need players. And yes, Carroll does a wonderful job of recruiting players, making it seem as easy as pulling up to the drive-through window.

But go ask Mike Martz what happens when talent and speed aren’t used properly.

“We have spectacular athletes here,” Holmes said. “But Coach Chow’s system is pretty remarkable. That’s why he’s had success for, whatever, 70 years.”

That’s inaccurate. The 70 years part, not the success. In Chow’s 31 years as a college football coach at Brigham Young, North Carolina State and USC, he has had a hand in 11 of the 30 best passing seasons in NCAA history, while tutoring such quarterbacks as Steve Young, Philip Rivers and Palmer.

That makes Chow, 58, as valuable as any recruit Carroll signs. Carroll didn’t need a defensive coordinator when he took the USC job in December 2000. He could handle that himself. He kept popular defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, a holdover from Paul Hackett’s staff, then set about getting an offensive coordinator.

“Norm, he was the first guy outside of the immediate group that I pursued,” Carroll said. “It seemed like a real obvious reason to go after him.

“We were both excited about coming here. It was obvious from the beginning, he thought real favorably about the opportunity.”

Carroll’s definition of excitement is a lot different from Chow’s. Carroll might run up and down the sidelines, pumping his fists. Chow

“Coach Carroll’s really just like a player out there with us,” Holmes said. “I think that’s what separates him from a lot of other coaches. Coach Chow’s all about business.”

Carroll is better suited for the head coach role and all the microphones and alumni luncheons that come with it. Chow still wants a head coaching job somewhere, someday, but after talks with Arizona and Kentucky, among other suitors in recent years, he’s still at USC.

And the offense keeps rolling, even as the personnel shifts. The Trojans have scored at least 20 points in their last 27 games, including streaks of 11 consecutive 30-point games and seven consecutive 40-point games during the run.

“Coach Chow’s offense is really based on finding mismatches,” Bush said. “He does a good job of that, creating mismatches for us and getting defenses on their heels.”

Chow’s philosophy is, “They can’t cover everybody.”

Bush has become Chow’s latest weapon. He lined up all over the field against Virginia Tech and caught three touchdown passes.

Chow, who selects the first 12 non-third-down plays before each game, blamed himself for being too conservative at the beginning.

“You knew the game was going to be hard,” he said. “We were playing with young receivers and a new offensive line, and Virginia Tech is Virginia Tech. So you knew it was going to be hard.”

So he experimented with Bush, trying to get him into a pass pattern against a linebacker, setting up the defender for what USC tailback LenDale White calls a “run-by session.”

Then planning and execution came together, Chow felt that sense of satisfaction he gets from watching young players succeed, the Trojans regained the lead and suddenly Chow was moved to smack Kiffin’s hand.

“It was a sigh of relief, is what I told my son,” Chow said.

Leinart grinned at the thought of it.

“That was sweet,” he said. “He can get fired up. He’s got this image; he’s real quiet and calm. He can yell. He can get fired up. It was nice to see that.”

Holmes said, “Us doing well is a reflection of him. Internally, he’s happy. He’s content with watching us celebrate.”

And maybe he should just leave the celebrating to them.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.