“They Were in Tears”: Rich Eisen Recalls Pete Carroll’s Emotional Moment With Students as Head Professor at USC

NFL coach Pete Carroll is one of the most successful and well-respected football coaches in history. He’s won a national championship in college and won a Super Bowl in the NFL as a coach. The 73-year-old is also the Las Vegas Raiders’ current head coach. While Carroll is a teacher of the game of football, he’s also a teacher in the classroom. 

Carroll teaches a class at USC called “The Game is Life,” which is offered to students in USC’s Marshall School of Business. 

Speaking to Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn on his show, the Rich Eisen Show, Eisen spoke to Quinn about Carroll’s role as a professor and how successful he is. Quinn used to coach with Carroll in Seattle, and Eisen spoke about how Carroll had his students in tears with some life-changing advice and guidance. 

“My wife and I went to see him teach his final class at USC,” said Eisen. “What I witnessed there was one of the most remarkable moments I’ve ever seen in a classroom or lecture hall. The kids who Pete was teaching all year long, it was the last class for a lot of these kids.”

“He was basically giving these kids life lessons on how to share themselves and know themselves, and their reactions, they were in tears, they told stories about how their lives changed.” 

Eisen asked Quinn how much he took from Carroll that he brought to his gig as a head coach. Quinn spoke about how he was once a student (as an assistant coach) to Carroll and that he learned a lot under Carroll and pointed to his competitive spirit as a main thing instilled in him from Carroll. 

Carroll continues to teach his class at USC even after being hired as the new head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Prior to coaching the USC Trojans from 2001-2009, Carroll had two short head coaching gigs in the NFL with the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. He became the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach in 2010 and coached them all the way until 2023. 

Carroll took last season off from being a coach, stepping down into an office role with the Seahawks. This season, he made the decision to get back into coaching as he was hired to be the Las Vegas Raiders’ new head coach, replacing Antonio Pierce after a season. 

Carroll is handed a tough task, as his Raiders are in the same division as the Kansas City Chiefs. The Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos, with Jim Harbaugh and Sean Payton, are tough opponents in the division, and the Raiders are hopeful that Carroll can elevate them to the next level.