Pete Carroll used to be an Ohio State Buckeye — not a student, but an employee of the school. More precisely, he was hired by OSU head football coach Earle Bruce to coach the team’s defensive backs for the 1979 season.
Carroll met USC in the 1980 Rose Bowl and was part of an Ohio State team which came very close to producing a perfect season and a national championship. USC, though, edged Ohio State 17-16 to finish ahead of the Buckeyes in the polls at No. 2, behind 1979 national champion Alabama.
What does Carroll remember about his one season in Columbus?
Eleven Warriors gathered some details:
“It was an extraordinary experience,” Carroll recalled. “We had a great year.”
Carroll shared his favorite 1979 Ohio State memory: his one conversation with Woody Hayes.
“I just dropped everything and took off, ran across the parking lot and met him about halfway down,” Carroll said. “He was walking home from teaching a class and I introduced myself. We walked for about 10 minutes, and he knew who I was. I was all thrilled. We talked football. That was my one chance I had to visit with him. To me, that was a really special moment with a guy that was a great impact to our game and to everything that stands for football.
“But there was a lot of memories that year and a lot of cool stuff that happened. A lot of great names and people we dealt with. That was really fun.”
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