Orange County Register

I’m not sure any other coach in the country would have organized a post-practice slip-and-slide contest — between assistant coaches — in the week leading up to a trip to Notre Dame.

But that’s Pete Carroll for you.

After the final play in the “team” period of practice Wednesday, Carroll gathered up the Trojans and sent them scurrying to a side field, hooting and hollering.

The players lined up on either side of the near sideline, forming a human water slide through which offensive line coach Pat Ruel and defensive line coach Jethro Franklin hurtled their soon-to-be-soaked bodies.

They ran and slid head-first through the standing water, offense vs. defense, the players just going bonkers.

So where did Carroll come up with this idea?

“It just came from the wisdom of the gods, I guess,” he said, smirking.

“The light came down, flashed on us, and there was a moment of epiphany.”

Naturally, Carroll couldn’t let the epiphany pass without some postgame analysis.

“Jethro Franklin threw a heck of an effort in the closing, waning moments there,” Carroll said. “He stretched out and arched his back and just kept going. He went about 6 feet past where a man should go. It was a great effort.

“This was competing at its best. Jethro watched Pat run right through the water. Jethro swerved out of the water to gain his momentum, re-entered, then hit it. I think that made all the difference.”

I asked Ruel afterward if he felt as though he had lost — or if simply participating made him a winner.

“Somebody said the heavier you are, the farther you go,” Ruel said. “So I think that’s a win.”

Related link:

• Slip-and-slide photos

More from the USC blog:

• USC football: The rise and fall of Aaron Corp
• USC football: Carroll isn’t sorry about the weather
• USC football: Armstead has the inside track
• USC football: Stafon Johnson gets to go home
• USC basketball: So, about that NCAA probe …
• USC football: Marc Tyler could be out for the year
• USC football: Stafon Johnson released Wednesday?
• USC football: Clausen’s toe continues to improve
• USC football: Does Carroll see a little of himself in this DB?
• Truth, Lies and Neuheisel

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