On May 15, legendary USC football coach Pete Carroll will return to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but this time, he won’t be donning a headset and a USC polo shirt. He’ll be in a cap and gown as he delivers the commencement address for the USC Marshall School of Business Class of 2026.

For many Trojans, Carroll’s coaching accomplishments are common knowledge. In his nine seasons as USC head football coach, he posted a 97-19 record, winning seven straight Pac-10 championships and three consecutive Rose Bowls while coaching multiple Heisman Trophy winners and 53 NFL draft picks. He is one of just three coaches to win both the Super Bowl and the college football national championship.

Yet, as Carroll looks forward to his remarks and reflects back on his career, it’s not the trophies or records that stand out. Most of all, he remembers the impact he tried to leave on his players and the entire Trojan Family.

“It was an experience of a lifetime,” Carroll recalled of his USC tenure. “Nothing has ever really surpassed that experience. It changed my life in so many ways … We put in motion a level of expectations and standards that I’ve been living by ever since.”

Across his coaching career, Carroll has consistently practiced and preached his “Win Forever” philosophy, an approach that emphasizes competition and the pursuit of excellence in all facets of life. The goal, the coach explains, is to help his players be the best versions of themselves, on and off the gridiron.

“It is a relationship-based approach. It all comes back to the people and who they are and what they’re all about,” Carroll said. “Striving to be the best you can be in all areas is a mentality and a mindset that I found crosses all boundaries. There are no restrictions to that. I just happened to be a football coach doing it.”

Carroll’s former players are still living the lessons he taught them. When Shaun Cody ’04 first met the head coach, he was just a teenage nose tackle deciding where to play college football. Carroll’s passion and vision drew him to USC, where Cody grew into a team captain, an All-American, and eventually, an NFL draft pick.

Today, Cody is nearly the age Carroll was when they first met, but he still credits the coach for pushing him beyond his own limits.

“A lot of coaches can teach you the fundamentals of the sport or techniques and all that stuff. And you need all those things. But I think the really exceptional coaches can make you believe in something that maybe you’re not even certain of — and that's what Pete Carroll does,” Cody explained.

Cody’s experience is just one of many. Mike Williams ’03, currently the football team’s assistant director of player development, was teammates with Cody from 2002 to 2003 and played for Carroll both as a Trojan and in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. No matter the level of football, the former All-American wide receiver says the coach instilled self-discipline and dedication in his players.