|
The Trojans still lost, but Carroll realized he'd missed the mark earlier with Matthews.
"That's a really interesting story," Carroll began. "Clay comes from a great family,Cheap Wholesale Jerseys, an SC family: dad, uncle and all of that had been All-Americans and All-Pros. ... His older brother was a walk-on player before him.
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — During one of the most successful coaching careers in football, Pete Carroll rarely has committed errors. He did at Southern California with Clay Matthews, and Carroll still shakes his head about it.
"Unfortunately, this is one of the great mistakes that I missed in my coaching at SC was how good of a player he was,Cheap Jerseys Free," Carroll added. "I had said going in I think maybe his junior year, somebody asked me about Clay Matthews, and I said, 'I think he might be one of the best special teamers to ever play at USC.' He was a great player on (special) teams.
"I knew I couldn't really validate that, but I was blowing him up because he was a great kid."
"We put him in the game, and we said, 'We know Clay will do the right thing,'" Carroll said. "He started playing there, and he's been a great player since the time he was given the opportunity to show it. He was always there banging away,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, always there fighting, clawing and scratching.
"Not too much," he said of communicating with his former player. "But because it's the SC family, everybody is always kind of keeping track of everybody else. We always have an eye on each other, I think."
"Maybe because of the way he came up, it took him a long time to develop, and (we) didn't recognize the great heart that he had, and unbelievable competitiveness and the great savvy that he demonstrates now. It's really one of my big misses. I should have figured that out a lot sooner than I did. He made the rest of it history and been an extraordinary player ever since."
"Uh, you know he had a successful program at SC in my tenure there and years prior,Jerseys Wholesale, and after me leaving," Matthews said. "So it's always interesting how coaches will deal with the next level,Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic, and he's obviously doing a fantastic job. He's got the right athletes in place to help his scheme out, and he's doing a great job. You've got to tip your hat to him."
"When Clay came in he was 208 pounds and he didn't run really well. He wasn't really strong, but he loved playing and he tried really hard."
The Southern Cal days are far behind for Matthews,Wholesale China Jerseys, who went 26th overall to Green Bay in the 2009 draft and was runner-up to Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu for NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010. He seemed to pay little attention to the fact Carroll will be on the other sideline Sunday, other than praising Carroll's achievements.
On Sunday, Carroll's Seahawks (13-4) will face Matthews' Packers (13-4) in the NFC championship game. Carroll loves what he sees out of Matthews, a five-time Pro Bowler — even though the coach didn't recognize that playmaking ability back at USC.
Carroll admitted he observes the work of Matthews and every other Trojan in the NFL, even though he only occasionally reaches out to Matthews.
Fast-forward to Matthews' final season with the Trojans. He was not a starter when top-ranked Southern Cal was losing at Oregon State. Searching for some answers, Carroll turned to Matthews.
A defensive mastermind throughout his years in pro and college football, Carroll always has had an eye for talented linebackers. Somehow, he didn't immediately see the skill in Matthews, a third-generation player who wasn't much more than a special teams guy early on with the Trojans.
Carroll paused, looking as if he wanted to smack himself upside the head before he continued with the SC saga.
Matthews consistently has performed in the NFL better than many of Carroll's other USC linebackers: Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga, Keith Rivers, et al. This season, Packers coordinator Dom Capers has moved Matthews from outside to inside and back, and Green Bay's defense stepped up in the second half of the schedule. |
|