Story by David Wharton
Los Angeles Times
December 1, 2006

It was a simple equation that Pete Carroll settled upon
when he arrived as the new football coach at USC six years
ago.

The struggling program needed an influx of talent. Southern
California ranked among the national hotbeds for young
players.

So he would scour the local high schools.

"It seemed like common sense," Carroll said. "And it seemed
like an opportunity to prove our work ethic."

Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football, an annual
dance by which coaches scramble to restock their rosters.
In Southern California, it takes vivid form in the rivalry
between USC and UCLA.

Most fans judge their annual matchup, which reconvenes
Saturday at the Rose Bowl, by the final score. But before
the teams even reach the stadium, the outcome is influenced
by how they fared in the battle for recruits.

In 2000, Carroll and an assistant, Ed Orgeron, visited a
dozen or more schools each day, driving from the Westside
to San Bernardino, from Lancaster to Orange County, meeting
players and coaches.

"We would go and watch guys work out at 6 in the morning
and go till 9 or 10 at night," recalled Orgeron, now the
coach at Mississippi. "It was a buzz saw."

Winning this behind-the-scenes competition helped Carroll
remake the Trojans into a national powerhouse. Now a
similar effort has begun in Westwood.

This time, it is UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell trying to
invigorate a beleaguered program by winning hearts and
minds at local schools. "That's the challenge," Dorrell
said. "It's a process of trying to make inroads."

Texas high schools fed 389 players into major college
football last summer, according to Scout.com. Florida
accounted for 341 and California--in a statistically off
year--232.

"Those are always going to be your three biggest states,"
said Allen Wallace, the website's national recruiting
editor.

Though USC and UCLA traditionally have subsisted on
home-grown talent, they have had to compete against each
other and against schools such as Notre Dame, Miami, and
Oregon to sign these athletes.

The Bruins held the upper hand in the late 1990s as former
coach Bob Toledo led them on a 20-game winning streak. But
soon after, UCLA appeared to shift its focus to the
national scene. "You talked to the City Section coaches and
they said they never saw UCLA on campus," said Greg Biggins
of StudentSports.com.

Carroll filled the gap.

Shortly after taking the USC job in December 2000, he and
Orgeron drove to Palm Desert to visit Marv Goux, a USC
assistant coach during the program's halcyon days in the
1960s and '70s.

"He gave us the plan," Orgeron said of Goux, who died in
2002. "He let us know how they did it."

Carroll wanted to "put a fence" around Southern California,
keeping all the best players at home. His staff turned
recruiting into a contest, assistants returning to the
office late at night, comparing notes on how many schools
they had visited.

Mike Christensen, the former Lakewood High coach now at
Carson High, said he wasn't used to seeing USC on his
campus unless he had a big-time prospect.

"That's when we knew it was going to be a big change,"
Christensen said. "With Carroll, they were going to keep in
touch no matter what, in case you had a player down the
road they wanted."

By knowing every campus--and hosting instructional clinics
for high school players--the Trojans not only formed
relationships with top recruits but scouted gems such as
LaJuan Ramsey, who went from mediocre college prospect to
NFL-caliber defensive lineman.

Add to this method two key elements. Carroll enticed
recruits by promising them a chance to play as freshmen. He
also brought a strong dose of personality and energy.

"The difference is Pete, in that he hasn't rested on his
laurels," said Bill Walsh, the former San Francisco 49ers
and Stanford coach. "USC's had the top recruiting class in
the country five straight years. There's a level of
athleticism and talent at USC that maybe Ohio State has.
Maybe. We'll find out."

If USC beats UCLA on Saturday, the Trojans probably will
play Ohio State in the national championship game Jan. 8.

In the 1990s, as Robert Chai grew up in Newport Beach, UCLA
regularly defeated USC. That's when the promising young
center decided to play for the Bruins.

"You want to go with the school that's winning," he said.

By the time Chai got to Westwood in fall 2002, however,
Carroll had begun to turn the tables.

Now the Trojans were on the upswing, the Bruins sagging.

Dorrell arrived in December 2002, after Toledo was fired,
and focused immediately on recruiting. He didn't have far
to look.

Inner-city schools--some only minutes from
Westwood--complained the Bruins had ignored them. They
suspected UCLA did not trust their kids to succeed
athletically or academically.

"It's like red-lining your automobile insurance," said
Robert Garrett, the coach at Crenshaw High. "The attitude
had to change."

Dorrell and former assistant Eric Bieniemy began visiting
nearby schools, soothing hurt feelings, repairing
relationships.

"I just think that for a while UCLA lacked the
aggressiveness they needed," Wallace said. "Karl Dorrell
was recruiting hard."

Some wondered whether the poker-faced UCLA coach could
relate to young players, but the experts heard positive
reviews from his campus visits.

Recruits said they were impressed by his past as a star
receiver for the Bruins.

"Kids really like Dorrell," Biggins said. "He's not as
outgoing as Pete, but in real life he's really nice. He's
got a personality."

This season, the Bruins have three Crenshaw players on the
roster and, more important, a verbal commitment from
Crenshaw defensive lineman Brian Price, a five-star
prospect recruited by USC and California.

"Now they're out beating the bushes," Garrett said of the
Bruins. "They're attacking it the right way."

The basic elements of recruiting--scouting, visiting
campuses and homes, offering scholarships--are the same for
every school.

Every coach makes endless calls, sends letters and text
messages, nurturing prospects toward signing day in
February.

But the nuances can vary based on a crucial issue--wins and
losses.

At UCLA, Dorrell knows he is the underdog and has fashioned
his approach accordingly.

"There are some kids who want a winning product right now,"
he said. "But a lot of guys want to help build a program
and be a part of something special. That's a great sell."

Recruiting experts go a step further. By their reckoning,
USC figures to snare most of the top 10 local prospects.
They say UCLA must chip away by signing the remaining few.

"You don't want to lose those last couple of kids to Cal or
Oregon or whoever," Biggins said.

Meanwhile, the Trojans are fully aware of the edge they
hold.

"You've changed a teenage culture," said Lane Kiffin, who
replaced Orgeron as recruiting coordinator. "You're talking
about recruiting juniors in high school and we've won five
straight Pac-10 titles, so you're going all the way back to
when these kids were in seventh grade."

The winning streak affords two important advantages.

First, USC can cast a wider net, luring players such as
quarterback John David Booty from Louisiana, receiver
Dwayne Jarrett from New Jersey and linebacker Keith Rivers
from Florida.

Second, Carroll can afford to be patient, waiting to offer
scholarships. This gives his staff more time to evaluate
and, according to experts, creates a kind of buyer's
frenzy.

"It causes kids to think they are shooting for SC," Wallace
said. "If we want this prize, we've got to wait."

As a result, while UCLA gradually improves its recruiting
each season, the national ranking of its high school
recruiting class climbing from the 30s into the teens, USC
has scored the top-ranked class three of the last four
years, according to SuperPrep magazine.

"If USC stayed together for three years, with the same
players, they could be an NFL team," Walsh said. "If
somehow USC became the Los Angeles Tornadoes or something,
Pete could take them right into the pros and finish in the
middle of the pack."

The question is, how long can the Trojans keep it going?

The program has a mantra repeated by every assistant: The
next Matt Leinart, the next Reggie Bush, is right around
the corner. This keeps them watching countless videotapes,
they say, and driving from school to school across Southern
California.

"They're really aggressive," Biggins said. "They recruit
like they're a 1-10 team."

The way Carroll sees it, winning the battle for new talent
means winning games against UCLA and everyone else. His
formula remains as simple as the day he took the job.

"All you can do," he said, "is work hard."

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