Applying Sport Psychology Philosophies, Principles, and Practices onto the Gridiron: A Commentary

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Mike Voight provides readers with a rare opportunity to listen directly to one of the most successful and recognized coaches in America speak about his coaching style. The coach is Pete Carroll, current coach of the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans football team. In five years at USC, Coach Carroll has amassed an 84.4% winning percentage and taken his team to three consecutive national title games, two of which they won. He is consistently regarded as the top college football coach in the nation by major media outlets and coaching associations. College football in America is a multi-billion dollar entertainment machine, with the winning team of the 2006 championship game projected to take home a $14 $17 million US payout [1]. In other words, coach Pete Carroll is a coach on the top of his game in one of the most competitive and high profile sports in America. This type of coach is typically not accessible for coaching scientists to include in their research [2]. Mike Voight has access to Coach Carroll and the USC football team as a result of his employment as a sport psychology consultant to the USC Athletic Department for the past eight years. Voight asked Coach Carroll to explain his coaching style, which included the philosophies, principles, and practices used to guide his highly successful football program. Instead of writing up the results as a typical academic research paper, the author chose to let the coach speak for himself by presenting select quotations that best represent Coach Carroll’s coaching style.