Pete Carroll is best known for coaching the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans as their head football coach from 2001 to 2009.

Below is a quick, clear breakdown of his college coaching career.

Main College Head-Coaching Job

  • Pete Carroll was the head football coach at USC (University of Southern California) in Los Angeles.
  • His USC tenure ran from the 2001 season through the 2009 season.
  • During that stretch, USC became a national powerhouse, winning multiple Pac‑10 titles and two national championships.

Earlier College Roles (Assistant Positions)

Before becoming a famous NFL and USC head coach, Carroll spent years as a college assistant coach.

He held assistant roles at several colleges, including:

  • University of the Pacific
  • University of Arkansas
  • Iowa State University
  • Ohio State University
  • North Carolina State University

These were staff positions (not head-coaching jobs) that helped him build experience before moving fully into the NFL and later returning to college as USC’s head coach.

Quick Scoop Answer

If you just need the short version for “what college did Pete Carroll coach?” in the sense most people online mean it:

  • He was the head coach at USC (University of Southern California) , where he built one of the dominant programs of the 2000s.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.