ANALYSIS: FOR PETE'S SAKE, NO NEED TO WORRY CARROLL SETS TROJANS' RESILIENT TONE.

Byline: Scott Wolf Staff Writer

USC defensive end Kenechi Udeze decided Wednesday he'd rather chase Michael Vick for millions than Marcus Vick for free next season, so he's making himself available for the NFL draft.

Ordinarily, losing an All-American lineman is considered a devastating loss to a program, but this might not be too much of a challenge to USC coach Pete Carroll, who demonstrated this season he could replace a Heisman Trophy winner.

In fact, if Carroll has shown anything in resurrecting the Trojans into national champions, it's resiliency.

Everything happens in stride at USC, partly because of Carroll's devil- may-care attitude and partly because of his shrewdness. It sounds like a contradiction to have both personality traits, but if you spend a lot of time around Carroll, it's easy to see them.

It's why the Trojans never seem uptight about anything while at the same time outfox opponents with strategy.

If you wonder about an overlooked aspect to Carroll's genius, it's his ability to handle the star talent such as receiver Mike Williams while squeezing everything possible out of journeymen linebackers like Mike Pollard and Lofa Tatupu the past three years.

Maybe it's from his years in the NFL, but Carroll knows how to eliminate problems and turned an unhealthy program around by not letting minor events blossom into major distractions.

A little-known example: Days before USC's home opener against Brigham Young, Williams didn't have a game jersey because he failed to return it after a preseason function.

One staff member wanted to punish Williams and have him wear an injured players' jersey against BYU. Imagine that embarrassing sight on a televised game?

But Carroll ignored that poor advice and simply had Williams' number sewn onto a different jersey without turning it into a spectacle.

Problem avoided, and Williams was not part of a potentially distracting situation, with Carroll's calmness and affable nature ruling the day.

A similar situation might have paralyzed former coach Paul Hackett and star receiver R. Jay Soward's relationship five years ago.

Who else besides Carroll could happily juggle three tailbacks (Hershel Dennis, LenDale White, Reggie Bush) without any of them complaining during the season?

As impressive as Carroll's recruiting and X's-and-O's ability is at USC (not to mention offensive coordinator Norm Chow's), it's the atmosphere he created with the Trojans players that elevated them to the top of college football in 2003.

Nothing seems insurmountable to Carroll and nothing fazes the Trojans because of it. That's why injuries over the past two seasons to Omar Nazel, Dominique Byrd, Kevin Arbet, Shaun Cody, Matt Grootegoed and Troy Polamalu didn't cause USC to miss a beat.

Finally, a cautionary note. The same sudden success that made Carroll a hero at USC could be the reason for his departure, say after next season. He's worked hard to turn around USC, but there's a feeling around the program he could become ``bored'' with college football because it's not complex enough for him.

He's running a defense as sophisticated as any NFL team while also using offensive plays from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One team USC played this season tried to use a basic form of the Buccaneers' defense. The Trojans also were using the Bucs' defense, but they had added even more elements Carroll used from his days in the NFL.

That's the difference.

Carroll constantly calls the NFL the ``highest level of competition,'' and might want one more shot at it. It's something USC fans hope doesn't happen.

Scott Wolf, [phone]

scott.wolf(at)dailynews.com

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KENECHI UDEZE

USC's All-American defensive end will make himself available for the NFL draft.