COACH OF NO. 1 TROJANS SCORES AS 'GREAT COMMUNICATOR'.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

What I like best about Pete Carroll is that the USC football coach doesn't talk like a football coach.

Carroll doesn't say ``football'' in every sentence like most guys in his line of work - the ones who go on about how ``It takes football players making football plays to win football games,'' as if he thinks his listeners forget which sport we're discussing.

Carroll doesn't speak in gridiron jargon, in X's and O's - ``We're going to have to scheme for their option package if our football players are going to have a chance to win this football game.''

Carroll doesn't dull things down with an emphasis on ``execution,'' the need to ``do the job,'' the need to avoid mistakes - ``If we don't hang onto the football, dadgummit, it's gonna kill us.''

Carroll doesn't make every practice sound like a test of manhood, every game a call to war, every opponent invincible.

On top of the 24 victories in a row and two national championships in a row and No. 1 ranking going into USC's game at Oregon on Saturday, this is a reason the 54-year-old Carroll is the most beloved sports figure in Los Angeles right now.

``I can only be what I am,'' Carroll says. ``But am I conscious it's different? Yeah. And it's been an issue over the years. It certainly was in the NFL.''

``I think I see things a little differently than other people, typically, in my position. That, maybe, is what you're detecting. I think there's this world of football jargon and stuff, (but) there's more going on around this game, and it's fun to talk about.

``It's just my manner. I like the games, and I like the whole thing, and it's fun for me. The willingness to enjoy it, even when it's really hard, looks like you're not sincere and you don't care, like you don't get it or something. I think I get it beyond that.''

Smarter people than me have a similar view of Carroll, too.

``We get insight into people's personalities and motivations by the language that they use,'' said Tom Hollihan, a University of Southern California professor of communication. ``He (Carroll) has a very warm, open, engaging conversational style. He doesn't sound like he's trying to be coy with people who ask him questions. He's not boastful, but he communicates confidence. He seems to be respectful of his opponents, but he doesn't build them up. Lou Holtz (the former coach of Notre Dame and other college and pro teams) used to make every opponent sound like Nebraska and Oklahoma on a good day.''

At Carroll's weekly press conference Tuesday, I counted him using the word ``football'' only four times in 15 minutes. Of course, overuse of the word ``football'' is a minor quirk of most mealy-mouthed football coaches.

The important thing is Carroll's plain talk. Petespeak, as opposed to Coachspeak.

After the Trojans' 70-17 victory over Arkansas at the Coliseum on Saturday, a writer asked Carroll if this was the greatest display of offense in his time at USC.

``Yeah, no kidding ...!'' he began, natural as could be.

Tuesday, somebody asked if ``lack of familiarity'' could be a problem this week, because most USC players haven't faced Oregon before.

``Well, uh, I guess it could be,'' Carroll said quietly, adding with a tiny smile: ``We'd never seen Arkansas before, either.''

There was a question about Oregon's home, Autzen Stadium, where Carroll's first Trojans team lost to the Ducks in 2001.

``We had a good chance to win the game, but we were lousy and didn't finish it and screwed it up,'' Carroll said.

Carroll isn't like this only with the press and public. His players hear it and appreciate it.

``It's less like he's giving us orders, and more like he's interacting with us,'' said Sedrick Ellis, the Trojans' sophomore nose tackle.

Carroll twice was fired from National Football League head-coaching jobs, in 1994 after a 6-10 season with the New York Jets and in 1999 after 10-6, 9-7 and 8-8 years with the New England Patriots.

When it came to Petespeak, the NFL had a tin ear. Maybe because a pro coach must constantly assert his authority over rich, secure players.

``There's this perception that I'm a players' coach and I'm too easy on guys,'' Carroll said. ``We're (at USC) so strict and so disciplined and so demanding, that's why we execute the way we do. Because I don't stand up here like Patton or something, they don't understand how you can get it done.

``If you're totally in charge, you can be whatever you are. When you're not totally in charge, there are people who are trying to mold you into what they want you to be. I'm not going to do that. I'm not willing to. I'm not willing to kiss their ass to be what they want me to be.

``Not because I'm arrogant about it. Because I won't be as successful.''

There's more to being a successful coach than sounding like a regular guy. Or maybe less.

``Steve Spurrier (Florida's national championship-winning coach) - he doesn't sound like a nice guy,'' Hollihan said.

But as long as you're winning, can a knack for plain talk make the fans love you a little more?

As Pete Carroll might put it: Yeah, no kidding.

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(color) The Trojans' Pete Carroll wins the confidence of players, and fans, by telling it like it is.