LOS ANGELES - Asked for his favorite Pete Carroll story, Southern California defensive end Kenechi Udeze didn't hesitate.
It came earlier this year when the coach got so fired up he risked injury to teach a lesson, diving over the offensive line as a running back would.
"We were doing goal-line drills, and Coach got so juiced up for the play that we looked up and saw this aged man flying," Udeze said Tuesday.
"We're in full pads thinking, "He can get hurt. What kind of a coach is this?' He definitely has the best vertical leap of any coach I've seen. It was nice to see a coach with so much energy."
The 52-year-old Carroll is a new-age kind of coach. He makes points without yelling, plays pickup hoops with his players and even will throw himself into drills if necessary.
It's a refreshing change from previous regimes at Southern California. His players say it's a big reason why Carroll returned the Trojans to the top of the polls and led them to a Rose Bowl berth Thursday against No. 4 Michigan.
Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr has a different - yet effective - style. Carr used his intensity to build a consistent winner in nine years.
The two styles fit their teams perfectly - Carroll's California cool and Carr's hearty Midwestern approach.
"He comes from the same mold as (former Michigan coach) Bo Schembechler," said Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards, who had his run-ins with Carr this season. "He's more of a disciplinarian, and Pete Carroll is more of a players' coach, which is cool. Coach Carr runs a tight ship."
Carr jokingly described himself as a "flamboyant guy," but that's not the persona he shows publicly.
It's more stomping on the sideline, yelling at officials and cutting short a nationally televised halftime interview during the Ohio State game. That attitude is not surprising coming from a man who spent 10 years as a Schembechler assistant, who was so intense that he had a heart attack on the eve of his first Rose Bowl as Michigan coach.
Carr is "an unbelievable man," tight end Andy Mignery said. "He's a man's man. He's an intense, intense football coach on the practice field.
"When he steps off it, he's the king of Michigan football."
