THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- It's the tunnel that gets you.
Pete Carroll, now coach of the Seattle Seahawks, hadn't fully grasped the significance of the long, spacious, historic walkway that leads to the field at the Los Angeles Coliseum when he took over the football program at USC in 2001. But one day, the Trojans were making their way onto the field and Carroll stayed behind with Hall of Famer and distinguished alumnus Ronnie Lott.
Carroll asked Lott if this was a special walk for him.
"He looked at me like he thought I was crazy," Carroll recalled on a conference call Wednesday, four days before returning to the Coliseum to take on the Los Angeles Rams.