Not having been blessed with the size and skills to play the sport, I never had a football coach to look up to when I was growing up. But as an adult, I’ve been lucky enough to have two of them. Of course, I never played football for either one, but I looked up to both men.

Motivational Pete Carroll.

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One of them, Don Coryell, passed away on July 1. As a San Diego native, I’ve been a fan of SDSU and San Diego Chargers football my entire life, and never more so than when Coach Coryell was at the helm of each team. A man of intensity and imagination, Coryell raised the bar for both Aztecs and Chargers football, and, the Bolts’ 1995 Super Bowl appearance under Bobby Ross notwithstanding, that height has yet to be exceeded. On a personal level, I admired Coryell’s dignity and the way he treated people – and not merely his players. Everybody.

Then there’s Pete Carroll, the former coach at the University of Southern California (my alma mater) and the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Personality-wise, he’s the polar opposite of Don Coryell: highly animated, perpetually excited, always exuding acheerleader's enthusiasm. Coach Carroll’s no less intense than Coryell, and he’s also a proven winner. But I like to call him just “Coach” not just for what USC accomplished during his tenure there, but for what he’s accomplished in the tough, gang-plagued streets of inner-city Los Angeles. His organization A Better L.A. is committed to bringing peace and hope to young people in South Central L.A.

While I was never fortunate enough to have met Coach Coryell, I did get to meet Coach Carroll last week at the San Diego Hall of Champions under the auspices of Warwick’s Books of La Jolla. He was in town to promote his book Win Forever. A packed house, many of them avid Trojan football fans, braved the unlikely July rain to see and listen to Carroll, who possesses the kind of charisma you’d like to bottle and sell.

In general, I’m wary of what you might call motivational presentations, and Carroll’s 40 minutes or so at the podium was more about creating a formula for one to succeed, in whatever endeavor, than was it a nostalgic trip down memory lane in Trojanland. It’s a reflection of his book, which, while filled with football-related anecdotes, is decidedly philosophical. I’ve got to admit, though, that five minutes into Carroll’s talk, I felt fired up. I still don’t have the physical size or athletic skills to play football, and of course now I’m too old even if I did, but I left that night feeling primed to tackle the obstacles of my life, to withstand “big game” pressure, to compete and not give up. It was like I’d just been coached. Come to think of it, I suppose I was.

Now I can really say “Pete Carroll was my coach,” and I defy anyone to challenge me on that. The catch is, I’d better follow through on what he coached me to do. I don’t want to get benched.