Pete Carroll Compares Super Bowl 48 Victory To USC Blowouts Of The Past

Feb 3, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll (right) and outside linebacker Malcolm Smith pose for photos with the Super Bowl MVP trophy and Vince Lombardi Trophy during the winning team press conference the day after Super Bowl XLVIII at Sheraton New York Times Square. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks may have won Super Bowl XLIII, but the USC Trojans enjoyed their fill of the celebration as a former coach raised the Lombardi Trophy, a former player won the MVP and opportunities for trips down memory lane abound.

Pete Carroll acknowledged the similarities many were drawing between the Seahawks and the Trojans particular brand of big game domination (via NFL.com)

"“This game was very similar to the Oklahoma game,” Carroll said of his 55-19 beat down of the Sooners in the 2005 Orange Bowl. “This game was similar to the multiple Rose Bowl championship games. It was just like those games. It felt like it. It looked like it. The score was like it. The offense, the defense, the special teams. “So something was going on, but I can’t tell you exactly what it is,” Carroll continued. “Something’s going on because I sat back there at the end of the first quarter, and (thought), ‘Oh shoot, here it goes.’ And the score — bang, bang, bang, it was 22-0 at halftime. “So there’s a lot to it. We’re very proud of it. I’m thrilled that we’ve seen it one area and we’ve been able to bring it to the NFL and recreate it. And for the fans that have watched us over the years in Southern California, I would think they took great pride in what happened last night because they understand what they just watched.”"

Carroll also spent a chunk of his Monday press conference talking about former USC linebacker Malcolm Smith, walked nearly every step of his journey to the Super Bowl at Pete’s side.

"“We’ve been coaching him since he was 11 years old I think,” Carroll said. “Because we recruited his brother Steve and he was always hanging around the program. It just seems like we’ve had him in our system for so long. “We have appreciated Malcolms athleticism and his smarts and toughness for a long time. His college career kind of got knocked around because he was playing behind one of the most amazing linebacker crews of all time in college football and then he got banged up a little bit. So we knew that he was an extraordinary athlete. We fortunately had the shot to take him and John figured out where he would go. He didn’t like it but he had to go in the seventh round and he’s proven otherwise, just like a lot of guys in our program.”"

You can watch most of Carroll’s press conference at NFL.com.