Fight On, Forever!

Back where they started - Daily Trojan
...Arkansas is where Carroll first met Pat Ruel, who is now USC's offensive line coach, and where he met his mentor Monte Kiffin, who was Arkansas' defensive coordinator at the time.

Ruel was also a graduate assistant at Arkansas, helping out with the offensive line there instead of at Miami, his alma mater, because the Miami coaches thought he was too young for a full-time position.

While working with the line, Ruel also met a fiery young backup quarterback by the name of Houston Nutt, who is now Arkansas's coach.

"He was headsy, bright young man who we knew we could count on when he was in the game," Ruel said. "The only reason he wasn't our starter was he was bad at running the option."...