LOS ANGELES -- The question came from the man who the past few days had been hearing too many of them.

This one, however, wasn't about how to repair a humbled football team, his team, USC.

Instead, it dealt with how we might repair a damaged society.

"Why should we care?'' asked Pete Carroll rhetorically.

Then he answered. "Because, we can change the culture.''

The culture doesn't mean the woes of intercollegiate athletes, or even the woes of USC, having its worst season of the past eight, not that a 7-3 record is awful - unless you're a Trojan alum.

The culture means the violence and despair in certain parts of America's cities, particularly a part of Los Angeles, the West Adams district, not far from the USC campus.

"We want to give them hope,'' said Carroll, who late at night visits gang leaders as part of something called "A Better L.A.''

"We used to have kids who consistently would tell us ‘I'm going to die or I'm going to jail.' That's hopelessness. Now they have hope.''

And now Pete Carroll, for his efforts, has won the 14th Roy Firestone Award, given each year to an athlete or coach for charitable or volunteer work.

Former winners include Firestone, the long-time TV interviewer who now is the program's master of ceremonies and glue, Jim Brown, John Wooden, Jack Nicklaus, Wayne Gretzky, Terry Bradshaw and Jerry West.

The awards dinner, sponsored by a young professional's group called Westcoast Sports Associates, has raised millions to provide sports facilities and educational support for the underprivileged.

This year's ceremony, Wednesday evening, was planned months ago. Carroll, rare for a coach, agreed to take a few hours in season, because this week USC has a bye.

From football, not criticism.

On Saturday, Stanford beat USC, 55-21, the most points ever allowed by a school playing since 1888. What was going to be a celebration then almost became a wake.

"I wished it wasn't happening,'' Carol said privately of his night. "I've been in a bunker since Saturday. People are unhappy. I understand. So am I. We all have expectations.

"But I guess it's good to get out, to talk to people. We'll make adjustments. We did lose all those defensive guys to the pros the last couple of years. We started well this year, and everyone got excited. I got caught up in it too. But when we played Oregon and Stanford our problems were magnified. I've got to do better.''

To listen to the 58-year-old Carroll is to understand why he is such a persuasive recruiter. His words are enthusiastic, positive. There is self-deprecating humor. There is obvious pride.

And there is a sense of purpose, manifest in the attempt to make a difference on the mean streets of L.A.

"It was about kids dying,'' said Carroll of the reason he became involved. "I was riding down the street one morning, heading to SC, and listening to the news. Seven kids had been killed over the weekend. In a few more days, the count grew to something like 11.

"I told myself I can't keep listening to this without doing something.''

So he went to the neighborhood, the ‘hood, against the warnings of others. He found the main men, the ones in control. "Those are the guys I had to get, the charismatic individuals who everyone listens to.''

"I got, ‘What are you doing here?' It was one in the morning. But they listened. There was not one murder in West Adams last year. Once there were 17 a year. If you're real, you keep coming back, they'll believe. Why should we care? Because a mom should know her baby will come home.''

Home for Carroll is USC. A native of Northern California who was a head coach at both New England and the New York Jets and was fired from both -"But my overall record was 27-21'' - Pete was unemployed when as third choice he was hired by the Trojans before 2001.

He's won a couple of national championships and finished first in the Pac-10 seven straight seasons.

"I spent a lot of years with a chip on my shoulder,'' said Carroll. "The central theme in our program is competition. If people ask me would l like to prove (he can do) it in the NFL, maybe yeah.

"But I don't care about going back, because the league is such a mess. A couple of times I seriously talked to owners who thought they had something, but the situation I have here is so unique. I'm so much in control. I don't do things like they do in the NFL. You don't see me grimacing, don't see me dying after losses. I'm having so much fun, and I have so much freedom.''

And so much effect on young men who know Pete Carroll cares.