I’m going to guess USC football fans were stunned, the first time they saw one of those Dos Equis commercials.

They get to the end of the thing and the voice-over guy announces, “He is the most interesting man in the world” …

And Pete Carroll is not in the picture. (It’s actor Jonathan Goldsmith, instead.)

Imagine that.

Actually, Carroll might be in the running for the “most interesting” title. Seriously.

He coaches the USC football team. We all know that. His teams have gone 70-8 since 2002 with two national titles and five BCS bowl victories.

He’s the Pied Piper of the program. Kids love him, parents love him, fans love him. People just follow him around, waiting to see what he will say or do next. I’ve seen this, many times.

He has varied and tantalizing interests off the football field. He started a foundation named “A Better L.A.” that promotes an end to gang violence. Pete makes runs into the inner-city in the middle of the night to hang out with the homies. He gets awards from the Women Against Gun Violence and Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular and the Summa Children’s Foundation.

His practices are legendary. Anyone off the street can go in and watch. And they will see him running around like he is the 20-year-old sophomore — and not the 57-year-old man with a bum knee.

He lands almost every recruit he turns his attention to, and then he keeps almost all of them — even when many of them never turn into starters. I mean, USC still has six blue-chip tailbacks. What other coach in the country could somehow keep four around?

He is always upbeat. He radiates energy. He is almost never tiring.

The camera loves him. He feeds on energy — and generates even more. He is one of those adrenaline junky guys, and USC’s triumph is having him run its football program.

He is open, almost unflappable and he tries to be honest — which puts him in a very small group of football coaches.

He might actually be the most interesting man in the world … if you ran into him only a few times a year.

The issue with people in sports journalism is … we see Pete a bit too much, and it’s almost like one of those “pay no attention to that man behind the green curtain” moments. We know most of his moves, and most of his techniques.

To go to one of his weekly press conferences … well, that’s to go to pretty much all of them. The upcoming opponent is always good, if not great, and his guys always are doing well, etc.

That doesn’t make him any different from other coaches — and that’s the point.

We no longer are fascinated by “competition Tuesday” and “winning forever” and all the other little hallmarks of his public persona. We’re just a bit too jaded, you know?

But give Pete Carroll this. He certainly is not dull. He may not be the most interesting man in the world, but he leads the pack when it comes to Southern California sports figures.

Note: If you’re a “most interesting” junkie, you may want to go to this Dos Equis web site. The intro (once you’ve promised you’re at least 21) includes several “facts” about him previously not heard on television.