It's official - Pete Carroll must be guilty of something to leave USC for the Seahawks
January 9th, 2010 at 8:55 AM ^
Wasn't there a mid-day show on WDFN that used to feature such call-in gems as "It's official" and "Can't get there from here?".
But yeah, it does seem like Pete's sprinting out of the stall without flushing.
January 9th, 2010 at 8:55 AM ^
Wonder if he packed up his office and snuck out at night ala the Baltimore Colts?
January 9th, 2010 at 9:02 AM ^
You know every time I see a Mayflower moving truck I think of the Baltimore Colts sneaking out of Baltimore. Such an iconic moment in Pro Football, for all of the wrong reasons.
January 9th, 2010 at 8:57 AM ^
Grad Assistant?
I hear Washington's child support laws are much less penal.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:00 AM ^
Where's Beavis?
January 9th, 2010 at 9:36 AM ^
I am the great Cornholio. I need TP for my bungholio.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:00 AM ^
He can wait out the NCAA sanctions for a couple of years and then return. Or he can go Urban Meyer style and renege on Sunday after seeing a Seahawks practice.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:01 AM ^
I thought the most interesting part of this article was Jim Harbaugh's name being thrown into the mix as Carroll's replacement. That could make for a good rivalry once Michigan starts playing USC again in the Rose Bowl/BCS Championship.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^
Not sure if USC would do that (hire Harbaugh). I'm sure the he's run his mouth at some point about USC and thus has pissed someone off there. Sound familar? Honestly I think Harbaugh's next move might be to join his brother in the Pro coaching ranks. He's already been rumored to be a dark horse candidate for Oakland, if that job opens up, along with a few other places.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^
I haven't heard if he ran his mouth off but I certainly remember the failed two point conversion this year against USC to try and reach 50 points. Not that Carroll hasn't ever done the same thing himself. That must have burned at least a few bridges with the folks over at USC. Harbaugh seems to get off on setting things on fire.
January 9th, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^
I couldn't see Harbaugh in the NFL.
Being an NFL coach seems to be more about stroking/managing egos, which requires more of a diplomatic approach. Harbaugh's temperment doesn't seem like he'd excel at that type of thing.
I was truly shocked to hear that about Carrol though... they just said it on the Duke/Ga. Tech game, and my jaw dropped.
January 9th, 2010 at 6:54 PM ^
Could you imagine Harbaugh taking orders from Al Davis? I definitely can't.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:06 AM ^
Remember when Mora said his dream job was coaching at University of Washington?
Mora said his "dream job" was to coach at the University of Washington, his alma mater, and that he'd jump at the chance to take it -- even if the Falcons were in the middle of the playoffs. The fact the school already has a coach, Tyrone Willingham, only added to the embarrassment.So, Sarkisian back to USC, Mora to Washington, problem solved?
January 9th, 2010 at 9:10 AM ^
Unless your Washington and you have to take Mora. To me that doesn't seem like "problem solved".
January 9th, 2010 at 9:35 AM ^
Who cares what Washington "wants". They'll take what they get and like it, dammit. -- USC
January 9th, 2010 at 9:42 AM ^
Calipari of college football.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^
Pete Carroll is more like the Phil Jackson of college football. He is the best baby sitter in college football. When you look at the level of talent that he recruits year in and year out from southern California, they should be in the national championship every year. On paper, they are arguably the most talented team in the country, yet they are perennial under achievers.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
You are joking right? 97-19 in nine years, seven conference titles, seven BCS bowl appearances, six BCS bowl wins, and two national championships. Carroll took over a program coming off its worst conference season in history and made them the team of the decade. I will take under achievers like Carroll or Phil Jackson (who just so happen to have a better record than every other coach in the country) any day of the week.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:37 PM ^
I agree that they're the team of the decade. In many of those years, they went on the road in the preseason and beat BCS-conference teams. Not many other schools can say that.
Only one national championship, though (2005):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_Championship_Series
January 9th, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^
SC was ranked #1 in both polls after the 2003 season, but got bumped out of the title game because computers ranked an OU team that just lost its conference title game higher. It was complete crap that they got held out of that game and that SC team would have smoked LSU or OU that year (they beat the same OU team only with Adrian Peterson 55-19 a year later).
I view the AP Poll's #1 team as a legitimate national champion.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^
When they played us and were #1. in the AP. Which I'm sure you recognize, because otherwise 1997 wasn't as good...
January 9th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
For both replies to my recent post:
* I would have picked them in that (LSU vs. Oklahoma championship game) season, too.
* Does anyone find it funny (i.e., odd) that USC nearly always gets credited with a national championship for that year but that Michigan's is generally considered "shared" even though they were on top by three of four measures?
January 9th, 2010 at 5:38 PM ^
I've found that most people who are fans of rival schools don't have a problem calling us 1997 national champions. MSU, OSU and ND fans aren't necessarily a representative sample.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:51 PM ^
I'd like to see Phil win it once without the best player in the League. Or sometimes the top 2. (And possibly by the time they're done, the top 2 of all time, at different times). Yeah, everyone needs big time talent, but coaches have won without those perks.
January 9th, 2010 at 11:34 PM ^
USC has more talent on their roster than ANY team in the Pac-10. Look at the guys who get recruited to go to Arizona, Washington, and Washington State. They arguably have more talent than anyone in the nation. USC should've been in the championship ever year. They have 3 5 star recruits at running back. Their backup quarterback started in the NFL. Yet how can you explain losses to Washington and Arizona and getting absolutely steam rolled by Oregon and Stanford in 2009? Look at those rosters and tell me who has more talent and who should win. They lost to Oregon State in 2008. Who had more talent? They lost to Stanford at home in 2007 at home when they were a 40+ point favorite. They lost to Oregon State and UCLA in 2006. Those kinds of hiccups are enough to call them underachievers.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:49 AM ^
I hope this leads to a "Hello Dillon Baxter" post.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^
This is a bad move for Carroll and a bad move for the Seahawks (7 mil a year? really?) This is assuming any Bush probe sanctions wouldn't be program crushing.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^
I have to agree there is/was/will be something shady going on at USC, but the reported 5-year $35 million contract from Seattle definitely gives Carroll a good excuse other than fleeing the scene. The guy has the cushiest job in the world and is walking away from it. An additional 2.5 million per year will give him a simple explanation when people ask why.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:30 AM ^
Is it really worth it? Get 5 mil a year, work in a huge town with no NFL franchise and no football media competition, live in a Malibu beach house with a grad student, and dominate recruiting and the competition year after year. For the extra 2.5 you get: an even harder work schedule, increased media scrutiny, players that don't jump when you ask them to, and a guarantee (given the usual NFL coach lifespan) that you'll get fired within 5 years or so.
I would stay at SC every single time.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
Yeah, but the NFL has playoffs, so it's not such a big deal if you lose a couple regular season games.
January 9th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
Especially when Holmgren was making $10mil a year for pretty much the same job (sans GM duties, IIRC.)
January 9th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
Your post fails to acknowledge the crux of my post: the pending shadiness at USC. I 100% agree with your post, which is why there has to be a serious s%#t storm brewing there for him to walk away.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:06 AM ^
Hope it's warmer in Seattle for Pete's sake than in the ATL. Man, it's F****** cold! Where's Al Gore when you need him? Pete's getting 7mil for 5yrs according to LA Times. Man that's some scratch. Good for you Petrov!
January 9th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^
Hopefully USC doesn't go after Harbaugh. You know, just in case...
January 9th, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^
This is all really premature. I don't recall Carroll having accepted the job. I don't recall the NCAA imposing sanctions or finding any wrongdoing on the part of the SC program. Jealousy of SC's success shouldn't translate into assumptions that he ran a dirty program and that' why he is leaving. The evidence isn't there.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:25 AM ^
ESPN is reporting Carroll is gone. And are you kidding that there's no evidence? The dude who fronted Bush all the cash is the one suing them for it back. It's not like this is a shadowy narrative, everyone pretty much knows what happened. Bush's family was fronted a ton of money, mostly in the form of a home they lived in Bush's senior year in return for Bush agreeing to sign with a new start up sports agency when he declared for the draft. The deal went bad. We know the Bush family paid one of the landlords hush money and the other was threatened by some henchman with a gun, in court(!), while he was testifying about the matter. This has been reported thoroughly and corroborated. It's just been kept out of court till now.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/The-tables-…
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ys-bushprobe
http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070413-9999-1s13bush.html
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ys-bush_timeline&prov=y…
January 9th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^
I don't see any evidence that Carroll was personally corrupt, but it looks like he lost control of the program to some extent. He was the ultimate player's coach, and he seems to have had some of that Steve Fisher see-no-evil mentality.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^
... Coaches that do not wish to see that which is in front of them are just as guilty as those that participate in the shenanigans. It's like the Enron defense, "We run a big company, we can't be expected to know what everybody is doing."
But, this is as good a place as any to say, the NCAA runs a racket. They have a talent base that is forced to go through their system if they want to advance to the next level, pays them next to nothing (yeah, yeah, they get an education, but often that's even dubious), and profits ridiculously off of it. Did USC break the rules, probably. Is the system broken, already? Definitely.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^
... Coaches that do not wish to see that which is in front of them are just as guilty as those that participate in the shenanigans. It's like the Enron defense, "We run a big company, we can't be expected to know what everybody is doing."
But, this is as good a place as any to say, the NCAA runs a racket. They have a talent base that is forced to go through their system if they want to advance to the next level, pays them next to nothing (yeah, yeah, they get an education, but often that's even dubious), and profits ridiculously off of it. Did USC break the rules, probably. Is the system broken, already? Definitely.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:23 AM ^
"Jealousy of SC's success shouldn't translate into assumptions that he ran a dirty program and that' why he is leaving. The evidence isn't there."
Sometimes, when there's smoke there's fire. And there is enough smoke here to fill 100 L.A.'s.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^
"And there is enough smoke here to fill 100 L.A.'s."
This might actually qualify as an understatement. If USC after Bush, Mayo and now McKnight doesn't get the hammer dropped on them there is no hope.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:11 PM ^
The whining on this blog about SC and other schools being dirty cheaters can get pretty obnoxious. The fact that you are getting negged for speaking honestly about it is even more disappointing.
I think maybe, just maybe, Pete Carroll is considering changing jobs in exchange for a 40% pay increase (or just think of it as $2 million extra bucks a year in pocket money) and the opportunity to essentially run a $700 million business while coaching football at the highest level, not because he is a running scared dirty no good cheater who must have done something illegal if he was able to consistently win lots of games as a college coach.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^
Pete Carrol I hope you have so much success in the NFL you never even consider returning to College football. Let the new reign of Big Ten Rose Bowl supremacy begin!
January 9th, 2010 at 10:27 AM ^
For the current USC players. Since they will be the ones punished while Bush, McKnight, and Pete are all living it up in the NFL.
January 9th, 2010 at 11:51 AM ^
Callipari, Kelly and Carroll are just the most recent instances. This has been going on for a long time.
Coaches get rich or bail in tough times are players are stuck.
Sure seems fair for the student-athlete doesn't it?
January 9th, 2010 at 10:28 AM ^
Done deal. Carrol to Seattle.
This should make for an interesting AA game today, maybe we'll have some live decommitments today, that would be awesome.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:29 AM ^
Just sayin'.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:29 AM ^
before the whole thing sinks to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Not a bad choice...Oh and the money doesn't hurt either.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^
If after almost 20 yers and scores of NCAA shenanigans by lots of schools, that USC got the death penalty from "lack of institutional control." Looks like Mike Garrett might not survive this either.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^
Seriously???
Carroll has fielded feelers from the Cardinals and Texans (IIRC), and he picks Seattle? The Seahawks have been a horrific franchise from an organizational standpoint since the Nordstroms sold the team in the late 80's.
First with California carpetbagger Ken Behring, then with Paul Allen who hired a franchise-killer named Bob Whitsitt to run the place, the Hawks meandered through mediocrity, only succeeding in a very tight set of years where all the talent aligned properly - the Patriots/Colts/Eagles organization they are not. They got ripped off in the Super Bowl but that only accelerated their fall back to the middle of the bell curve.
Petey must be getting total control, or they've brought on some heavy hitters in the front office...or he's hearing rumors of NCAA crackdown. Of all NFL teams, this move doesn't make much sense.