Pete Carroll is probably one of the greatest college football coaches most in my generation have ever seen. In one year he turned around the USC Football program and turned them into a national powerhouse, recruiting several first-round draft picks and even winning two National Championships. But now Carroll is returning to the National Football League with the Seattle Seahawks, a place where his reputation could be considered mediocre at best, and it begs the question, why??
Now there is much speculation about the timing of Carroll’s move. USC had a true-freshman quarterback who is going to be a first-round NFL draft pick in a few years barring a major letdown, and always has had a great defense. The question many people, including myself are asking, is whether or not this has anything to do with the recent allegations handed down by the NCAA.
Three months ago, the NCAA delivered a very detailed list of infractions that they would be investigating, both with the basketball and football programs. USC would have three months to investigate and/or appeal before deliberation would occur at the end of this month. Now, if such penalties were to be assessed against the football team, they would lose wins, more than likely National Championships, and Pete Carrolls tenure would forever be tainted. Depending on the severity of these infractions, it would be difficult for him to ever get another collegiate coaching job, as he more than likely would have been fired.
The irony for those thinking Carroll was jumping ship is that almost every off-season he has been offered jobs and better opportunities than the one he will find in Seattle. A few years ago, Atlanta and Washington both came knocking on his door. Atlanta made the playoffs that season, Washington finishied something like 7-9. Both teams had decent talent in place, money to spend, and high draft picks. Seattle has a broken down qb, a limited running game, one receiver with attitude problems, no other receivers, and a middle of the road defense. And they don’t even have a top five draft pick. So that begs the question, why would Carroll make the move now while he was living out his glory years in Southern California?
A few weeks ago, Seattle coach Jim Mora was approached by the team in a manner suggesting he would be the long-term head coach. They came to him asking if he had any preference on the new general manager, and he said he would endorse Mike Holmgren. Now, if you had any intention of firing your head coach, would you really care for his opinion on such a matter? It is just funny that a few days after Pete Carroll says it would be nice to coach back in the NFL and even in Seattle, Mora Jr. gets the axe. Carroll’s statements truly make it seem like he was desperate to get out of USC, a place he always said he loved and never wanted to leave. So why was it necessary to make that move now?
Personally, time will only tell the story of why Carroll made the move. If in two weeks it comes out that the football program is on probation for two years and will lose wins for five seasons, Carroll will not be affected seeing as how he jumped ship to make millions in the NFL. But the program, his program, will be hurt for the next decade, losing out on all recruits, and maybe never recovering, all because of some stupid decisions that he and his coaching staff may have made. But it does not matter to him, he thinks he is in a better place. Maybe he is, or maybe in two years after going 10-22, he will be out of a job again like his former NFL days.
