As the Coaching World Turns, Pete Carroll Leaves USC for the NFL
Fans of this site tend to be fans of two specific teams. Two teams who have had their share of coaching drama in only the last two weeks. We saw
Urban Meyer
resign, Urban Meyer take a leave of absence, and Urban Meyer put his leave of absence on hold. We saw
Jim Leavitt
come under fire, and then get fired.
Florida
and
USF
fans are no strangers to head coaching issues. Add that to all of the assistant coach movement going on and you could find yourself with a serious headache just trying to keep up. Expand your view out to the rest of the college world and two other high profile coaches are out of jobs as well –
Mike Leach
and
Mark Mangino
. And now the big news (as if the Meyer saga wasn’t big enough).
Few programs have had the success USC has over the past decade. Pete Carroll made the Trojans relevant again and kept them a power year after year. Along with his staff, he was able to pull basically any recruit he wanted into the school. There were National Championship and Heisman Trophies along the way. Carroll almost single handedly made those of us in the East become more aware of the West As the wins kept coming, so did the talk of the NFL. Would Carroll ever leave to take another shot of the pros?
Well, now he has. Carroll leaves USC for the Seattle Seahawks. As a college football fan, the decision is an interesting one. The NFL can offer more money – rumor has it Carroll will get $7 million per year – but it also brings more scrutiny and less of a chance to turn a team around. Carroll had it made at USC. The Trojans were one of those programs every recruit had on the radar. They had star power. They won, and won a lot. 97 times in Carroll’s nine years. Investigations aside, USC performed on the field.
But athletes and those involved in athletics are confident (read: cocky) by nature. At 58 years old, it may have been time for Carroll to see what he can do in the NFL again. He was far from being an awful professional head coach during his first two stints. Carroll has a 33-31 career NFL record with two playoff appearances in four seasons. Definitely something to build on. He also can take comfort in knowing that if things don’t work out, he can basically pick his next collegiate destination. If the Seahawks don’t improve, athletic directors throughout the nation will take notice and be ready if Carroll were to return to the college game.
Where USF goes next is anyone’s guess. But where USC goes may be easier to predict. The leader to get the job at the moment appears to be Oregon State’s Mike Riley. Riley has done an admirable job with the Beavers since his arrival. He’s kept them competitive and he knows the Pac-10. But there’s the question of the NCAA and the Trojans. Could this be a program facing serious probation over the next few years? Would Riley want to deal with that? Would anyone? The answer in the end is probably yes. After all, it’s USC.