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I was enjoy lunch at my office desk last Friday, reminiscing about the fabulous Link Dump we had completed earlier in the day, when I nearly choked on my sandwich [Subway, eat fresh]. I had swung by ESPN.com to see if anything exciting had occurred and Chris Mortensen was reporting that Pete Carroll was leaving USC for the open Seattle Seahawks coaching position. I will admit, I was a little surprised when the Seahawks fired Jim Mora, Jr. after only one year, and it made sense that they would only fire him if they had someone lined up already, so I could see the validity in the Mort Report's . . . err . . . report. But I believe an ESPN scoop about as often as I believe the hot bartender is actually hitting on me and not just working for a bigger tip [read: not often]. Plus, these Pete-Carroll-to-the-NFL rumors happen every year and, as a UCLA fan, I have gotten tired of hoping he makes yet another bonehead decision and actually leaves for the NFL. But when I head Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News' Inside USC claim, while it was not official (because Seattle still had to comply with the "Rooney Rule" . . . is there any bigger sham in the NFL than the "Rooney Rule"? . . . what a joke . . . but I digress, something for another day), Carroll to Seattle was a "done deal".
Even though I am a UCLA guy, I, like everyone else in Southern California, know more than a few people who attended USC. Some of them annoy me to no end, while others are actually decent human beings. One such person is my buddy TR. He is one of those rare USC alums who, while a die hard fan, is down to earth and can talk evenly about SC and UCLA (like I said, rare). He, like many of the educated, knew Pete Carroll was a . . . err . . . not nice person, but put up with it because they were winning. TR is also a guy who always knows someone. Need tickets to something? TR can get them. Want to get into the newest and hottest club? Not a problem for TR. We all have a friend like this. So when the news broke, I immediately sent TR a text to see (1) how he was doing, and (b) what, if anything, he had heard from inside the USC Athletic Department. He, like most SC football fans, was praying it was not true but promised to get back to me once he talked to his "guy in the athletic department". Well, as promised, I received an email yesterday with some interesting details. This whole thing is one big power play pulled by the Board of Trustees, who are fed up with the job Mike Garrett has done. Here is the text of the entire email fromTR's "guy in the athletic department":
"Here is exactly what is happening, in a nutshell:
The early success of Pete Carroll ["PC"] created a chain reaction at USC. Whereas before, Mike Garrett was extremely hands-on in his treatment of football, he decided to let PC run the show without any interference. Further up the food chain, the University gave Garrett free rein to give PC free rein.
PC had unprecedented control of the football program. He often talked about that fact as why it was superior to being in the NFL. He could get any player he wanted into school, he raised funds for his own projects, he decided who his staff would and wouldn't be, he pushed for upgrades to facilities, he did everything in his style, with no restrictions, etc., etc., etc.
Over the course of time, there were issues. Players acting like fools (as they often do), investigations, PR embarrassments, etc. Individually, they were able to be handled without any problems. But over time, their accumulation started to create a perception that PC wasn't in control of things and that, indeed, NO ONE was in control.
Now, when [former basketball coach Tim] Floyd was hired, Garrett (in his infinite wisdom), decided to take the same hands-off approach with basketball. His [theory] was that if you leave your coaches alone, they'll succeed. As a result, there was zero oversight over basketball, as with football. Of course, this came back to bite Garrett on the ass, as Floyd (left to his own devices) got the program into trouble.
This is when the Board of Trustees started having enough and started demanding that Garrett re-assert his control over these two sports. Then, a few other PC pecadillos hit the grapevine and by the time the McKnight story hit, the University was well on its way to going over Garrett's head to take back control of what they saw as an out-of-control situation. This is why you saw University PR and legal handling Floyd's issue and McKnight's issue.
As all this happened, a movement started growing among the Trustees to use this whole process to get rid of Garrett and replace him with someone like [former USC quarterback and current Trustee] Pat Haden. Garrett did not have control of his coaches and his coaches were embarrassing the University. [Garrett] was brought into [USC President Steven B.] Sample's office at one point and Sample ripped him a new asshole. Garret, in an effort to show he had control, started getting involved in football and basketball and the [transition has] not been good as PC hasn't had to deal with Garrett butting in for most of the last eight years.
In the end, PC left because his most coveted possession--total control--was on the way out. He would've no longer been able to get whoever he wanted into school, he was going to have to relinquish control over how he did some things and there was going to be meddling over who could be on his staff and what kind of discipline would be instilled over the program.
Feelers started coming to PC during the season and when the offer from Seattle finally came, he took it. Simple as that. It was, in his mind, the best option available to him as he would no longer be able to be himself (as he saw it) at USC. Furthermore, it is in his nature to want to compete and proving himself at his true love--the NFL--has always been in his heart.
There will be some dirty laundry aired in the next few months. [Editor's Note: As Yahoo! Sports is reporting, the NCAA has concluded it's investigation of the USC Athletic Department (focusing on football and basketball), and this same guy has assured us sanctions are coming (likely in the spring) and they will be "disastrous".] But that is really not the reason PC left (though a lot of things contributed to the effort of the University to take back control)."
Take what you will from that email, but I thought I would at least share some of my thoughts: (1) I do not care what people say, the pending sanctions absolutely had something to do with Carroll's decision to leave; (b) if we needed any additional evidence that Carroll is a douche, I think we have it; and (iii) it appears time for Mike Garrett to update his resume.
It will be interesting to see what comes of USC's coaching search. There are already reports that the search is in the hands of Pat Haden and Trustee Chair Ed Roski, not Mike Garrett, and the pending sanctions against the program and/or athletic department will not make it any easier. A lot of names are already floating around (TR is begging for Boise State's Chris Peterson, but I don't see him leaving the friendly confines of the smurf turf with all that is going on at USC with NCAA and the fact Boise St. has a legitimate shot at the national title next season). Although he is denying it, my money is on former-USC linebacker Jack Del Rio. I know he has fifteen million reasons to stay with Jacksonville, but, as noted in last week's Link Dump, his job is not exactly secure at this point in time. I would not be surprised to see some financial settlement occur, whereby Del Rio "resigns" from the Jacksonville coaching position (a man has to keep his dignity) and becomes the new coach of the USC Trojans. So, I would like offer this one piece of advice to Mr. Del Rio when he begins his formal negotiations with USC: do not forget to ask for the house on The Strand.
[Editor's Note: here's your fun fact for the day: Mark McGwire (yes, that Mark McGwire) played baseball for USC from 1981 to 1984. The starting catcher those years? Why, that would be none other than Jack Del Rio. Grab a napkin, homie. You just got served . . . with knowledge.]
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