Carroll has also made it clear that he needs complete control of a team’s football operations in order to leave USC. But the Seattle job would offer exactly that, as the Seahawks are without a general manager.
One has always wondered if Carroll has wanted another shot at the NFL after short stints in New York and New England. I’ve written several times that Carroll never really had a fair opportunity in the pros, getting fired from the Jets after just one season, and then following Bill Parcells with the Patriots. Still, Carroll has a winning record as an NFL coach with two playoff appearances in four seasons.
In addition to full control, the Seahawks offer Carroll the opportunity to stay on the West Coast, which would be appealing to the Bay Area native. With USC facing potential sanctions, with the team coming off its worst season in eight years, and with impatient fans and short-memory media types stepping up their criticism of the coach, Carroll might feel like this is the right time to leave.
One could make an argument that Carroll is the greatest coach in USC history. He won 7 straight Pac-10 titles, coached in 7 consecutive BCS bowl games, had a record of 6-1 in BCS games, and won two national titles. The great Howard Jones and John McKay never had a streak like Carroll. But if Carroll leaves USC with sanctions then that would certainly sour his legacy. And despite all his accomplishments, critics would say that Carroll’s teams under-achieved in recent years, suffering what seemed to a shocking upset loss each season. Second, there’s the opportunity. After Carroll left New England, I always had the feeling he would return to the NFL, determined to prove to his critics that, yes, he could win on the pro level just as easily as he could at USC.
Third, there’s the timing. USC’s football program has been under scrutiny since stories broke in 2006 about Reggie Bush’s alleged acceptance of thousands of dollars in cash from would-be marketing agents, and the school’s compliance department last month began investigating Joe McKnight’s use of a sport utility vehicle owned by a Santa Monica businessman.
Let’s see, you have motive, opportunity, timing and money. From where I sit, it’s easy to connect the dots and make a case for Carroll returning to the NFL.
“All I know,” said one source close to the situation, “is that some people within the Seahawks this week were saying that something big was about to happen.”
I don’t know if they were talking about the firing of Jim Mora or the possible hiring of Pete Carroll, and if you ask me, I’d say it was the latter. But courting Carroll and actually tying him down are two different things. Carroll has had his opportunities before, but always, always, always there wasn’t enough there to convince him to leave USC.
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