Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road

The golden lane to football heaven has abruptly ended. Like the children on the cover of Shel Silverstein's classic Where the Sidewalk Ends, I am trembling as I peer down into the unknown. both fearful of the change that is upon me and insatiably curious about what the future may hold.

First, I must explain why this blog is so late. It is simply becuase the story keeps changing. I sat down last week to write a nice travelogue about Los Angeles, describing a picture-perfect 48 hours in West LA including sensory overload with Avatar 3D on IMAX and the worlds greatest sushi. Then, reports began to circulate that Pete Carroll was leaving USC for the Seattle Seahawks.

Annually, around this time of year, the LA Times climbs all over itself claiming that Carroll is leaving for the NFL. Yes, every year since about 2004. If you believe the Times collumnists, Carroll has signed with Arizona, San Francisco, Miami, and the Raiders twice. Pretty much wherever USC's top draftee goes, the Times thinks that Carroll is going with him. And every year, Carroll releases a statement that he is happy at USC and is not going anywhere. And the news calms down by February and we all start to focus on the NFL draft.

But this time, there was no accompanying denial from Carroll. So I sat up and took notice, quicky moving from "denial" to "anger". Why is he leaving now? That jerk! One bad season and he jumps ship? What a wimp! I had just come to grips with not winning the Pac-10 every year and now Uncle Pete is gone?

Then I read that it's "not a done deal" and "he won't be team president" of the Seahawks. With still no comment from Carroll, I moved into "barganing": if Carroll doesn't get the full control of the team from Seattle that he wants, he won't leave, right? Nice thought, but it was confirmed a day later that he really is leaving and he said goodbye to his players with a text message. (Definition of cruel: dumped by text message, as in Up in the Air).

At this point, I was slipping into "depression" (the 4th of the 5 stages) and, worse yet, my vacation was ending and I would soon have to face the invetiable questions at work: "What do you think about Pete leaving?", "No more Pete Carroll, huh?", "What is USC going to do without Pete Carroll?", and "What flavor of hemlock would you like to drink?"

The question I struggled the most with is why. Why leave USC for the NEL? Is it the money? He's the second highest paid NCAA coach (and rumor has it that he has a contract clause making him the highest paid every year so was due for a raise thanks to Mack Brown of Texas). Is it the attention? LA is a pretty big media market- bigger than Seattle. Is it the challenge? Maybe- Carroll was not very successful in the NFL, so maybe he believes he needs another shot. USC was his first college head coaching job and it turned out that his "rah-rah" style is well suited for the college game. Then that begs the obvious question, why would Seattle want to hire him? Sure, he is one of the biggest celebrity coaches in the world, so it would bring some much needed hype to their struggling team. But does that mean he can coach? Seattle fans were pretty mixed about the hire when discussing it on the radio talk shows in the days following the announcement.

That leaves us with the question of the looming Reggie Bush sanctions. Time for a little digression: remember Reggie Bush? The Reggie Bush before he donned the black and gold of the Saints and starting dating Kim Kardashian, a woman famous for . . . dating Reggie Bush. Bush's performance against the Arizona Cardinals is what I am talking about - it reminded me of Reggie back in the day, when he juked Fresno State for that brilliant cutback touchdown.

But anyway, the point is that following the Bush era at USC, Yahoo Sports uncovered a string of unpleasant dealings between his family and a San Diego sports agent. They received, among other things, cash, cars, and a rent free home. We all expected a major brew-ha-ha with the NCAA and sat holding onto our hats waiting for the storm.

But nothing happened.

Bush had graduated, he deftly avoided giving a deposition in the case, and USC was "complying with the investigation." As the months, then years, dragged on, I wondered if anything was to come of the investigation. Since no news agency except Yahoo Sports reported any original information on the case, I began to wonder about the validity or significance of the story. Every news outlet, from Sports Illustrated to ESPN, stated that "Yahoo Sports reports . . . " I was surprised no one interviewed the agent making the allegations indpendently. Maybe that's significant, maybe not.

Now it seems that the NCAA will actually do something about these violations. Reports (by more than just Yahoo) indicate that USC will meet with the NCAA in late February. The timing of this is interesting- is Pete Carroll bailing just as the dreaded sanctions finally are handed down?  I reached the final stage: acceptance.

Then, just as I pulled out my laptop to start writing this, the story changed again.  Lane Kiffin was announced as the new head coach. 

Whoa- where do I start with this one?

Is this a good hire?  A "celebrity" coach with a well-known personality and someone with USC connections.  Or is this a bad hire?  A controversial trouble maker taking his third coaching job in three years.  The LA Times poll results were split evenly.  For me, I was disappointed at first.  Although Kiffin was part of the team of assistants that led USC to consecutive titles in 2003 and 2004, he was not my favorite coach.  He had the unfortunate role of taking over as Offensive Coordinator from the legendary Norm Chow.  I thought the USC offense didn't regain its ingenuity until Kifin left for the Raiders and Steve Sarkisian took over the play calling.  Interesting fact about that move: Sarkisian was offered the Raider job first, and declined it, opening the door for Kiffin.  Sarkisian held out for a college head coaching job, which he got at Washington this year and proceeded to make the most of it.

Kiffin, as we all know, was soon fired by the Raiders with Al Davis calling him a "liar".  We all took this to be the usual mad ravings of the senile Oakland GM, but maybe there is somethng to it.  After only one season with Tennessee, he leaves the program and its recruits behind.  The Volunteer fans react by rioting in the streets and burning mattresses.  Not classy, but understandable.   And he brings with him to USC his dad and Defensive Coordinator, Monte Kiffin, and Line Coach and recruiter Ed Orgeron.

At this point in the story, I show my first smile in a week.

Ed Orgeron is back?  AWESOME! Coach O is well known and well loved by all the USC players and students.  He is the loudest, scariest, coolest coach ever.  When he left USC after the 2004 BCS Championship to coach Mississippi, we wished him luck and were sorry to see him go.  When Kiffin took the Tennessee job, he pulled a minor coup by getting Coach O to join him. And the quality of recuiting was immediately apparent- the Volunteers shot up to the top 10 in recruitung classes.  In fact, other SEC coaches were a little annoyed that Orgeron was helping this young upstart fill the ranks in Knoxville. 

But there is a down side to the good recruiting results.  He seems that Kiffin and Orgeron are slightly less than ethical about their practices.  Maybe it was just being green and not clear on all the rules, maybe it was intentionally flaunting the NCAA stiff restrictions, but Kiffin racked up several minor NCAA violations in is short Volunteer tenure.  He earned a slap on the wrist from the NCAA and the ire of the SEC commissioner, who had to repeatedly discipline Kiffin and his big mouth.

But, in the end, Kiffin (ex-offensive coordinator), dad Monte (defensive genius the best part of Tennesse's performance this year), and Orgeron (ex-line coach) are all coming to LA.  From a coaching standpoint, this is EXACTLY what the Trojans need.  Most of us die-hard fans, frustrated with the inconsistent play this year, felt that Carroll had lost too much of his assistant coaching talent to other jobs (like Norm Chow at UCLA and Steve Sarkisian at Washington).  Now, two of the peices were coming back, bringing the great Monte Kiffin with them.

And a report began to circulate that a deal was in the works to steal Norm Chow from UCLA!  Wow!  This is too good to be true,

Uh . . . yes. . . is it too good to be true.  Chow used the turmoil at USC to pressure the University of California regents to boost his contract, becoming one of the only state employees this year to see more, not less, money every payday.  But if Chow had come back to USC, he could have mentored Matt Barkley into Chow's 4th QB Heisman trophy (the others were Ty Detmer at BYU, Carson Palmer, and Matt Leinart).  Don't choke on your bratwurst, Hawkeye fans- you know that's true.

Ok- back to Lane Kiffin and USC.  Now remember how I wondered why Carroll would leave now.  And that the NCAA may be finally getting around to the Bush sanctions next month.  And that Kiffin had a few minor violations in his brief time at Tennessee.  So that should make us all ask: WTF is Mike Garrett thinking?

Mike Garrett is USC's Athletic Director and first Heisman Trophy winner, most famous for being the person who hired Pete Carroll.  More recently, questions have been raised about sacrificing academics and recruiting ethics in pursuit of the almighty dollar.  Exhibit A: OJ Mayo.  Mayo was the top basketball recruit two years ago and NBA rules required him to play one year of college before truning pro.  To everyone's shock, he picked USC over anywhere else in the country.  Tim Floyd, the USC basketball coach at the time, claimed that Mayo "came out of nowhere" and "contacted him".  It turns out that a $1000 pay off to one of Mayo's advisors (read: agent, but college players aren't allowed to have agents) was what landed the one-year star.  Mayo left, Floyd resigned, and the innocent players on the very-overachieving Trojans squad this year are left to suffer the punishment of not being eligible for post-season play (despite being 1/2 game out of first with wins over Arizona, ASU, and UCLA!)

On the Friday before the Pete Carroll story broke, USC starting RB Joe McKnight announced he was leaving early for the NFL.  Apparently, the Land Rover he was driving around town that he had "borrowed" from a friend just happenned to belong to OJ Mayo's "advisor".  Eeek- this is really starting to stink.

In the atmosphere of allegations, looming sanctions, and deterorating ethics, Garrett wants to bring in a coach famous for making trouble and being a "liar"?  WTF?  Oh, yeah- USC's President, Steven Sample, is retiring this year.  I have a feeling a new President may want to clean up Garrett's offices at Heritage Hall

I have a theory.

Getting some key assistant coaches back is the best part of the whole ugly, awful mess.  Kiffin can't possibly fill Carroll's shoes and will relentlessly be compared to him.  If the NCAA sanctions are harsh, Kiffin may struggle even more.  Best case scenario, Carroll's recruits thrive under Kiffin and son's system and compete for the Pac-10 title the next few years.  Worst case scenario, we lose to Notre Dame AND UCLA this year and alumni start grumbling.  Maybe Kiffin lasts 3 years before being asked to resign.  Just about the time the NCAA sanctions run their course.

By then, Norm Chow will be ready to move over from UCLA, Steve Sarkisian will be ready to come back from Washington, and maybe the Seattle Seahawks will be looking for a new coach.  Welcome home, Uncle Pete!

Call it insatiable optimism, myopic fandom, or being stuck in the barganing phase of dying, but I can be allowed to dream.

Fight On and thanks for a great year, poolers!

Hans