Pete Carroll that is, as in USC’s Pete Carroll.
The Seattle Seahawks, who just fired head coach Jim Mora yesterday, is now reportedly offered the position to USC head coach Pete Carroll.
Interesting move. I was a little surprised by the move to fire Mora yesterday given he only had one year after the departure of Mike Holmgren. Mora had a really banged up team in 2009, much like Holmgren did in 2008 in his final season. However, after winning division titles in four straight years, now the Seahawks have had to watch the Arizona Cardinals take the division now for the past two years and I can only imagine that is not sitting well at all with the Hawks.
Not only have the Cardinals risen from the ashes over the past two seasons, now the San Francisco 49er’s have started their upswing back to resepectability and are primed to win the NFC West again sooner rather than later.
I’m a little surprised Carroll wants to leave USC, however given all the issues that took place at USC this season from the reported possible violations to players not making the grades to play and then the fall from the top of the Pac-10, not making a BCS Bowl game for the first time since 2001, maybe it shouldn’t be all that much of a surprise.
I’ll be honest, as a University of Arizona Alumni, I’m not sad to see Carroll go. However, now he must prove he can find the same successes in Seattle and build the Hawks back up to contend for the NFC West once again. Who knows how long of a leash he will be given. The NFL is a completely different ballgame. Carroll knows that as much as anyone as he has been an NFL coach before only to bolt to the college ranks, where he has found most of his career successes.
Scott Allen