Usc Coach Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll had no choice. Not really. In Carroll's mind, the opportunity to coach again in the NFL, in a situation that appeared to offer him all that he could hope for, was no longer a possibility. "I had given up on it," he said during a phone interview early this morning, "but it came out of nowhere." Actually, it came out of the Pacific Northwest, from the Seattle Seahawks and billionaire owner Paul Allen. The NFL team reached agreement with the 58-year-old Carroll on a five-year contract that will pay him nearly $33 million and give him the control he never enjoyed with the New York Jets or the New England Patriots.

Separation Sunday is in the books. The Green Bay Packers separated themselves from the top of the NFL, emerging from the weekend at 6-0 and the league's only undefeated team. The Indianapolis Colts separated themselves in the other direction, dropping to a league-worst 0-6. St. Louis is 0-5 and Miami, which plays at the New York Jets on Monday, is 0-4. And then there's the separation that had millions of viewers rewinding their DVRs — the quarrelsome quarantine of coaches Jim Schwartz of Detroit and Jim Harbaugh of San Francisco.

Where's Mike Garrett ? Every time I run into the USC athletic director he takes off running, only now beginning to understand why -- obviously the administrator in training for the next controversy to plague his athletic department. Former USC basketball coach Tim Floyd told The Times recently Garrett abandoned him when Floyd had his problems. "Mike's reputation took precedence," Floyd said. "All loyalty, all support stopped." Here we go again, Pete Carroll now on the spot, the perception nationally the Trojans' football program is out of control, if not in need of an NCAA spanking, and Garrett is nowhere to be found to assist the guy who saved his career.

The UCLA-USC football rivalry is definitely alive and flourishing -- in recruiting, at least. Each school emerged from Wednesday, the first day high school football seniors could sign letters of intent, with prospect classes ranked in the national top 10. "We're very close [to USC], and we'll go past them very soon," UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel predicted. The departure of USC Coach Pete Carroll to the NFL seemed to energize Neuheisel, who showed a closer mentality. Four top defensive recruits all announced in the middle of the day that they had signed with UCLA -- defensive backs Dietrich Riley of La Cañada St. Francis and Anthony Jefferson of Los Angeles Cathedral, linebacker Josh Shirley of Fontana Kaiser and defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa from Portland, Ore. New USC Coach Lane Kiffin ended the day by landing the biggest and best offensive line prospect in the nation, 6-foot-8, 330-pound tackle Seantrel Henderson from St. Paul, Minn.

As expected, USC Coach Pete Carroll announced Tuesday that Carl Smith would coach quarterbacks this season. Smith, 55, replaces Steve Sarkisian, who was hired by the Oakland Raiders on Saturday. Smith, the Cleveland Brown quarterbacks coach for the last three seasons, joined USC's staff in February as tight ends coach. He also worked with Carroll with the New England Patriots. With Smith shifting to quarterbacks, Brennan Carroll will become a full-time assistant in charge of tight ends.

USC Coach Pete Carroll filled the final vacancy on his staff Tuesday, naming Todd McNair as running back coach. McNair, 38, coached running backs for the Cleveland Browns the last three seasons. He replaces Kennedy Pola, who left USC in January to join the Browns' staff after Coach Butch Davis fired McNair in December. McNair, a former NFL running back and special teams player, is the second former Cleveland assistant hired by Carroll in less than two weeks.

After his recruit, Maurice Simmons is found guilty of felony robbery, assault with a rifle, etc., USC Coach Pete Carroll is quoted in your article as saying "the most unfortunate news we could get for Maurice and his family. . . . We feel sorry for what they have to go through." I would expect Carroll to feel sorry for the poor victim of Maurice's heinous crime who was robbed at gunpoint by Maurice and support Maurice being punished to full extent allowed by law. No wonder criminals like Pacman Jones get to the NFL, when colleges like USC defend common thugs, put no merit in character and have no level of accountability for their players' actions.

Just a suggestion for USC Coach Pete Carroll: Make a highlight video of your halftime speeches to your team and sell it. Whatever you are saying to your squad between halves has got to be good theater, and it works! RICHARD WHORTON Valley Village I think it is time for a short memo to Trojan offensive coordinators Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian: 1. You have the most dominant offensive line in the country. 2. You have the most explosive running backs around.

USC Coach Pete Carroll said last week there was "no doubt" he would be coaching the Trojans next season, but Carroll's name continues to be mentioned for NFL openings. On Sunday night, several Florida newspapers and a pro football-related Internet site reported that a plane registered to Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga flew to Costa Rica, where Carroll has been vacationing, and that team representatives are believed to have met with USC's coach.

There are discussions about an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the BCS championship game. So if Michigan wins the first one today and Ohio State wins the second Jan. 8, will there be a tiebreaker? MICHAEL YOUNAN Castaic The loser of the Ohio State-Michigan game will have lost only to the No. 1 team in the country. Florida's only loss was to Auburn. USC lost to Oregon State, probably the 40th-best team in the country. Why are the BCS computers and human voters acting as if the USC-Oregon State game never happened?

Pete Carroll had no choice. Not really. In Carroll's mind, the opportunity to coach again in the NFL, in a situation that appeared to offer him all that he could hope for, was no longer a possibility. "I had given up on it," he said during a phone interview early this morning, "but it came out of nowhere." Actually, it came out of the Pacific Northwest, from the Seattle Seahawks and billionaire owner Paul Allen. The NFL team reached agreement with the 58-year-old Carroll on a five-year contract that will pay him nearly $33 million and give him the control he never enjoyed with the New York Jets or the New England Patriots.

Where's Mike Garrett ? Every time I run into the USC athletic director he takes off running, only now beginning to understand why -- obviously the administrator in training for the next controversy to plague his athletic department. Former USC basketball coach Tim Floyd told The Times recently Garrett abandoned him when Floyd had his problems. "Mike's reputation took precedence," Floyd said. "All loyalty, all support stopped." Here we go again, Pete Carroll now on the spot, the perception nationally the Trojans' football program is out of control, if not in need of an NCAA spanking, and Garrett is nowhere to be found to assist the guy who saved his career.

Debate continues to rage among sports fans in Southern California about what transpired in the final minute of the USC-UCLA football game. Was it appropriate for UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel to call a timeout with 54 seconds left after USC took a knee leading, 21-7? Did USC Coach Pete Carroll make the right call to let quarterback Matt Barkley throw a 48-yard touchdown pass on the next play? Was the taunting from players just part of a rivalry game? Michael Josephson, who runs the Josephson Institute and created the "Character Counts" movement in high school sports competition, said, "I think this is sort of a sideshow.

Although USC lost all four of its starting linebackers to the NFL draft last spring, the Trojans coaching staff promised there wouldn't be a drop-off at that position this fall. And for the first seven weeks of the season, there wasn't. But the last month has been a tough one for the USC defense, which gave up 111 points in three games -- just six fewer points than the Trojans gave up in all 13 of their games last season. It was a different story Saturday, however, with junior Malcolm Smith, sophomore Chris Galippo and freshman Devon Kennard keying a stout defensive effort in a 28-7 win over UCLA.

The USC-UCLA football rivalry, never lacking for compelling plot points, just got a lot more interesting. Borrowing a style used against him two weeks ago, USC Coach Pete Carroll poured it on an already beaten UCLA in the final minute at the Coliseum on Saturday night. FOR THE RECORD: USC-UCLA photo: The main photograph in Sunday's sports section, of USC running back Allen Bradford fending off UCLA defender Tony Dye, was credited to the wrong photographer. The photo was taken by Wally Skalij.

Dietrich Riley is undecided. With dozens of big-time college football programs recruiting him, the safety and running back from La Canada St. Francis High shuffles his favorites nearly every week. USC and UCLA are at or near the top of Riley's list, so the Pasadena resident will be on the sidelines and watching with acute interest Saturday night when the Trojans play the Bruins at the Coliseum. Will the outcome tilt him toward the winner? "I wouldn't say one game will affect my decision at all," Riley said.

Top-ranked USC proved it could win big against a highly ranked opponent. With another open date before its Pacific 10 Conference opener at 1-2 Oregon State, can the Trojans avoid a letdown? USC Coach Pete Carroll said Sunday that he spoke to his team after its 35-3 victory over Ohio State about the need to remain focused in the aftermath. "Every team in all sports has to deal with the effects of the event and how it weighs on you one way or another," Carroll said. "I made mention to the guys that I want us to prove we understand that's a classic thing that happens to teams.

USC cornerback Shareece Wright has been charged with felony resisting a police officer in connection with a party in Colton last weekend. Police detained Wright at the scene, but he was not among several people arrested in the early morning hours on Sunday. The San Bernardino district attorney subsequently filed charges against him and three others. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. Neither Wright nor USC Coach Pete Carroll could be reached for comment. This week, Wright said he had attended a party for someone being deployed to Iraq.

With one glaring exception, USC Coach Pete Carroll has known overwhelming success against UCLA. Carroll has faced the Bruins nine times -- once as an Ohio State assistant and eight times with the Trojans. A look at how he has fared: 1979: Carroll was a secondary coach for Earle Bruce when 14th-ranked Ohio State defeated the No. 17 Bruins, 17-13, at the Coliseum. Carroll's defensive backs were largely untested by Bruins coach Terry Donahue's conservative game plan. UCLA's Rick Bashore completed six of 12 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden says the epitaph on his tombstone should read " . . . but he played Miami" for all the times the Hurricanes crushed his heart and cost him national titles. USC Coach Pete Carroll, after Saturday, might one day have to consider " . . . but he played Stanford." The Cardinal's 55-21 beat down at the Coliseum was epic and stupefying and a lot of other adjectives that can't be printed. Stanford has, so far, possibly cost USC the national title in 2007, when the Cardinal won here two years ago as a 41-point underdog.