Coach Carroll Cracks: Crazy Pete Shows His True Colors

Finally, Pete Carroll showed his true colors. I don’t want to say that the armor is cracking, but USC might want to put an order in for some more from the military, or the NCAA.

First, there was the National Championship game against Texas where Matt Leinart basically said “the best team didn’t win.” Then, there was the UCLA choke job in 2006. Did I mention Stanford in 2007? Even after all that, Carroll has professed that there should be a playoff so USC would win. I could dive into Reggie Bush taking money or Dwayne Jarrett living with Matt Leinart free of charge, I won’t. How about losing another coordinator?

Then after the fourth straight thumping of the Big Ten, Pete Carroll concluded that no team could beat USC, except for the fact that Oregon State already did. 2009 would be the perfect year for USC to win another national championship, right?

Pete Carroll must have thought so, especially with Mark Sanchez at the helm. Sanchez, however, decided he wanted to try his luck in the NFL, a decision no doubt aided by the decisions of Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford to return to college.

And that’s where the cracks finally started to show.

What Pete wants, Pete normally gets. Whether it be a stable of running backs, top notch QBs, ten foot waves, or five-star recruits flocking to Southern Cal, Pete gets it. If most teams’ star player decided to declare for the NFL, the coaches would bite their lip and say congratulations.

Pete?

"We don't see this decision the same," Carroll said. "Mark's going against the grain on this decision and he knows that. He knows coming out early is a tremendous challenge for a quarterback and the statistics don't back up that it will be easy the way he's going about it."

Really, Coach? Do tell.

"I am disappointed in that the information that we have wasn't compelling enough to make it clear to him," Carroll said. "Our view of it is, and as you guys will see as you dig into this a little bit more, you'll see that these early entry quarterbacks are less than 50-50 successful."

Don’t discount the fact that Sanchez was a RS Junior this past season and will receive his degree in the Spring. Don’t discount the fact that Sanchez had a strong year, started by blowing out Ohio State and ended by blowing out Penn State

Now that Carroll has subjected Sanchez to such public criticism, just imagine what he could say when the NFL starts asking his opinions. It’s an odd move for a coach with all the (player and coordinator) talent on the planet, especially when you’ve got two highly ranked QBs that have been in the system for more than a couple years. Assume that Pete’s leash will be wrestled in a little by USC’s athletic director, and maybe even the NCAA should discuss the topic. The rule is three years. How they can set a minimum age is beyond me, but that’s a whole other topic.

Pete Carroll already makes his millions, he’s got to let his players get theirs.