Pete Carroll: Sleepless in Seattle

With his kingdom quickly crumbling all around him, the King of L.A. is leaving A Better L.A. to start A Better Seattle.  Maybe.

No, not maybe he isn't leaving.  That's a done deal.  But maybe he won't make Seattle that much better.

Pete Carroll's timing couldn't be any better...or worse, depending on how you look at it.

If Carroll had left after last season, he would have sealed his legacy as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.

Seven consecutive Top 4 seasons, seven consecutive Pac-10 titles, seven consecutive BCS Bowl appearances and only one loss, seven consecutive 11-win seasons, two national championships.

That would have been hard for anyone to top.  But Carroll stayed for another season, a season that tainted his nearly perfect legacy.

While no one would consider a 9-4 season a dreadful one, for Carroll it was a disaster that began when his starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez, knocked Carroll for a loop.

Sanchez deciding not to return for his final season at USC was a blow that Carroll could not recover from.  He was never the same after that.

USC had lost eight starters from its defense, but at least the offense was intact...until Sanchez announced he was going to the NFL.  Carroll's reaction during the Sanchez' press conference showed just how stunned he was.

Almost simultaneously, Nick Holt, Carroll's defensive coordinator, bolted to join Steve Sarkisian in Washington.  Although Carroll recovered on the outside, inside he was like a different person.  He made coaching decisions that seemed contrary to his nature.

With a mostly inexperienced defense, Carroll gambled on promoting Rocky Seto, the defensive secondary coach, instead of looking for an experienced defensive coordinator to replace Holt.

Instead of working with the quarterbacks he had, Carroll decided to bypass his two upperclassmen and put the entire season on the shoulders of a true freshman.  

While Barkley was trying to transition from a high school quarterback to Division 1, his play caller, Jeremy Bates, was trying to transition from the NFL to the college game.

It was a very difficult road for both.

With coaches and players trying to adjust and transition, the injuries mounted, and Carroll could no longer prevent the dam from bursting.

The defense broke down in the second half at Notre Dame and barely managed to hold on for a narrow win.

Back in the Coliseum, the defense needed the offense to come up big in the final moments because there was no way that they could stop Oregon State when the Beavers had the ball.

The dam finally burst in Eugene, Ore., as the Ducks put a large dent in the Pete Carroll legacy handing USC one of their biggest deficits ever.

Then just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, Stanford rolled into the Coliseum and ripped a gaping hole in Carroll's legacy with a 55-20 defeat of the hapless Trojans.

Throughout the season there were mounting injuries, a freak weightlifting accident that disabled Stafon Johnson, more academic ineligibilities, and finally, another investigation of possible rule violations.  This one centered around the Trojans' top running back, Joe McKnight. 

To make matters even worse, the judge in the Bush case ruled against a settlement and ordered depositions of all parties connected with the lawsuit, including Pete Carroll.

By now, Carroll could see the handwriting on the wall.  Mike Garrett was finished running interference with the Compliance Committee and the NCAA.  He had his hands full with the O.J. Mayo bribe and announced self-imposed sanctions to hopefully fend off any further actions by the NCAA.

Carrol knew this was the end.  He had alienated his two upperclassmen quarterbacks. One has already transferred.  

McKnight and wide receiver Damian Williams were entering the NFL Draft along with tight end Anthony McCoy.  The rift between himself and Mike Garrett has been deepening by the day.

Coaching college football was no longer fun.  All the stress over rules and compliance, the constant pressure of recruiting was no longer worth $4.5 million.  

Yes, there are a lot of pressures and stress in the NFL as well.  But in the end, I suppose Carroll figured it was better to be sleepless in Seattle than on probation in L.A.