Who Replaces Pete Carroll at USC?: Eight Candidates to Take Over the Trojans

So Trojan fans, Pete Carroll is off, and now you're looking for a new coach to try to keep everything at bay.

But fear not—the job at the University of Southern California is one of biggest in sports (well, it will be until the NCAA sanctions come through!), and there will be plenty of takers.

We can count out every successful NFL coach—and Charlie Weis—from going for the job, leaving most of college football's coaches as potentially suited for the job.

Here's who we think would be potential candidates at the country's biggest team.

1) Chris Petersen (Boise State)

Petersen's done wonders at Boise State. Suddenly, no big-time team likes going to the blue turf, and certainly NO team comes to their place expecting victory. Anyway, Petersen's gadget plays—and strong recruiting—have suddenly made Boise, Idaho a bit of a destination for bigger players, and Petersen is definitely a good quarterbacks coach.

2) Lane Kiffin (Tennessee)

After causing enough crap to sink a ship at the University of Tennessee, Lane "Recruiting Violations Self-Reported Or Otherwise" Kiffin decides to take the role at Southern California. He's already coached at SC as an assistant coach, so he should fit in well.

3) Nick Saban (Alabama)

Never say never. Loyalty's never been his thing—especially after winning a national title, as he did with LSU. Best coach in the land. Period.

4) Will Muschamp (Texas)

Muschamp is perhaps the best defensive coordinator in the land, aside from Tom Bradley. He has big-time experience in the NFL and with Auburn, and would graduate nicely. Considering Mack Brown ain't going anywhere, he might be fed up with being the world's highest-paid coach in the waiting.

5) Tom Bradley (Penn State)

Like Muschamp, waiting around for the head coach to retire/die must be getting his feet tapping. The chance of taking over a massive program, getting some sun, and then coming back after Joe Paterno retires must be an awesome prospect.

6) Tony Dungy

Right, so get this: Tony Dungy seems to be eager to get back into football. While he's talking to USF at the moment (helps, since his family's in Tampa and he loves it there), he has also been "reached out to" by Seattle. So why wouldn't he want to change the way USC has done things (by all accounts not exactly legally) and bring forth a big-time, clean program—something that would be unlike all the rest of them?

7) Jack Del Rio (Jacksonville Jaguars)

According to ESPN, his future's not certain with the Jags, who once again didn't make the playoffs. He's a former star at SC, and people see him in the same mould as Carroll, which should make things good for potential recruits...if they haven't all "flown the nest" and run off to Florida, Texas, and Alabama!

8) Norm Chow (UCLA)

It would be nice to reunite Chow with SC after a few eyebrow-raising years away from the Coliseum. He's a great offensive coordinator, and LA papers say that SC want him back.

But the big question is, will they be able to play with the "poisoned chalice" of USC sports, which might see wins and scholarships violated as a result of high-level recruiting violations?