What the Departure of Pete Carroll Means for Oregon

Many Oregon fans were both stunned and thrilled by the news that Pete Carroll was considering leaving the USC Trojans last Friday.

In his nine years at the helm in Los Angeles, Carroll had led the Trojans to eight conference championships and two national championship. 

The bookend conference championships belong to Oregon, a program that has risen from ashes since their struggles in the 1970s and ‘80s.

With Carroll leaving, the Ducks seemed primed to step up and take hold of the Pac-10.

But can they carry the torch for the conference like the Trojans did?

The answer is no.  The Ducks can be a competitive top 15 program, but they will never be able to compete for a national championship year in and year out. 

That burden will have to be shared with the other eight teams in the conference.  I personally would like to believe that the Ducks could step into a USC role, but unlike the Trojans, they just do not have as many things in their favor.

It cannot go unrecognized that the ability to tell a recruit that he will be in one of the biggest cities in the world, where it is warm everyday and you can see a movie star at any point, is unbeatable to an 18 year-old who wants the exposure. 

Now you may think that five star recruits aren’t necessary and that they don’t live up to expectations, which is true sometimes.  But at no point was it more clear that depth and size, along with speed, are crucial to compete annually, then it was during the Rose Bowl.

When USC played Ohio State earlier in the season, they didn’t deserve to win the game.  But when it came down to raw talent and athleticism, USC was head and shoulders above the Buckeyes.

The Ducks rely heavily on speed to win games, but at times in the future, the Ducks will need more size and depth to win games when everything seems stacked against them.

The Ducks can compete for a national championship every second or third year, but to compete every single year, is near impossible.  There are very few schools who can do what the Trojans have done. That’s why what they had accomplished was so incredible.

Another thing to consider, is what a power in Los Angeles does for the program. While USC was on top, Oregon always had a game to look forward to with national publicity.

But with no major power in the conference, does the Pac-10 turn into a pseudo ACC?

As a fan of a Pac-10 Conference school not named USC or UCLA, it hurts to say, but without either of those schools being a power, the conference takes a major hit nationally.

On the bright side, the Ducks will probably see a few more recruits come their way as the situation at USC is so unstable and the Ducks are the reigning conference champion.

The Ducks should also be a unanimous selection as the preseason champion next fall (was likely, but there still would have been some people picking USC). 

People who see Pete Carroll’s departure as a positive, might want to rethink the pros and cons of losing such a national figurehead for a conference that struggles to gain consistent attention on the West Coast.