Is the Pete Carroll Dynasty at USC Done? Not So Fast, My Friend

The whispers are already starting in Los Angeles.

Just like two years ago when the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. It's over. Phil Jackson is done. The dynasty is over.

Oh really? Tell that to the 2008-09 Champions Lakers who unfurled their fifteenth banner in Staples Center last week.

Apparently, the pundits have written off Pete Carroll like the media wrote off Mark Twain a bit prematurely.

Twain's famous quote of "The report of my death is an exaggeration" could very well apply to Pete Carroll. While Bruin Nation is licking their chops at the prospect of La-La Land having a new king, let's not go crazy here. Why is there so much negativity surrounding Pete Carroll's "dynasty" right now?

Right off the bat, critics are quick to point out how Carroll-led teams have always lost a "little game" or lost one they should have won. Fair enough, but since USC has been favored in every game since forever—actually, it was two years ago when a Dixon-led Ducks team was favored over a reserve quarterback, Sanchez-led USC team at Eugene—just when are they supposed to lose?

Never? Seriously?

If a team is favored 99% of the time every year, and that team should never lose to a team it is favored to beat, then technically, aren't we asking USC to be undefeated every year? Isn't that just a bit presumptuous? Even the New England Patriots trip up now and then, don't they?

Have fans and the media become so jaded and spoiled that when a team loses to clearly a better team, the coach is to blame?

After the Trojans' debacle in Eugene, one thing became clear— the linebackers aren't up to snuff. Why? They're all young and have to fill the shoes of four linebackers who are now playing on Sundays. Not one or two linebackers gone from the team, but four.

Any other team would get a hall pass for having a gaping box to fill with new linebackers, but somehow, Pete Carroll gets hammered for employing some sort of matador defense against the Ducks.

Several weeks ago, Carroll admitted the team wasn't very good. He put it out there, and yet it was largely ignored. It was dismissed as just coach-speak. It simply can't be true. Carroll's teams always get better as the season wears on and he's always undefeated in November.

What critics fail to look at is the adversity this rebuilding team has had to face. Ronald Johnson was out for almost two months with a broken collarbone. Damian Williams has a sore glute. Fullback Stanley Havili? Dinged up. Tight end Anthony McCoy? Didn't even make the trip to Eugene. Short yardage specialist Stafon Johnson? Gone for the year with a crushed larynx.

The injury list, no matter how extensive, is no excuse, as Carroll has always had depth in key positions. But when you have a quarterback who was attending his senior prom less than a year ago, it's hard to build continuity when key players, key veteran players, keep getting hurt.

What is an excuse is a defense that returns three starters against a prolific offense like the Ducks'. Or, facing a team that has both your former offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator calling plays from the sidelines. The Huskies' players admitted that they knew what the Trojans were calling in Seattle— they were calling it out on the field before the snaps.

So blame Pete for not tweaking the playbook? No, not when you have your starting quarterback hurt and your reserve quarterback, Aaron Corp, playing his first game as a starter. That's not the time to change the playbook.

But someone has to be blamed, right?

How about the pollsters for inflating the Trojans' rankings when clearly, they didn't look like a top fifteen team? They were overrated to begin with. There. I said it. Now deal with it. Ask any fan who watched the Trojans play Oregon State and Notre Dame and the writing was on the wall.

USC led Notre Dame 34-14 going into the fourth quarter yet allowed the Irish to have numerous attempts to tie the game with less than a minute left. USC also led Oregon State 41-23 going into the fourth before hanging on to dear life for the win.

So why USC was even favored to beat the hottest team in the country, on the road, in a very hostile atmosphere, is a bit mysterious. Typical, but not realistic.

So what about now?

Is it entirely possible that Pete Carroll is grooming this team for the future after suffering huge losses on the defense?

Remember the '07 Florida Gators? They had just won a National Championship and went 9-4 the following season. Tebow was still a pup. They lost to Georgia, LSU, Auburn and finally Michigan in the Capital One Bowl.

Who's laughing now?

For those who think the Pete Carroll dynasty is over, ask yourself this: would you take him as a head coach?

While you sit there and ponder the prospects of having one of the winningest coaches (percentage-wise) in the country coaching your team, Los Angeles is not about to hand him over to anyone.

Los Angelenos may vent that the team isn't perfect, but they are a spoiled rotten bunch of fans who are as fickle as Brett Favre making a retirement decision.

Pete Carroll has put USC back on the map. He's given Trojans fans two National Championships and seven BCS Bowl berths.

Pete Carroll gave the country the best National Championship game in the BCS-era when the Trojans played against Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

Pete Carroll has brought "cool" back into college football. Admit it— you would love him to coach your team.

Dynasty over?

The answer is simply this.

Will you bet against him next year?