How Pete Carroll Leaving USC Affects Michigan Football

The first thing that comes to mind is that maybe Michigan won't get run the next time Michigan and USC meet in a Rose Bowl. I guess you could replace "Michigan" with any Big Ten Team that has faced USC the last seven years or so. But I digress, this really isn't about the past or what might happen on the field in future years, it's about recruiting! The only thing that matters in January is getting kids to sign with your program on February 3rd.

Here are 2 prospects this directly effects (regarding USC and Michigan):

• Army All-American Running Back Dillon Baxter, who is a San Diego guy (and friend of Tate Forcier) who was scheduled to enroll today at USC. He visited Ann Arbor for the Ohio State game and came away impressed but it was not enough for him to change his commitment to Pete and USC. With the Pete heading to Seattle, this might open the door to Michigan. First off, let me say that this is a very unfortunate situation for Dillon who has always been a lifetime fan of USC and, of course, was ready to start school today. I'm not sure what Dillon will do, but many expect him not to enroll and wait to see what happens. Rich Rod, I'm sure, is planning an in-home visit this week. This timing has not been good for all the USC recruits that were planning to enroll today but it could be worse, Pete could have taken the Seattle job next week after those kids had already enrolled.

• Army All-American Safety Sean Parker: Reports have been that Sean has been favoring Michigan over USC and Cal, but many insiders on the West Coast felt that it would be difficult for Sean to leave California and would most likely stay at USC. (Sean has said before that he wanted to leave the State). Hopefully, having Pete leave only solidifies Sean's decision to become a Wolverine. (At least us Wolverines fans hope so)

So we will see what happens over the next week. Pete has resigned, so he is officially gone and is trying to take a number of assistants with him. USC will try to find a top-tier coach fast to save the recruiting class. The next three weeks of recruiting is going to be very interesting.

Other Recruiting News and Notes:

• TomVH from Mgoblog says Rahard Knight CB/S from Florida is visiting Michigan this Friday. He is down to Michigan, Rutgers, and Ole Miss.

• Tony Grimes, another CB from Florida, who was going to be a "package deal" with teammate Clarence Murphy. Well, Murphy just committed to Maryland last week and Grimes is now not looking good for Michigan. There are two reasons for this change: 1) His main Michigan recruiter Jay Hopson took the DC job at Memphis 2) He played in an All-Star game in cold weather and didn't like it. So put those two things together and it looks like Grimes may now be favoring Miami.