Pete Carroll Takes Off His Trojan... Affiliation

Reports from early Monday morning are that Pete Carroll has taken off his Trojan hat saying 'it just doesn't fit right anymore' and he 'just doesn't feel the passion with his Trojans anymore'. Carroll thinks it will just feel better to pull out now. In other news, I'm eight years old.

Carroll resigned his post as the head football coach at the University of Southern California to take a reportedly "done deal" with the Seattle Seahawks. Though nothing is yet signed, it is expected that Carroll will replace recently fired Jim Mora as the new Seahawks coach. Pete is expected to take at least a couple members of the Trojan staff with him including Jeremy Bates, Offensive Coordinator at USC. Bates had been schedules to interview for the OC position with the Chicago Bears before he cancelled at the last minute to follow Pete to the Pacific Northwest.

Seahawks chief executive officer Tod Leiweke was in Los Angeles on Sunday to finalize the deal, the Los Angeles Times reported. Though nothing is signed yet, the parties have agreed to all terms in principle and the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Carroll's USC resignation is officially submitted to the school.

Pete Carroll and USC dominated the Pac-10 during his tenure there. He started in 2001 and managed seven straight Pac-10 titles which was ended this year with the Trojans' four-loss season. This will be Carroll's third head-coaching gig in the NFL after 1997-99 with the Patriots and 1994 with the Jets.

Let's face it though, USC is a sinking ship and Carroll is getting out while the getting's good. With the scandals involving Reggie Bush, OJ Mayo, and now Joe McKnight, you know the NCAA is going to come down hard on USC. I'm sure more stuff will be revealed about players getting paid in one way or another, high school coaches getting kickbacks, and various other violations. I think it's going to be tough sledding for the Trojans without Carroll and members of his staff - combine that with what's sure to be lost scholarships and inelegibilities around USC's football program and you've got a pretty tough job to fill. I hear Charlie Weis and Mike Leach are hunting for jobs, in other news, Mark Mangino is thinking Arby's.