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I'd be hard pressed to find a college coaching change that has impacted the rest of the college coaching landscape to the extent as Pete Carroll's decision to finally return to the pro ranks. Carroll finally found his opportunity to have complete control over a team and its coaching and staff personnel in the Seattle Seahawks, and will have a second chance to make a name for himself in the pros after his previous stint with the Patriots didn't end so well. Methinks a few 6-10, and 8-8 seasons will be the most likely results though. We shall see.
Carroll's departure may mark the end of an era in South Central. While USC had their first "down year" since the turn of the century, the exit of head honcho Carroll almost ensured that the Trojans would not continue to be the reload and win team that the college football world had come to expect year in and year out.
Or would it?
More than anything, I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened since the. It's been a type of twisted falling of dominoes if you will.
So USC suddenly finds itself in need of a new head coach. You've got the most dominant football program of the last ten years, a star studded recruiting class, and a location in sunny Southern Cal, it can't be that hard to find a replacement, right?
Oregon State's Mike Riley says, "Aw Shucks," but politely refuses his dream job and chuckles on his way to signing a long extension with the Beavers.
Jacksonville's Jack del Rio says "No thanks," and goes back into thinking about how to ride Maurice Jones-Drew's thunder thighs back into the playoffs next year. Thanks for the fantasy points by the way, MJD.
Steve Sarkisian thinks he's got a good thing going with the Huskies and is salivating over another year with his pet project Jake Locker.
Wait, what the hell? Why isn't anyone coming to be the man of Troy?!
Ah yes, there's the whole matter of the impending publishing of the NCAA violations report that will likely result in the loss of scholarships and bowl eligibility for a year. Who in their right mind would walk back into that situation? Who on God's green earth would be willing to simply shrug off NCAA player and recruitment violations in the name of winning?
Enter this man.
Ah yes, Lane Kiffin. The former USC offensive coordinator who helped steer the Trojans to offensive glory. The same coordintor who went on to help lead the cherished Raiders franchise to a 5-15 record before being dismissed midseason by Al Davis. The same coach who went on to help turn around the struggling Tennessee volunteers back to glory with a mighty 7-6 record including a close and nail-biting 37-14 bowl loss to the Virgina Tech Hokies. The same coach who racked up a series of NCAA minor recruiting violations, and ditched the Volunteers for South Central in just a year.
Here was your man.
Tagging along with Kiffin, was his father Monty who is considered one of the best defensive coordinators in all of football as well as Ed Orgeron who could recruit my mother to strap it up for the Trojans if he felt so inclined. Rumors of Norm Chow switching over to USC, while entertaining, ultimately resulted in nothing as Chow decided to rough it out another year with Neuheisel and crew.
The coaching change madness didnt' stop there.
Tennessee scrambled to find their new coach, and found him in Louisiana Tech head coach and AD Derek Dooley. You might remember him from the coach who slapped his own player in the head during their game against our sturdy Golden Bears back in 2007.
That left LA Tech without a coach. They turned to Sonny Dykes, Arizona's offensive coordinator who helped turn Arizona into one of the best offensive teams in the conference.
As it stands now, Arizona seems to be the team on the short end of the stick, although finding a new offensive coordinator seems to be a slightly easier task than finding a new head coach with National Signing Day just two weeks away.
The dust appears to have settled, and as it stands now, we've got three new head coaching positions. Recruiting has settled a bit, as a number of USC commits who had initially panicked and backed off USC appear to have recommitted and the Trojans have kept their premier class in tact for the most part.
In terms of conference coaching implications, the change leaves Cal's Jeff Tedford and OSU's Riley has the deans of Pac-10 coaches. While Riley technically has more years in the conference, his short NFL departure allows Tedford to currently have the most consecutive years at the helm of a Pac-10 program.
You've got to think the change also marks the beginning of a new era in the conference. Don't get me wrong, USC is still in my mind, the premier program in the conference. One might immediately point to the fast rising Ducks and the current Pac-10 champions, but you've got to wonder whether they'll be able to sustain such success year in and year out with a still relatively inexperienced coach in Chip Kelly, and recruiting classes that still don't consistently have the star power of USC.
USC will likely take a step back in the next year or so, especially with the impending NCAA sanctions. And if it's simply a harsh verbal warning, I swear by the power of Oski, I'm going to hold tourists in the Campinile hostage. But they've got too much going for them to not be one of the conference power houses.
But with the parity in the conference this past year, you've got to think that now, more than any other time in the past ten years, is the time to be salivating as Pac-10 fan. Unless you're a Washington State fan, your team might have just as much of a shot as any to take the reigns in the conference.
In a way, it feels more and more like the time of USC and nine dwarves is officially over. The Ducks' Rose Bowl Berth started the movement and Carroll's departure has moved the whole thing to a frenetic pace.
Ding dong, the freaking wicked witch is dead.
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