As an Arizona alum who grew up in Los Angeles as a UCLA fan, I’m usually all for USC getting knocked down a peg or two.
But Carroll was just so good for college football. No, he was great for college football.
His leaving such a great gig for the NFL makes me worry about the future of college football. I’m starting to wonder if being a college coach isn’t all it is cracked up to be.
I thought he did one of the best jobs I’d ever seen of balancing what college football should be about. He recruited incredible talent. They became a program everyone wanted to beat. But they had an incredibly good time doing it. He had an incredibly good time doing it. College football shouldn’t be such a serious affair (check your thesaurus for synonyms of humorless, and Nick Saban is undoubtedly on that list).
Yes, USC got a little brash. Obnoxious, even. I’m not here to dispute that.
Carroll won national titles. Groomed Heisman Trophy winners. He earned plenty of money and lived in one of the best cities in the country (if you asked me, it’s THE best city in the country, but I’m biased). Now, he’s leaving to run the Seattle Seahawks as the president and head coach, a huge risk and an even higher pressure situation.
Why?
Well, I won’t even discuss here the possibility of sanctions that could be coming and he’s running away. Let’s just say that isn’t the case.
Have we set up college football coaches to fail? They have these incredibly crazy rules they have to follow and a one-loss season mostly likely eliminates any shot at a national title.
I love college football, but that’s crazy.
Take Ohio State this season. They lose to USC at home on the final drive of the game after a hideous offensive performance on both sides. The Buckeyes are essentially done for the year. Sure, they still have the Rose Bowl to play for. But their hopes for a special season are immediately ruined, no matter what they do the rest of the year. It doesn’t make sense.
Is that something that’s going to force more quality coaches out of college and into the NFL?
College football needs Pete Carrolls. They remind us of what college sports should be about. I hope the current set up of college football doesn’t make it simply a pit stop en route to the NFL.
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