Coaching Notes

I thought I would be largely done with the slider puzzle that is the coaching profession, but this year has taken a turn for the surreal with the cascade effect created by Pete Carroll's departure. Let's try to make sense of the storylines and see just what is happening, and why.

Pete Carroll to the Seahawks

That Pete Carroll went to Seattle is not surprising. Or at least it is not surprising now that the NCAA is bringing the heat. I saw a headline from some writer saying that Pete Carroll is abandoning his team just at the moment when they need him most. Well, if he did know what was going on, then he needs to get out of town while the gettin's good, lest any of the dirt catch up with him. If he didn't know about the extra benefits, then he might be well-advised to get away from the dirtbags before they ruin his career. No matter what, he needed to get out of town now. With Reggie Bush's case going to trial and the NCAA looking into Joe McKnight's SUV, and the whole O.J. Mayo thing already hanging over the USC athletic department... I hate to say it, but if he was going to leave, he was going to have to do it now. If he didn't, he risked coaching under NCAA sanctions that might undermine his win total. And if any of those rumors of feuds between Carroll and Mike Garrett are true, then he could not count on institutional patience and support if he had a couple of bad seasons.

In some ways, Pete Carroll's legacy actually has a better chance at surviving now. He is leaving when he is still a conquering hero, even if his last campaign was not his finest hour. And, like any good Broadway performer, he is leaving them wanting more. And he is leaving for the NFL, where the NCAA investigative unit can't touch him. Like Reggie Bush and now Joe McKnight, he does not need to cooperate with their investigations now that he is no longer under the jurisdiction of the NCAA. Which means that the NCAA may be left entirely powerless if Reggie Bush settles out of court. Which means that everyone involved may be out of the woods, and their legacies can remain secure.

With all that said, Pete Carroll and USC belonged together. He simply fit there. He was the embodiment of everything that Southern California likes to be: fun-loving, risk-taking, flexible, and altogether overpowering, making them the destination for the cream of the country's crop. They gambled constantly and usually won. They conquered almost every major foe they encountered. And they did it in style. That is everything that California likes to be, and Pete Carroll gave that to them in a simple, quantifiable microcosm. USC will have other successful coaches, and I'm sure that they will find some that they are quite happy with once the memory of Pete Carroll inevitably fades. But Pete Carroll will never find anyplace where he belongs quite like he did at USC. I just wonder how long he is going to spend chasing that feeling. That, ladies and gentleman, carries the element of tragedy.

Lane Kiffin to USC

The problem with USC losing their very popular coach just after the bowls is that they needed to find somebody quick. Pete Carroll was working on yet another stellar recruiting class and USC needed to hold that class together if they wanted to keep the Trojan train rolling for the next coach.

The obvious choice for USC would be a current or former assistant coach under Pete Carroll. That would provide some measure of continuity for the Trojans and show the fans and the country that things weren't changing all that much. Lane Kiffin was the name that came first to mind, mostly because he's the only former USC coach that I could think of (sorry Steve Sarkisian). But I quickly put him out of mind, since he was a flop with the Oakland Raiders and only had one mediocre season at Tennessee—not exactly the sort of stellar track record that I expected USC to look for when selecting a coach to replace a legend. Oops.

In retrospect, I realize that I shouldn't have been so dismissive. Lane Kiffin is still something of the golden child for USC, and I'm willing to guess that most USC fans consider the Tennessee job to be no better than Memphis or Middle Tennessee State... I mean, it's just out in the sticks, isn't it? Lane Kiffin certainly thought so.

And on the Kiffin side of the ledger, let's face it, he was never going to fit in at Tennessee and he probably knew it. He didn't know the first thing about Tennessee football and didn't care to ever learn. Honestly, I would guess that he didn't even want to be there, he just wanted a big-time head coaching position while waiting for something else to open up... like the USC job. The problem with that is that Tennessee football has a very long, proud history and the good folks of Tennessee are very happy about it. And they don't consider the state of Tennessee to be a backwater destination, fine thank you.

However, what Lane Kiffin did very well was run his mouth. And, wow, was he good at that. And he was even better at committing secondary recruiting violations. Does anyone else see the problem with installing him as coach at USC at this particular time? There is a whiff of trouble and danger in the L.A. air.

Derek Dooley to Tennessee

Tennessee is a rather odd for a traditional college football power. Of all the teams that have spent at least the last 20 years playing major college football (i.e. not Boise State, who joined I-A in 1996), there are 10 that have separated themselves from the pack in terms of winning percentage: Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, Nebraska, and Tennessee. All of them are above or near the 70% winning percentage mark, and there is a good-sized gap between number 10 and number 11. This means that these teams are the cream of the crop in college football. It is darn-near impossible for any team to win anywhere near 70% of their games consistently, so the fact that these teams have done it is a testament to their enduring and consistent excellence.

Tennessee is among those teams who have reached such rarified heights, and they are rightly proud of their accomplishments. However, they always seem to be stuck in the shadows. I'm still not sure why, but they are kind of forgotten in amongst the other national powers. They don't pile up the national success achieved by some of their conference brethren, they are not a vacation destination, the state isn't in the top 15 for population, and their big season-ending rivarly game is against Kentucky, who is traditionally terrible. Let's face it, when you can win something like 25 in a row against your big rival, you aren't finishing the season with a flourish, or a bang, or really against much of a rival.

The thing about it is that Tennessee is a destination school for a coach, but it is one of those schools that isn't as iconic as Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, or Texas. But there really isn't a step up from Tennessee, because if you the sort of winner who a more-iconic school wants to hire, Tennessee is just as good a team as any other and can stand toe-to-toe with anybody.

What that means is that Lane Kiffin could not give two craps about Tennessee, but a Southerner would look at Tennessee as a place to be. Enter Derek Dooley, son of former Georgia football coaching icon Vince Dooley. He would know what Tennessee football is all about, he would appreciate it, and he would want to be there. It remains to be seen whether he can win at a rate that will make the state of Tennessee smile. However, his understanding and appreciation of Tennessee football will ingratiate him with the fans and players, allowing him time to clean up the mess left by Lane Kiffin. Whether he will or will not turn Tennessee into a national power is hard to say at this point. But he should at least be there long enough for us to find out the answer.

Of all the people and schools in this muddled mess, I would say that Derek Dooley and Tennessee are the two most likely to be winners in the final score. Pete Carroll is going to a league that does not value coaches. The Seahawks are getting a guy who is used to having a team that can overpower the opposing team in every phase of the game. USC is getting a loose cannon with a pretty unremarkable record and a predilection for secondary violations just when USC is under investigation for a series of major violations. Lane Kiffin is replacing a living legend, and I have trouble imagining him measuring up to the long shadow cast by his predecessor. Tennessee loses a coach with a bad, but very limited track record, while losing their chosen coach after just one year. However, Tennessee has the opportunity to clean up the prodigious mess left behind before it got any worse, and they get a coach who will actually want to stay at Tennessee if he is successful. Derek Dooley gets a plum job with a traditional power that has a fan base and administration that will give him time to turn things around. Though Tennessee and Dooley aren't guaranteed winners, they look to be the most likely to come out ahead, if only because they look like the least likely to lose.