| 11 January 2010
Well it sure looks like Pete Carroll is pulling a Calipari. After too many allegations against USC, Pete Carroll will be jumping ship and going back to the NFL to try and improve his career 33-31 coaching record. He's over .500 so it's not actually too bad and he's even won a playoff game. That's something Wade Phillips didn't even do until yesterday. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's going to work this time. Maybe it's the experience of both leagues more than he ever had before or maybe it's that he knows what the job is going to entail, but Carroll seems like a coach that excepts his failures and moves on. Sometimes you have to recognize your failures to understand your success. I think more than ever Carroll will know to stick to his ways, his gut feelings, and do what he truly thinks is best for the time. It's cliche to say it now, but the NFL is a copycat league. The problem with this is once everyone else catches up then there's already someone starting the new trend. So instead of following everyone else's lead and forming the wildcat formation in Seattle maybe he should go a different route. I think Pete Carroll should recreate the 2005 USC Trojans; this time as the 2010 SeattleSeawhawks.
Now before I get into the contract side of things I want everyone to remember how amazing it was to watch that Trojan team. Yes, they lost the Rose Bowl to Vince Young, but every game they seemed like a powerhouse above all. There were talks during the season about if they could compete with the worst NFL team and they were considered one of the best teams of all time. They had five players selected within the first two rounds eleven players overall in the 2006 draft. Now being able to secure every integral part of that team maybe pretty difficult, but when you look at the impact players on that team, especially on offense, there is actually a good possibility that they could be acquired.
Do I know this team would be great? No. Do I think they would be good? Yes. Everyone talks about two things with collegiate athletes. They're either considered great college players or they are products of the system. If you're not one of those two terms and are drafted then you are a blue chip player. If you're a blue chip player it doesn't matter what team you're on, what league you're in, or what system you're playing with. The 2005 USC Trojans had plenty of players who we thought were going to be great, if not really good, players in the NFL. Some of them haven't panned out like we thought, but maybe, just maybe, it's actually because they were a product of the system or that they were great with the players that were around them. Reggie Bush...good not great. Matt Leinart...had some chances, still nothing special. Lendale White...loses weight and rushes less. Dwayne Jarrett...what team is he on? Actually Steve Smith has had the most success based on his potential, but that will probably die down quick as well once the NY Giants get a legitimate number one receiver in there. I say take those five players and a few more from that team and lets see what Peter could do with them. Maybe the magic is recreated and the players feel that special bound again that made them great. Maybe they can return to their 2005 form.
Now how is this all going to happen? Simple. All those players mentioned above would be semi-easy to obtain. We know Reggie Bush and Lendale White are going to be out the door soon. New Orleans could accidently hit someone swimming in the bayou with their pontoon boat and plug them in at running back and they'd probably still do better then Reggie. He could easily be traded for with a third round pick at best. They'd be happy to get rid of that salary and get anything in return for him. Lendale White was in a contract year and didn't do anything to better himself. He could easily sign to the Seahawks. To go deeper into the 2005 team the Trojans could trade for Dwayne Jarrett and Ryan Kalil and probably do so without having to give up a lot. They do have a solid amount of draft picks. Steve Smith would be a little harder to acquire, but picks could help the Giants as well. If you want to build the O-line even more then I'm sure any team would be willing to give away Winston Justice and the Seahawks could also get Sam Baker, Fred Matua, and Deuce Lutui. The toughest player to get would be Leinart. I say the Seahawks trade away Matt Hasselbeck to the Cardinals for Matt Leinart and pay a little of Hasselbeck's salary. The Cardinals would then have a veteran QB to start if Kurt Warner retires and be able to draft somebody in this draft since Leinart hasn't panned out as much as everyone thought. If Carroll really wants to pull out the bag of tricks he could even attempt to ressurect the career of wide receiver Mike Williams and maybe get Keyshawn Johnson to leave the booth and home decorating show for a chance to play with his fellow Trojans.
So it's far-fetched, highly unlikely, and probably a failure in the making, but it would still be awesome to see. It would take the college camraderie interest that we love to see so much and put them together on a professional team and we'd get to see what the package could do together in the big leagues. Maybe it will be the new trend in the NFL. Teams will just trade with other teams for players from a specific college. It will be like trying to capture the same colored properties in Monopoly; you know need Pacific Avenue to start building houses on all three green properties, but do you really want to give up Park Place to do so? It's an idea that's never been done to the extreme. It's a win-win situation though. Even if Pete Carroll fails in the NFL he can just jump back into the college ranks again, and stay with that team until too many violations pile up again.
