Big news out of Los Angeles as USC announced that Tennessee Head Coach, Lane Kiffin (and his dad of course) will be replacing Pete Carroll. Just when I thought Kiffin was out of my life for good, here he comes back through the Rose Garden to patrol the LA Coliseum sidelines once again – this time as the Head Coach. His father, Monty, will be running the defense for the Trojans. While my first reaction was relief that the coaching vacancy has been filled already, I must admit I was hopeful that someone else, like Jeff Fisher would get the job. The upside is that the Trojans will get an established coach, although the jury is still out on his abilities as the man in charge. Kiffin, of course, didn’t have the most glamorous run at the helm of the Oakland Raiders, but looking back, his record was no worse than anyone else to come through Oakland in the last 6 years. In his only season in Knoxville, Kiffin led the Volunteers to a 7-6 record (4-4 SEC). What will be most interesting to see is how the recruiting season pans out. Will players be as excited to play for Kiffin as they were for Carroll? Will Lane be bringing any of his Tennessee players with him? While many questions will remain open for the months to come, one thing has been cleared up – that being the coaching position – so at the very least, USC can move on and look to rebound from their most disappointing season in the now-defunct Pete Carroll era.
Tag Archives: Pete Carroll
Monday Morning Randomness
Over the weekend there was one good playoff game, and the others turned out to be not so exciting, especially for someone like myself that doesn’t have any real connection to the teams playing. I just wanted to see some good contests, but that unfortunately didn’t happen for the most part. The Arizona and Green Bay game made up for it a little bit being the highest scoring playoff game of all time, but still, I really hoped for more this weekend. I have to say it was fun watching the Pats get blown out at home though! I guess I’ll talk about few other things I found interesting in the sporting world this weekend.
Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds for $30 million. This made me happy since I won’t have to root against the man with the same last name as me wearing an Angels uniform. Seeing how he went to Cincy, I have a feeling he won’t pan out since most their moves don’t. Not too many guys I can think of fare well pitching in that stadium. Maybe he’ll end up being a closer, which would be slightly easier to be successful than a starter at least in Cincy…
Vlad Guerrero stays in the AL West, but is moving to Texas. If there’s anywhere to see if Vlad has anything left in the tank it’s got to be Arlington. If he doesn’t produce there it’s easy to assume that his bat speed has slowed, and IS out of gas. The Rangers kept busy by signing Kahlil Greene to a deal as well. It looks like the Rangers can be a team that will be tough in the west if they can get another pitcher besides the often injured Harden they might be in business!
I came across some more reason’s that Raines deserves to be in the HOF. This link on Sportsnation shows how voters picked Dawson over Raines 70% to 30% in an original poll when it was just their names, then they posted the best five season’s from both guys in a new poll using Player A and Player B. The percentages flipped, and 70% voted for Raines’s numbers over Dawson’s. Thanks for showing me I wasn’t crazy when I said Raines deserves to be in the HOF sportsnation!
Paquiao and Mayweather are fighting on March 13, but Pacman will be in Dallas fighting, and Mayweather will be in Las Vegas. Sounds like Mayweather must want to fight Pacman for the PPV purchases. We’ll see which fight is MORE worth watching as Mayweather hasn’t announced who his opponent is, but I don’t see myself buying either…
Kansas and John Wall dropped to #3 in the NCAA basketball rankings and Texas jumped to #1 with their perfect 15-0 record. Kentucky is #2, in case you were wondering at 16-0. It’s the first time anyone but Kansas held the top spot this year including the preseason. The Jayhawks lost to Tennessee on Sunday in an upset.
Jay Mariotti actually wrote something that I agree with about the Rooney Rule in the wake of the Pete Caroll hiring. Sure Seattle says that Leslie Frazier was a true candidate for the head coaching job, but does anyone buy that? Sounds like they went straight for Pete, and Frazier was only considered because of the rule. Like I said in my piece on Pete moving, just a waste of everybody’s time bringing him into interview…
Pete Heading to the NFL… Again!
The Jim Mora era came to a quick end in Seattle with his firing. He only lasted one year, and yesterday was relieved of his head coaching position. He helped take a team that was okay, and turned them into one of my favorite teams to bet against in my Doin Lines picks. They were a lock to get blown out nearly the whole second half of the season. Today it was confirmed that the Seahawks search for a new coach started and ended with Pete Carroll. The former USC head coach is reportedly 100% on board with joining the Seahawks. Seattle adhered to the Rooney Rule by bringing in Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier yesterday, but sources around the league were already buzzing that Carroll and Seattle being close to a deal almost before they released that they met with Frazier, which makes me feel like they never really considered him for the job. I feel like this rule is just wasting peoples time, as it was completely obvious who Seahawks were targeting. Why should they even have to bring in Frazier when they weren’t really considering him? Carroll’s move from sunny Southern California to the cold pacific northwest might have a bigger impact on SC’s recruiting than it does for the Seahawks. It already sounds like a number of recruits might be changing their minds about going to SC next year. Luckily they don’t have to deal with the Rooney Rule that the NFL has to, and can pick a replacement coach quickly. Urban Meyer anyone? Ok, probably not, but that would be pretty comical. Continue reading