LOS ANGELES (AP) -Pete Carroll turned a sleeping giant into a college football behemoth at Southern California. His successor had better know how to feed the beast – and with recruiting in a critical stage, he’d better get to Hollywood quickly.
Several presumptive candidates to replace Carroll dropped out of the running in the 24 hours after Carroll officially announced his resignation to join the Seattle Seahawks. Former USC linebacker Jack Del Rio committed to staying in Jacksonville on Tuesday, while Jeff Fisher and Mike Riley showed no public interest despite their Trojans ties.
The looming shadow of NCAA sanctions is likely to worry any elite coach, but it can’t change the fact USC offers an extremely attractive position with everything necessary to succeed right away: a rich local talent base, ample talent already on hand, a glowing history and a large, wealthy alumni base eager to keep winning.
“There’s no question the University of Southern California can find a great head coach,” said quarterback Matt Barkley, who’s sticking with the Trojans despite the departures of the three coaches to which he was closest: Carroll, Jeremy Bates and Steve Sarkisian. “It’s just a great place to be, and a great place to live. We’ve got everything going for us.”
Athletic director Mike Garrett is thought to be in charge of the search, but the elusive former Heisman Trophy winner has barely spoken in public for months, shying away from any chance of getting trapped into talking about the NCAA’s various investigations into his beleaguered department.
Garrett fled from Carroll’s farewell news conference Monday, only saying he wouldn’t comment on his coaching search until it was over. USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said Tuesday the Trojans didn’t plan to comment on the search’s progress.
With Del Rio’s removal from the candidate field, speculation shifted Tuesday to Boise State’s Chris Petersen and former NFL coaches Jim Fassel and Steve Mariucci, the former 49ers and Lions coach who has been in television since Detroit fired him in 2005. Hopeful fans and alumni also floated the possibilities of a return by Sarkisian or Lane Kiffin, yet both are early in lucrative contracts at their current schools.
ays that Mariucci decidedly does.
Unlike Del Rio, Mariucci has collegiate coaching experience, putting together one successful rebuilding season at California before the 49ers abruptly hired him to succeed George Seifert. Garrett consistently has gone after coaches with professional experience in its recent hires in football and basketball, from Carroll and disgraced hoops coach Tim Floyd to current basketball coaches Kevin O’Neill and Michael Cooper.
Mariucci, who didn’t return a phone call Tuesday, certainly would thrive in the spotlight of the nation’s second-largest media market, and his television break apparently has re-energized him for coaching. He was rumored as a candidate for Michigan State, UCLA and the Washington Redskins in recent years.
Mariucci showed recruiting skills during his time at Cal, and he has a measure of the rah-rah attitude that famously worked so well for Carroll at USC. Yet he also has proven to be flexible enough to win in the pro game – something Carroll still hasn’t shown.
He took the 49ers to the playoffs four times in six seasons, reaching the NFC championship game after the 1997 campaign, before San Francisco owner John York surprisingly fired him in a fit of pique after a second-round loss to Tampa Bay in January 2003. The Niners haven’t been back to the playoffs or had a winning season since his departure.
nd his pro-style offense would be welcomed by Barkley, tailback Allen Bradford, receiver Brice Butler and the rest of USC’s returning offensive talent.
“I would love something similar to what we’ve always done here at SC, that pro-style offense,” Barkley said. “But it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll play in whatever offense.”
In addition to his media skills, Mariucci also didn’t share the mania for secrecy of so many NFL coaches, allowing reporters to attend the 49ers’ practices. That would fit in well at a school where Carroll’s practices have always been open to media and fans.
Until Garrett and the USC trustees settle on a coach, the current Trojans are attempting to keep the program together. Bradford and Barkley were among the leaders who called a team meeting before the offseason conditioning program began Tuesday, while Butler and Barkley planned to call all of USC’s prospective recruits to urge them to stick with the Trojans.
“I would just tell them what my dad told me: ‘Don’t commit because of a coach, because that can change,”’ said Butler, who came to USC from Georgia. “You’ve got to commit because of a program, and this is USC.”
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