Ick's Corner

Most years Pete Carroll struggles to keep his superstar players from leaving USC and heading to the NFL. This season he is following them.  Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks have agreed *in principle* to a deal that is worth $35 million over the next 5 years.  Pete Carroll didn’t need the extra $2 million dollar a year raise, but more like a way off the sinking ship know as USC athletics.  Reggie Bush,  O.J. Mayo, and Joe McKnight have all become icebergs that have  punched holes in Carrolls once thought to be unsinkable USC ocean liner.  Ok so O.J. Mayo rode on a different ocean liner, but you get the idea.

You have to think with Reggie Bush’s court case with New Era Sports moving forward, and Joe McKnight deciding to enter the upcoming NFL draft Pete Carroll is starting to see the writing on the wall.  Things could start getting very sticky for the soon to be ex head coach if he is called in for questioning as expected when Reggie Bush’s case moves into a court room.  It’s no surprise that Joe McKnight has declared for the draft, after he was spotted driving a Range Rover around. How stupid do you have to be to park your *girlfriends* Ranger Rover outside the USC practice facility? I guess McKnight thought that it would be ok since the the SUV is registered to his girlfriend. He would like us to believe she also makes the $500+ a month payment on it, yeah right. The down payment for the SUV was paid for by an *old friend of the family*, who apparently has no ties with USC football. Once again I say, yeah right.

Due to the allegations that circle around O.J. Mayo the USC basketball program will not be playing in the NCAA tournament this year.  What will come next for USC’s football program is uncertain. One thing that is for certain, players have been getting paid for decades, this is nothing new.  I would expect USC to be placed on probation if these allegations are proven true. One thing USC can be thankful for, they don’t have to be worried about receiving the NCAA death penalty like SMU did in the 80′s. I think the NCAA learned it lesson with that one.

As for Pete Carrolls sudden departure from USC, he knows its time to grab a seat on a life boat and get comfortable. Truth be told if Joe McKnight had never parked his Range Rover in the parking lot of the practice facility, Pete Carroll would be returning next season as USC’s head coach. Various NFL teams have tried to bring Carroll in as their head coach over the years, and Carroll has always declined the job offer. So why now? It all comes back to the fact that once his ocean liner sinks into the icy cold water known as an NCAA investigation, he knows its all over for him at USC and possibly his coaching career.