Did anyone see this coming? Fans of the University of Southern California were expecting a slap on the wrist. Fans of everyone else feared a slap on the wrist. There was talk of how the legal team at USC was running rings around the NCAA. After all, if the NCAA had something on the Trojans for actions taking place years ago, something would have been decided long ago.
Or so the story went. Even when head coach Pete Carroll seemed to be jumping ship by taking the Seattle Seahawks head job just a few weeks after the 2009 season ended, the apologists chalked it up to Carroll getting a situation in the pros that he could not refuse. What did he have to prove in the college ranks? And why would Lane Kiffen leave the head job at Tennessee if he thought that the sky would fall on Troy.
But now the sky seems to have fallen. And being that Kiffen was around during the glory days, there is something appropriate about his holding the bag. And for those worried about the current USC players paying for past sins, well they did sign on with a program that was under investigation and some of the signees were attracted to the glamorous life of a Trojan football player--a life built, somewhat, on lies.
Which brings us back to Carroll. In looking at some of the posts by USC fans today on various sites, Bush seems to be getting the lion's share of vitriol. but the responsibility for this problem lays at the feet of Carroll, his coaching staff, athletic director Mike Garrett, the behind scenes powers that be and multiple men who have held the job of school president. To return to glory a decade ago the school decided that they would do anything to build a winner. Included in the design was the acquisition of the best possible talent. And so Carroll and his boys rounded up some impressive recruiting classes using whatever means necessary. Along the way Carroll established a laissez faire approach to running a program reminiscent of Oklahoma in the 1980s or Miami in the '80s and '90s. But like those two programs you can only go so far before you crash and burn. I hope the Trojans brought a fire extinguisher. So if you are going to surround yourself with the type of player attracted to wine, women and song, well you really cannot complain if some of those players took care of themselves beyond what is legal.
More to follow tomorrow.
