Pete Carroll Leaves USC to Coach Seahawks
Pete Carroll is gone from USC and back in the NFL.
After days of talks, the Seattle Seahawks hired the charismatic coach Monday, luring him away from the University of Southern California.
"The nine years at USC have been the best years of my coaching life," Carroll said in a statement released by the university. "I will forever be indebted for the opportunity to represent this great university and would like to extend my thanks to President Sample and Mike Garrett for giving me the chance."
CBS Sports.com's Dennis Dodd:
Carroll takes Trojans' horse with him into NFL sunset
The Seahawks chief executive Tod Leiweke spent Sunday finalizing the contract for the 58-year-old Carroll.
On Friday, the team fired coach Jim Mora following just one season. Seattle forced general manager and president Tim Ruskell to leave on Dec. 3. The moves left them rudderless less than four years after the Seahawks reached the Super Bowl.
Until now.
"We are excited to add Pete as our coach. He brings a great passion for winning and a positive attitude that is contagious," Leiweke said upon his return to Seattle.
The Seahawks are expected to formally introduce Carroll at their headquarters in Renton, Wash., on Tuesday.
Carroll was 6-10 in 1994 with the Jets and then 27-21 while twice reaching the playoffs from '97-99 with the Patriots - before he restored a dynasty at USC beginning in 2001.
"The university graciously approached me to stay but this choice is about pursuing the great challenges of competing in the NFL and I found this opportunity too compelling to pass up," Carroll said.
Carroll was 97-19 and won two national championships with USC. He leaves following his worst season since his first at the school and with the NCAA investigating the program.
60 Minutes: Pete Carroll's Winning Coaching Style
The opportunity is unique for Carroll. The Seahawks do not have a GM in place, so he could have authority over football matters like he had at USC, and far more than he would have had filling any of the NFL coaching openings to which he's been connected in recent winters. The league source, however, said the only official title Carroll will have is "coach."
This is also perhaps the best time to leave USC since he arrived in 2001.
Its string of seven consecutive Pac-10 titles ended with four losses in the just-completed season. And the school has been under several years of NCAA scrutiny for alleged improprieties in both Carroll's team and athletic director Mike Garrett's beleaguered department.
When receiver Damian Williams announced he's entering the NFL a year early, the news release of his departure Friday night didn't include a quote from Carroll, who often lavishes praise on early entry candidates.
University of Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, who left his friend Carroll and the Trojans 12 months ago for his first head coaching job, chuckled when asked if he'd like to be a head man in the same city as his mentor.
"That would be kind of fun," Sarkisian said. "He would do great. He's a great coach."
Carroll's departure comes at a bad time for USC recruits, who are now caught between whether to honor their commitments or re-enter the college recruiting derby late in the process.