Well, it appears that the NCAA punishment "shoe" has finally dropped. With multiple sources, including ESPN, reporting that the punishment given out to USC by the discipline arm of the NCAA includes a two year bowl ban, loss of scholarships and forfeiture of wins from at least the 2004 season, it is time to look at the legacy of former Trojan coach, Pete Carroll. Of course, an appeal by USC, which can reasonably be expected given the severity of the punishment, may result in a reduction of the discipline but that remains to be seen. What doesn't remain to be seen is that the NCAA had enough evidence to impose a severe punishment regardless of how it is finally doled out. Which brings us to the subject of Pete Carroll and his legacy with the Trojans. Carroll, who many consider a God-like figure in the annals of USC football, now finds himself in the epicenter of Trojan trouble that he has left behind. For months, both before and after he left the program, Carroll has confidently strutted about, claiming little or no responsibility for any infractions that USC football may have committed. Apparently this was false bravado. As history looks back upon the Pete Carroll era, there will be measures of judgement that will be used to quantify his importance to Trojan football. The first is a universal yardstick that all so-called "great" coaches must measure up to. Did Pete Carroll leave USC football better than he found it? Well, say what you will about former USC head coach Paul Hackett, at least he didn't hand Pete Carroll a program handcuffed by severe NCAA sanctions. Not so for the program Carroll left behind for Lane Kiffin. Coach Kiffin and his staff will now have to weather a sanction-laden storm and hope that the Trojans can somehow maintain their recent lofty status as a major football power. It must be noted that history will also have the benefit of hindsight by which to measure Carroll in this department and that with the passage of time, there may be a "softening" of his role in the transgressions that USC is being punished for. However, and make no mistake about this, at this point, there must be enough substantiated evidence to warrant such a harsh penalty. For this Pete Carroll bears the brunt for not maintaining control over a program that was almost completely under his watch. The other barometer by which Carroll will be measured is how the former Trojan coach left USC football. Right or wrong, Pete Carroll cut and ran just before the NCAA imposed these debilitating sanctions. Whether or not it was just an unfortunate coincidence is beside the point. The fact is that when the chips were down, Pete Carroll was nowhere to be found. Instead, Carroll is in the Pacific northwest preparing for a new career as an NFL coach while USC and their fans are left to deal with the wreckage his mismanagement has left behind. Many months ago I wrote an article that carried close to the same title that this piece shares. In that article I opined that Carroll's legacy would be written by the NCAA infractions committee and suggested that as an author, the NCAA had written few, if any, bestsellers. Now that the worst has come to pass, Pete Carroll's USC legacy has been tarnished forever by the imposition of a punishment for crimes that Carroll either helped commit or was unable to prevent. And along with that tarnish comes the dulling of the luster of Pete Carroll in USC's football history. At one time, Pete Carroll was placed high on a pedestal by adoring Trojan fans. Now that lofty status has been replaced by the bitter taste of just another coach who couldn't play by the rules. And for Trojan fans, it appears that it will take at least two years for that bitterness to wash away... Source: Bleacher Report
