Who Won?
If you take everyone at their word*, who won following the recent events of the past few days?
USC? Pete Carroll is happy because he says Ken Norton is staying. And he keeps the best linebacker he said he ever coached. That's a victory.
UCLA? It now appears like it will hire a defensive coordinator based on something more than being a star player. An even bigger victory.
So everyone wins? Well, not quite. DeWayne Walker will not be replaced no matter who Rick Neuheisel hires, so that's a loss. But it could have been worse.
*We do not take everyone at their word, but that's for another post.
Is it just me or was Walker desperate? He's going to New Mexico State!? Whose dream job is that? From there it's a stepping stone to...what? If you win, who cares? If you lose, you sell used cars the rest of your life. I agree that ucla is an awful, dreadful place filled with nasty, horrible people, but New Mexico State?!?!?!
UCLA is a winner for sure. How do you lost 59-0 to BYU and keep the "defensive genius" label? Getting rid of a guy who is inaccurately perceived as a great defensive coach, but who generally has 30-50 guys in the country doing better than him, is a good thing. There are a lot of DCs out there better than DW, and ucla might get one of those guys and start fielding a real defense.
There is no question that USC/Pete Carroll won this exchange. If nothing else he ended up fannng the flame that The Weasel and ethics are polar opposites. Important not only with the recruits but far more important with the fUCLA administration who had some serious misgivings about hiring this guy.
Simers article getting Pete to admit he was behind this was telling. Why did Pete personally start this kind of fracas...especially during Rose Bowl week?
Concerned about losing his LA recruiting guy to crosstown rival?
Trying to stop the bleeding of other SC verbals from heading west?
Why bring the spotlight to UCLA as a real competitor for talent?
Was it just to get a cheap shot in on Neuheisel?
UCLA will not replace DeWayne walker no matter who they hire?! When exactly did DeWayne Walker become the second coming of Monte Kiffin?
Again another coach makes an entire undeserved college career for himself based on one good showing against USC.
Charlie Weis did it by getting a huge contract after LOSING to USC in 2005.
Tedford did it by playing USC close for a few years.
DeWayne Walker has now apparently achieved the genius moniker by holding a USC team to 9 points 2 seasons ago.
This is absolutely ridiculous. DeWayne's defenses matched up well against USc because DeWayne was a coach here at USC and knew the weaknesses of the USC offense. He didn't seem like such a genius when his teams were being blown out at BYU earlier this season.
Goux, the only thing you can bank on with Simers is that he has no convictions, no principles, no concern for anything except stirring up noise and making headlines. You may recall that he earned his reputation by being famously anti-SC until such an uproar was created that his own editors took him off the football beat for some time. No one cared when he lobbed idiotic insults at the dodgers, so he's back. All you need to know about that clown is that he's a Domer who was hired by a Domer.
Goux, why do you take it to the extreme and think that Carroll is worried? If your going to the bank with a million dollars in your briefcase and you saw a $100 bill on the sidewalk wouldn't you stop and pick it up? The Weasel & Co. left some low hanging fruit and CPC just gobbled it up.
SC wins big. UCLA loses Walker who is key to their program, they lose Norton who would have been an excellent replacement, especially in recruiting, and Slick Rick gets tarnished in his 3rd major program. SC in a landslide.