Although this might be the first and last time I’ll ever say this, it appears that both Seahawks and Trojans alike will get a real kick out of this video, if even for all the wrong reasons.

Pete Carroll for years has been known as the ultimate players coach, mostly because of his ability to connect with a completely separate and generally isolated generation. At USC, Carroll had almost complete control over operations, because all he ever did was bring tons of money to a school that had long yearned for football to be revitalized in Southern California. The argument could easily be made that Pete was the coach of the decade spanning all of college football, so it seems that his approach to the game, his players, and his fans has worked to date.

He’s always been a fairly humble coach as well, and the video I’m going to drop on you might highlight that more than ever. Carroll abandoned ship after the ramshackles of possible sanctions wanting to move on to greener pastures, leaving all of Troy filled with hatred. The Seattle Seahawks got “their man”, but “their man” has had NFL experience before, and it didn’t exactly work out.

So Carroll approached yet another uneasy situation in the only way he knew possible – humility. And laughter. And just downright awkwardness. And in the end, we all realize that Carroll might not be everyone’s proverbial cup of tea, but he’s sure one hell of a guy.

Mike Florio of the Sporting News recently wrote an article concerning the Rooney Rule and why it’s become a mockery of sorts as of late. Coaches seemed to be given interviews only because of their racial status, and even worse are now brought in to exchange pleasantries and usually shown the door minutes later.

The Fritz Pollard Alliance is the organization in charge of regulating the Rooney Rule policy, which mandates that an NFL team that is in search of a head coach must interview at least one African American for the job. Perhaps in a race divided country these ideals would hold more weight, but all NFL teams are doing now are trying to find ways to circumvent the system.

Take for example the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins this off-season. Both teams were in the market for a head coach, and like many teams who are struggling and want to make a marquis signing, were looking for the cream of the crop. Pete Carroll and Mike Shanahan are undoubtedly two of the most high profile coaches in the modern world, and most any team with the opportunity to ink one of the two aforementioned Football geniuses wouldn’t think twice about the signing.

Unless, of course, they had to bring in a minority coach to delay the process. The Pittsburgh Steelers just a few years ago proved to the world that this country, and more definitively football, is only concerned with wins, losses, and the bottom line. A winning team is a profitable team, and neither race nor gender nor creed makes up a candidates credentials. The Steelers promoted Mike Tomlin to the head coaching position even after interviewing Ken Whisenhunt(Arizona Cardinals) and Russ Grimm, because they felt that Tomlin gave the Steelers the best chance of winning. And what did Tomlin do? Brought a Super Bowl to the city of Pittsburgh.

Touching back on the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins enigma is important because of the way the two organizations are forced to unfairly treat candidates. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has interviewed for both teams, who never once had the intentions of signing him to a contract. Pete Carroll was Seattle’s man, and Mike Shanahan was Washington’s. Frazier has been a complete gem through the entire process, putting on a smile and probably even thought he had a small shot at landing a high profile job. Unfortunately, Frazier never stood a chance.

Getting rid of the Rooney Rule doesn’t necessarily mean that minority head coaches would have any less opportunity. Franchises can still face tough scrutiny from their fanbase if they fail to diversify, and lawsuits concerning racial discrimination can be handled in the same manner as any other walk of life.

If the Rooney Rule was designed to protect minorites, it’s sure doing a poor job of it. Leslie Frazier is a phenomenal coordinator who has been taken to the woodshed because franchises are forced to talk to him, not because they want to. Imagine if your boss told you to come in for a possible promotion every week for a solid month, yet you knew there was not a chance in the world you’d ever advance.

According to Scott Wolf of the Daily News, Pete Carroll has accepted the head coaching position for the Seattle Seahawks, and will become the highest paid NFL coach once the final details are worked out.

The contract is expected to give Carroll roughly five years at 35 million, or 7 per.

The move to Seattle has come in such a shock and awe manner that it’s hard to say when he will be officially announced as the next head coach, as the Seahawks still have to comply with the Rooney Rule and work out contract laden incentives for Mr. USC.

What’s next for USC? According to sources, the Trojans are now targeting head coaches Mike Riley(OSU), Steve Sarkisian(UW), and Jack Del Rio(JAX) for their soon to be opening. Carroll’s jump signals a true end of the USC era, as the school has become plagued with legal problems concerning both players and administration.

Facing probable sanctions, Carroll probably assumed there was never a better time to make the jump to the NFL. He’s once again losing a ton of underclassmen to the draft, and has recently had a falling out with the new athletic administrator.

Well, almost.

With just seconds remaining, USC had the game all but wrapped up. They were up two touchdowns with the ball, and all they needed was two more running plays to send everyone back to the locker rooms.

Not so fast my friend!

Pete Carroll dialed up a senseless 48 yard playaction touchdown from freshman Matt Barkley that sent both sidelines into a frenzy. With UCLA completely unsuspecting of anything other than a QB kneel, the Trojans sideline erupted with laughter and started taunting the Bruins from their sideline, now up 28-7.

UCLA wasn’t so thrilled with the play. Their entire team migrated halfway across the field, and about 3-4 skirmishes broke out. The coaching staffs did their best to prevent any real throwdown from happening, but it’s clear the line has been drawn in the sand. Carroll and Neuheisel can finally get over this puppy love they have for each other – even if Rick publicly blames his defense for not being on their toes, deep down there has to be some newfound ire directed towards the men of Troy.

USC fans do have a counter argument that holds at least some weight. Neuheisel called a meaningless timeout the play before to stop the clock with a minute remaining, even though the game was beyond over. Carroll’s play call might have had something to do with Rick taking the timeout to delay the inevitable, but it’s hard to tell. Both coaches are obviously going to take the high road for now, but there’s no way to avoid it come next year at the Rose Bowl.They’ll play the final week of the season on December 4th.

Most people wouldn’t make much ado over this if it wasn’t for Carroll’s disdain towards Jim Harbaugh, the coach of the Stanford Cardinal. His team clearly ran up the score on the Trojans, going for a meaningless two point conversion up 28 with just minutes left in the game. It was a statement game from Stanford, but there’s no way USC’s entire football department swallowed that easily.

UCLA’ s season is over, and are drawing serious interest from the Humanitarian Bowl. USC, with a win next week against Arizona, will probably earn a bid to the Holiday Bowl.

Here’s some video footage of what went down in the Coliseum.

One thing is clear this Saturday after Stanford ran through No. 9 USC 55-21; USC doesn’t dominate the Pac-10 anymore. Meanwhile, the conference is continuing to get better while USC has become worse.

Southern California still remains a top dog in the conference and the country, but while they still schedule difficult non-conference games, the Pac-10 has actually become a positive. Not long ago, one of USC’s biggest enemies in gaining widespread national respect (and more importantly, the BCS computers’) was the conference they played in. No more.

Right now, USC, Oregon, Arizona and Oregon State all rank in the top 25 of the BCS standings. With Stanford’s back-to-back victories over Oregon and USC, they will likely join the rankings as well. In fact, USC stands in fifth place in their own conference. Yikes!

In all fairness, every year the NFL pilfers talent from the Trojans and it is increasingly difficult to reload NFL-caliber players even with the recruiting classes that coach Pete Carroll brings in. Last year saw redshirt junior quarterback  Mark Sanchez jump at the draft after playing only one full season as the starter. That same QB is a starter for the New York Jets.

This season? USC started a true freshman in Matt Barkley, a player Carroll calls an “outlier”. Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote the book that inspired Carroll to use the term, say outliers are people who “for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August.”

In other words, someone special, but Barkley (1,829 yards, 10 TDs, 7INTs) hasn’t been enough this season and has even struggled as of late. The past two games, Barkley has thrown for 29/53 with 2TDs and 4INTs. That isn’t the type of stats a special player puts up. No, those are the stats of a true freshman. Welcome to reality, Trojans.