Posts Tagged ‘Pete Carroll’
December 23, 2011
So who says big time college football is all about winning and money, and not about heart and sportsmanship? Check out the USC Trojans.
Yesterday Trojan junior quarterback Matt Barkley chose to play another year for the Trojans rather than grabbing a $20+ million payoff for entering the NFL draft, where he was a sure bet to be a top ten, or even a top five pick.
Explained Barkley,
“It is my dream to play quarterback in the NFL, and I intend to make that dream a reality. But I know in my heart that I have not finished my journey as a Trojan football player. The 2012 USC football team has some serious unfinished business to attend to, and I intend on being a part of that.”
Trojan coach Lane Kiffin was overjoyed at Barkley’s decision. And why not? It could well lead to a national championship for the loaded Trojans, and coach-of-the-year honors for Kiffin. But lest you think that Kiffin has only a selfish interest, look at what he said last week when Barkley’s blind-side protector, All American tackle Matt Kalil, announced his decision to forego his senior year for the NFL:
“We fully support his decision and we told him so. He is ready for the NFL. He will be a very high draft pick and will have a long, successful career. We will miss him next year, but will cheer him on (more…)
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Tags:blind-side, Brian Kelly, Chip Kelly, coach-of-the-year, ethics, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley, Matt Kalil, national championship, NFL draft, personal fouls, Pete Carroll, Robert Woods, sportsmanship, taunting, unsportsmanlike conduct, USC Trojans
Posted in Ethics-general, Sports | 2 Comments »
November 26, 2010
When the newspaper says you’re a cheater, a womanizer, and only got your job because of your father’s influence you must be a pretty bad person, right? Well, maybe not if it’s the Washington Post making the accusations.
The Post’s Norman Chad wrote these things last Sunday, in a piece headed “USC’s Kiffin and Carroll are the best – at circumventing the rules.”
It’s true that last year, as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, Kiffin broke some rules that the NCAA called secondary violations with no penalties, mainly speaking disparagingly of Southeastern Conference rivals. It’s also true that the USC football program was sanctioned by the NCAA because star running back Reggie Bush’s parents accepted gifts from an agent looking to buy influence with Reggie. No suggestion, however, was made by the NCAA investigation that coach Pete Carroll had even a hint of the payoffs—the charge was that the school’s policing of the rules was inadequate.
The Post calls USC football a rogue program. Far from it: to make up for its failure to learn about the Bush pere payola, USC has hired a new athletic director, the squeaky-clean Pat Haden, and appointed a university vice president for compliance. An example of USC’s dedication to compliance: the Trojans’ suspended their hot-shot running back, freshman Dillon Baxter, for the Oregon State game (which the Trojans lost) for accepting a campus ride on a golf cart that was driven by a student who—unknown to Baxter—was a part-time sports agent. Baxter was reinstated only after making a donation to charity of five dollars—the imputed value of the illicit ride. (more…)
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Tags:cheating, Dillon Baxter, ethics, golf cart, internet rumors, Lane Kiffin, Layla Kiffin, NCAA, Norman Chad, Pat Haden, Pete Carroll, Reggie Bush, Robert Woods, secondary violations, Southeastern Conference, Tennessee Volunteers, unsportsmanlike conduct, USC football, vice president for compliance, Washington Post, womanizing
Posted in Ethics-general, Media, Sports | Leave a Comment »
July 8, 2010
USC and its new football coach, Lane Kiffin, deserve big-time credit for ethical behavior. The athletic department, headed by ex-Trojan great Mike Garrett, has for months been reeling from scandal involving former Trojan stars Reggie Bush and O. J. Mayo, and from the sudden departure of coach Pete Carroll.
Carroll’s replacement, Lane Kiffin, soon looked like a miracle worker, assembling a group of high school seniors that ranked among the top recruiting classes in the nation, headed by 6’8, 337 pound Seantrel Henderson of Saint Paul, Minnesota, everybody’s choice as high school player of the year. Sports Illustrated described Henderson as “probably the most polished lineman of the past decade.” He plays left tackle, the position glorified by The Blind Side.
Henderson has now decided he doesn’t want to go to USC. If he transfers to another school, having signed a formal commitment to USC, NCAA rules require him to sit out for a year before becoming eligible to play. Unless the Trojans release him from his commitment. Which is what Kiffin just did.
Here’s a coach putting the good of the player first. Good news for a fan of both ethics and the Trojans.
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34.064458
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Tags:ethics, football, Lane Kiffin, Mike Garrett, NCAA rules, O. J. Mayo, Pete Carroll, player of the year, recruiting, Reggie Bush, Seantrel Henderson, Sports Illustrated, The Blind Side, USC
Posted in Ethics-general, Sports | 3 Comments »
June 11, 2010
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has imposed harsh penalties on the USC athletic program for disregarding NCAA rules and for permitting a general campus environment that made compliance efforts difficult.
USC is barred from post-season bowl games for two years, is losing ten scholarships a year for three years, is on probation for four years, and is docked 14 victories and probably the 2004 national championship, The bowl ban could be especially costly: the Rose Bowl paid its participating teams $13.5 million each last year.
USC’s sin: allowing super star Reggie Bush and his parents “impermissible benefits in the form of cash, merchandise, an automobile, housing, hotel lodging, and transportation…worth many thousands of dollars,” and allowing basketball star O. J. Mayo to collect “benefits in the form of cash, lodging, merchandise, automobile transportation, meals, airline transportation, and services.”
Pete Carroll, arguably the most successful football coach in America for the past nine years, was “absolutely shocked and disappointed” at the NCAA decision. He protested that “We didn’t know, the University didn’t know” about the Bush violations. Carroll may not have known, but Todd McNair, a USC assistant coach did. And athletic director Mike Garrett made it clear that he didn’t want to hear about the Mayo affair. (more…)
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Tags:2004 national championship, bowl games¸ scholarships, compliance, envy, ethics, integrity, Mike Garrett, NCAA, NCAA sanctions, O. J. Mayo, penalties, Pete Carroll, probation, Reggie Bush, Rose Bowl, Sport, Todd McNair, Trojans, USC assistant coach, USC basketball, USC football
Posted in Ethics-general, Sports | 2 Comments »
May 25, 2010
What a joy it was to watch USC football. The lightning-speed acrobatics of Reggie Bush. The instinctive pursuit of Brian Cushing. The hard hitting of Kevin Ellison. The exuberance of Pete Carroll. The elusiveness of Joe McKnight. So maybe the basketball program was corrupt, what with the underhanded payments to O. J. Mayo, the sneaking out of town by coach Tim Floyd, and the forfeiting of an entire season. Not good, but Trojan football! There was something to believe in.
Yes, there was the repeated taunting, showing off, and poor sportsmanship . There was the rub it in last minute touchdown pass en route to a pasting of UCLA. There was the suspicious ownership of a new car driven by Joe McKnight. But we never believed the charges of illegal payments to Reggie Bush’s parents, charges made by unsavory characters against All-American Reggie.
Now we’re rethinking the Bush situation, now that Brian Cushing, star linebacker for the Trojans before becoming the NFL defensive rookie of the year, was suspended for 2010’s first four games for using banned “performance-enhancing substances.” And now that former Trojan safety Kevin Ellison has been pulled over for speeding in a school zone, then arrested for possession of 100 Vicodin tablets. With so much wrongdoing involving Trojan footballers, why not believe Saint Reggie was corrupt too. Especially with USC’s (more…)
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Tags:Brian Cushing, Cheaters, defensive rookie of the year, illegal payments, Joe McKnight, Kevin Ellison, NFL, O. J. Mayo, performance-enhancing substances. Vicodin, Pete Carroll, poor sportsmanship, Reggie Bush, Tim Floyd, Trojans, UCLA, USC football
Posted in Education, Ethics-general, Sports | 16 Comments »