Pac-10 football recruiting wrap-up and ranking Part II

For numbers 10 through six be sure to check out Pac-10 football recruiting wrap-up and ranking Part I.

5) Stanford
Stanford certainly added another strong class and is one step closer to their quest for a Pac-10 championship. Listen, these next few years we will see Stanford at or near the top.

This team has added a couple of 4-star QB’s that will get in the mix and they’ve certainly bolstered their defense with the likes of defensive end Blake Lueders, safety Devon Carrington, and others.

4) Oregon
The Ducks did have a nice recruiting class and were looking to add more speed. Huh? Was that even possible? Of course it was.

The Ducks’ biggest recruits included 5-star running back Lache Seastrunk 5-star defensive end Curtis White, and 4-star defensive tackle Ricky Heimuli. Sure there were other 4-star studs signed, but there three are some of the bigger gets.

Seastrunk was the fourth highest rated running back in the nation, and he can get up and move. He will certainly fit in nicely with the speed at which the Oregon offense is run.

White should be able to bulk up (and hopefully not lose much quickness) and be at beast on the defensive side of the ball.

Heimuli really shocked most everyone by choosing Oregon over UCLA Washington and Utah (his home state team), but it’s a good thing he did. Earlier, defensive studs Gabe King, Chris McCain and Bjoern Werner, three Oregon hopefuls, selected other schools.

3) UCLA
The Bruins sure added a good class. They’re another team that I expect to see at or near the top of the Pac-10 in the next couple of years.

UCLA grabbed a couple of good USC recruits in linebacker Josh Shirley and safety Dietrich Riley — just what the doctor ordered for a crosstown rivalry.

They also managed to lure 5-star defensive stud Owamagbe Odighizuwa away from Oregon State and Nebraska. Honestly, I thought the kid might be headed to Nebraska.

2) Cal
Cal did a great job of recruiting. The only real question is, “will they convert to wins.”

Seems that Cal gets themselves touted as being one of the top Pac-10 teams before the season, but then they fade off in to the sunset before doing much damage in the conference.

Defensive guys like Gabe King, Chris McCain, Cecil Whiteside, Dave Wilkerson and the number five overall prospect Keenan Allen are one of the reasons I ranked Cal is high as I did. I think these guys are going to get Cal to turn the corner and actually be a top-ranked Pac-10 team at season’s end — not just pre-season.

1) USC
That’s right, Pete Carroll left and USC still pulls in the top recruiting class. Seems that only some of the Carroll recruits actually decided to bolt to another school.

First-year Trojans coach Lane Kiffin reeled in the number one or two (depends on who is doing the rating) overall recruit Seantrel Henderson. Henderson did commit, but has not signed. He has said he’d like to wait to see what, if anything, the NCAA will do with their ongoing investigation of the football team.

The Trojans hauled in mostly 4 and 5-star recruits as usual, many of whom are on the offensive side of the ball. But they also managed the big studs on the much in need of help defense.

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 Reports: USC’s Pete Carroll target by Seahawks as head coach.

Update: 1/8/2010 @ 5:09 PDT
The L.A. Times is reporting Pete Carroll and the Seahawks are getting close to an agreement. A deal reportedly for five years at $7million/per and for Carroll to become head coach and team president.

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Several reports are surfacing that USC head football coach Pete Carroll is being targeted by the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks to fill their vacant head coach position. Earlier today Jim Mora was fired as the Seahawks head coach after only one year in which his team went 5-11.

More importantly are reports that Pete Carroll is actually seriously interested in the position in Seattle. It’s also being reported by various outlets that Carroll is trying to convince current USC offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates to join him in Seattle under the same title.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen says of the report of Carroll to Seattle, “It is expected to happen.”

Scott Wolf of Inside USC from the Daily News is sending tweets out that he’s hearing Carroll is also pursuing the Trojans offensive line coach Pat Ruel.

Pete Carroll previous stints as head coach in the NFL came with the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. In 1994 he coached the Jets to a 6-10 record after starting 6-4. He was fired after only one season.

His next NFL head coach stop was from 1997-1999 with the Patriots during which time the team was 27-21 overall. The Patriots reached the playoff during Carroll’s first two years with a 1-2 record.

It wasn’t until the 2001 season that Carroll took over the head coaching position for USC where he was much more successful. In the nine season he’s been with the Trojans Carroll has on overall record of 97-19 and a conference record of 62-14. The Trojans won the conference title for seven straight years from 2002-2008. During those seven season Carroll’s teams finished no lower than fourth in the final polls. They also won two national championships during the 2003 and 2004 seasons (2003 was a split national championship with the LSU Tigers).

So with all of the success Carroll has had (is having) at USC why would he want to leave?

Well, the Seahawks happen to be owned by the 32nd richest person in the world — Paul Allen. With a personal net-worth of approximately $10.5 billion money is not an issue with the organization. And Paul Allen has showed time-and-again he is not afraid to spend when he feels necessary. I’m sure Pete Carroll would be paid handsomely should he choose to bolt to Seattle.

Also, there are reports that the Seahawks are willing to give Carroll at least some portion of GM type control — if not making him GM/coach outright. That kind of control is also something Carroll would covet.

He’s a west coast guy. Carroll was born in the Bay area, attended college in California, and, of course, has had his most head coaching success in southern California with USC.

And let’s not forget that while USC has been very successful under Pete Carroll, there is this 9-4 season which many are calling devastating. There’s also the Joe McKnight investigation, which brings back the Reggie Bush saga. Why would Carroll want to be a part of all that. Perhaps he’s looking to get out of town before the shit hits the fan. And why not, he wouldn’t be the first player and/or coach to do so from USC.

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 Timeouts are a passing fancy for the USC-UCLA crosstown rivalry.

For 59 minutes this crosstown rivalry was like many other football games played throughout the season.

Nothing special. Just two teams slugging it out.

But then, with less than a minute to play, and as USC head coach Pete Carroll’s team was taking a knee to end the game, a timeout was called.

Down two touchdowns, Rick Neuheisel decided enough wasn’t enough. He called a timeout. And, sure, he still had all three timeouts left. But what could he had really accomplished?

By the time the UCLA Bruins might have gotten the ball back they wouldn’t have had more than a few seconds remaining. Certainly not enough time to score two more touchdowns.

So what does Pete Carroll do after that first timeout was called? Well, he did what any many would do. He dialed up a 48-yard pass down the middle of the field for a touchdown. Matt Barkley three a strike to Damian Williams who caught the ball in stride and raced into the end zone.

A brawl almost ensued as the Trojans players cheered and taunted. They moved toward mid-field — as did the Bruins players. Words were said and the two teams were separated.

The stage is certainly set for next season’s version of this rivalry which takes place on the UCLA Bruins’ home field of the Rose Bowl.

For more on this story read Bill Plaschke’s story on LATimes.com:
Sportsmanship takes a timeout in USC-UCLA game — latimes.com

For a game recap read the ESPN recap:
USC-UCLA ESPN Game Recap

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 Oregon in Rose Bowl driver’s seat

It was definitely fright night in Eugene on Halloween night for the USC Trojans as the Oregon Ducks whooped on the Trojans beating them 47-20. And those 47 points were the most allowed by the Trojans in 1996. Read More…

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 Southern Cal RB Johnson could leave hospital Wednesday – NCAA Football – CBSSports.com

Reports are out that Southern California running back Stafon Johnson may be well enough to head home on Wednesday, just 16 days after a weight lifting accident that him hospitalized. Read More…

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