Word is out from LA and Atlanta that Pete Carroll and the Falcons may be interested in each other. Simply put this would be a serious mistake for both parties for one single reason. In the NFL you can not recruit players to your squad and you have a salary structure meant to create talent parody.
I don't think Pete Carroll is a bad coach or a poor game planner, but the one thing that puts him above all other coaches in College Football is unavailable in the NFL. Every single year USC gets the best players in the country to play for them. Every year USC has much better athletes the rest of the Pac 10 and the reason behind this is USC and Pete Carroll's charm. Their wins are as much a result of the players Carroll puts on the field as they are Carroll's coaching ability.
Need Proof that USC has the best players in the country? Well I'll give it to you. Scout.com and Rivals.com, the two premier recruiting sites, have been around since 2002 in that period USC has been the dominant recruiting force in the country. According to Scout's assessment from 2003 through this current 2008 recruiting class USC has either been #1 or tied for #1 with the most five star recruits. From 2004 through 2008 USC has lead the nation in average recruit rating every year, meaning that while their recruiting classes may not have required depth due to an unavailability of scholarships, they lead the nation in quality of player recruited (Both Scout and Rivals). Scout.com had USC as the #1 recruiting class in the country in 03, 04 & 06 while Rivals.com had them #1 in 04, 05, & 06. Since 2003 USC has never been outside the top 6 recruiting classes in the country in either ranking system.
While Carroll wasn't the complete failure in the NFL as he is sometimes made out to be, there's a reason why he's been the most successful coach in college football during his tenure. It isn't his pure coaching ability which paved the way, but rather his personality, salesmanship, and ability to convince the best high school players in America that USC is the best school for them. If Carroll went to the Falcons he would eliminate all which separates him from the ranks of the average coach, and with the porous roster in Atlanta he would do what any other coach would, Lose.
So Pete let's stop thinking about the NFL and start concentrating on knocking off Ohio St. in your second game of the year. That would make everyone in the country happy.
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