PHOTO: Dog Guards Dead Victim's Body After Oklahoma Tornado Disaster
LOOK: Obama Prom Photos Released
LOS ANGELES -- You've seen Pete Carroll race down the Coliseum sideline like a lunatic, a blur in his cardinal-red jacket and silver-fox hair. Well, this time, he just kept running, through the tunnel and out Figueroa Street all the way to the airport, fleeing the stench of scandal and the malaise of rare failure in his USC football program. For years, he has been the face of southern California as much as any movie star or rocker or rapper, including those who've stood on his sideline during practices and games, celebrities awestruck by the Carroll-built mystique. But the public-relations messes and alleged improprieties kept piling up -- from whether Reggie Bush was given cash, gifts and a rent-free home for his parents to why Joe McKnight was driving a Land Rover owned by a local businessman who has a Web site registered as "www.4joemcknight.com.'' And when the continuing red flags were accompanied by four losses last season, including a 55-21 pounding by Stanford and a 47-20 thumping by Oregon, the Trojans' reign as a college superpower wobbled like no time in the Carroll era.
So rather than risk probation, a downfall in prestige and the new reality that Stanford's Jim Harbaugh and Oregon's Chip Kelly are the new coaching guns of the Pac-10 Conference, Carroll took a slick little escape hatch Saturday, one he insisted he'd never seek. He caught the first flight out to the NFL, where the Seattle Seahawks were more than happy to give him a five-year, $32.5 million deal to help clean up a team that has won nine games in two years and regressed quickly in Jim Mora Jr.'s lone season as coach. With Los Angeles still years away from gaining a pro franchise, Seattle seems the ideal West Coast fit for Carroll, who can be an instant hero with merely a degree of success while proving he can make it in the pros after being fired as a head coach by New England and the New York Jets.
Eric Holder Personally Approved Controversial Fox News Warrant
Bridge Collapses In Washington State
Senate Confirms Key Obama Nominee As Filibuster Fight Looms
'Well That Was Actually Pointless'
Warren's First Bill Already Seeing Strong Wave Of Support
Powerful Earthquake Hits Russia's Far East
Anti-Abortion Leader Compares Rape And Incest To Accidents
Boy Scouts To Allow Gay Youths
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
U.S. Drone Guidelines Could Reduce 'Signature Strikes'
State Reveals Health Insurance Premiums Under Obamacare
Ex-Student Allegedly Planned 'Columbine-Style' Attack At School
Horror In Bethesda
This Major Stock Collapse Is A Serious Warning For The U.S.
Strong Earthquake Rattles Northern California
Steve King Points Finger At Reagan For Helping Obama Get Elected
WikiLeaks Slams Film 'Filled With Factual Errors And Speculation'
Google's In Trouble
Senate GOP At Odds With Tea Party On Budget Negotiations
Change For Key IRS Scandal Figure, Reports Say
Killed Soldier In London Attack Identified
Brave Woman Stood Down Armed London Attackers
Bill O'Reilly: 'I'm The Fairest Guy On The Planet'
Farm State Senator Defends 'Monsanto Protection Act'
Could Miscarriages Become Criminal?
Newtown Gets Major Gift From The Government
Obama, Chris Christie To Reunite
Guantanamo Prisoners Watch Obama Speech
Elite Colleges Accused Of Mishandling Sexual Assaults
Tom Coburn Ratchets Down Opposition To Tornado Relief Bill
