Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll submitted his resignation to USC on Sunday and officially became the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks Monday morning.
In an interview with Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times, Carroll confirmed what had been so widely rumored over the weekend… he was going back to the pros.
“I had given up on it,” the new Seahawks coach said of returning to the NFL, “but it came out of nowhere.”
His deal with the team is reportedly worth nearly $33 million over five years. More importantly for Carroll, he will have a strong say in football operations with the franchise.
The former Trojan coach denies reports that his decision to leave USC was in any way related to the possible NCAA sanctions coming down due to the Reggie Bush scandal.
“Not in any way,” he said. “Because I know where we stand. It’s just a process we have to go through. We know we’ve fought hard to do right.”
Carroll is scheduled to meet with USC players today to talk about his decision to move on.
“By far the most difficult thing is leaving the young guys that just came into the program and just started,” he said.