Neuheisel following in Carroll's footprints
Posted: Monday, January 21, 2008 7:10 PM
When Pete Carroll was hired at USC in December of 2000, DeWayne Walker and Norm Chow were the first “recruits” he went after.
Walker was still the New England Patriots’ secondary coach, having stayed on as a member of Bill Belichick’s staff after Carroll was fired following the 1999 season.
Chow had just completed his first season as the offensive coordinator at North Carolina State, turning quarterback Philip Rivers into a freshman sensation after spending 27 years as a heralded assistant coach at Brigham Young.
A fish out of water plopped into the college game and a largely unpopular hire at the time, Carroll needed help fast. Eventually, he landed Walker and Chow. And things turned out rather well.
Seven years later and 12 miles west, as Rick Neuheisel settled into the head coach’s office at UCLA, he went after the same two men.
Walker wasn’t hard to find. He was already in Westwood, having served as the team’s interim head coach for the Las Vegas Bowl. But it wasn’t a slam dunk for him to remain at UCLA as defensive coordinator. Walker, who was a finalist for the job eventually handed to Neuheisel, was entertaining other offers.
Chow, who also interviewed for the Bruin boss gig, would be an even tougher challenge for Neuheisel. It seemed highly unlikely that Chow would walk away from his cushy job as the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator to take the same position at low-paying UCLA. But Neuheisel mentioned Chow’s name on Day One and wanted to hear “no” before moving on to other candidates.
In the end, as amazing as it would seem, Neuheisel got both of them. Just like Carroll.
And ironically, a former Trojan gets a big assist.
If not for Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher unexpectedly firing Chow on Jan. 14, none of this would have been possible. With the Titans still on the hook for Chow’s seven-figure salary for two more years, whatever UCLA pays him is just subtracted from that total.
In essence this means that Bud Adams is footing most of the bill for UCLA’s million-dollar offensive coordinator and Bruin fans can send thank-you notes to Fisher, who was a defensive back on USC’s 1978 national championship team and played alongside the likes of Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith and Joey Browner.
Keep in mind that former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell’s contract called for him to be paid a base salary of $850,000 this coming season. Now the Bruins have an offensive coordinator taking more than that home.
With everything else being equal, which trio would you take if you were building a program from scratch? USC’s combo of Carroll, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt or UCLA’s Neuheisel, Chow and Walker?
Even steadfast Trojan supporters would have to give both sets serious consideration, before probably siding with their man at the top, who brought national championship trophies back to USC for the first time since Fisher was in cleats.
But there’s been zero titles since Chow left for Nashville following the 2004 season and there isn’t a soul on Earth that doesn’t think USC would have been better off with him calling the shots in that classic clash with Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl, instead of Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin. Among other things, the Trojans were horrendous in their short-yardage play calling that night.
In fact, many USC supporters celebrated a year ago when Al Davis inexplicable became hell-bent on hiring a Trojan assistant coach to run his Oakland Raiders. After Sarkisian turned him down, Kiffin packed his bags for the Bay Area.
That farce played itself out six weeks after the Trojans suffered the indignity of missing out on the 2007 BCS title game due to a pitiful 13-9 loss to UCLA on Dec. 2, 2006, which was universally credited to the defensive game plan Walker employed to befuddle Kiffin, Sarkisian and quarterback John David Booty, snapping USC’s 63-game streak of scoring at least 20 points.
The Bruin faithful are dreaming of something similar on Dec. 6, perhaps this time, relying on the offensive acumen of Chow and Neuheisel to win a shootout.
There’s no telling how long the Neuheisel will be able to keep his coordinators on staff. Enticing offers are sure to come Walker’s way and Chow’s salary won’t be supplemented by the Titans after the completion of the 2009 season. But none of that really matters right now. They have this year to take their shot.
One thing’s for sure … business sure picked up in Los Angeles this week.
