Time for yearly Carroll calls

Falcons, Redskins reportedly covet USC football coach


LOS ANGELES - It's that season again.

There are NFL teams looking for head coaches, and Pete Carroll's name has bubbled to the surface.

According to several reports, the USC coach is a candidate to replace Bobby Petrino in Atlanta and the just-retired Joe Gibbs in Washington.

ESPN reported on its Web site that Carroll spoke with Atlanta owner Arthur Blank via phone Wednesday, citing sources at the American Football Coaches Convention in Anaheim.

Blank, who has also been searching for a general manager, was expected to offer full control of personnel decisions to Carroll, and the sources told ESPN that is what intrigues Carroll most.

Carroll is on vacation in Hawaii. Neither he nor his agent, Gary Uberstine, immediately returned phone calls seeking comment regarding the Falcons or Redskins.

However, USC spokesman Tim Tesselone circulated the following statement:

"As Pete told our beat reporters last Wednesday, he understands that his name is going to come up for NFL jobs, as it has in each of his past years here, but that he was not going to comment about NFL openings because it would just lead to speculation.

"Pete is out of the office on vacation this week, but he reiterated that to me this morning on the phone."

Carroll consistently has insisted over the years that he is happy at USC and that money is not an issue. Carroll earned about $3 million in 2004 when the Trojans won the Bowl Championship Series title.

In terms of NFL jobs, neither is especially appetizing. Both franchises have owners that are at best involved, at worst meddlesome.

The Redskins are better off, personnel-wise, but have more than their share of roster holes.

And neither franchise is near the Pacific -- an issue insiders say matters deeply to Carroll, who enjoys his Southern California lifestyle.

Carroll has compiled a 76-14 record in seven seasons at USC, 70-8 in the last six. He has guided the Trojans to two national championships, six consecutive Pacific-10 Conference titles and six straight Bowl Championship Series bowl games.

He also enjoys complete control over all aspects of the football program, a situation that would be considered an aberration in the NFL.