ESPN.com’s NFL columnist Len Pasquarelli is reporting that the Atlanta Falcons want to interview USC’s Pete Carroll.
Conventional wisdom is that Carroll would only consider an NFL job if he had full control over the football operation. That likely would not be the case in Atlanta, where Blank is seeking a new general manager as well as a head coach.
But sources said the Falcons might be willing to grant Carroll far-reaching responsibilities and that the USC coach, who could assemble a very strong staff, could be intrigued by the challenge of resurrecting a franchise that has been through a turbulent year and has become all but irrelevant on the Atlanta sports scene.
Forget the bad experience with Bobby Petrino for a second – why would the Falcons give Carroll “far-reaching responsibilities” after the Browns did it with Butch Davis and failed, and the Redskins did it with Steve Spurrier, and failed.
Yes, Carroll is a good coach and hiring him would be a little different than Petrino just based on the fact that Pistol Pete has significant NFL coaching experience (15 years). However, giving even a quarter control to a college coach would be a huge mistake after Petrino was given a lot of say last year and bailed because he didn’t know how to communicate with NFL players. College coaches are used to dealing with college players. Even though he has NFL experience, Carroll is now a college coach and the fact that Falcons owner Arthur Blank is even considering this means that he hasn’t fully learned from the Petrino fiasco. It would be a splashily hire (which Blank seems to want), but not necessarily the right hire.
