SEATTLE — Pete Carroll is about to sign a contract to
return to the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks, according to a league official with
direct knowledge of the coaching search.
The official, who requested anonymity because the team
isn't detailing the search, said Sunday night the charismatic coach of Southern
California has "not signed but [is] very close."
The official told The Associated Press that the Seahawks
expect to finish the deal for the eighth coach in their 34-year history Monday
morning, and that all that was left was to "dot the I's and cross the T's." The
official said that barring last-minute hang-ups, the Seahawks are likely to
introduce Carroll on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Seahawks chief executive Tod Leiweke spent Sunday in Los
Angeles meeting with Carroll.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Carroll decided
Sunday night to resign from USC and take the job with the Seahawks. The school's
players and coaches were informed of the move through a text message from an
assistant, according a story posted on the newspaper's Web site.
Carroll and several Trojans players did not respond to
text messages and phone calls left by the AP. The coach's agent, Gary Uberstine,
did not respond to calls and e-mails left on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
A Seahawks spokesman declined comment when asked about
the report that Carroll had resigned. He also said the Seahawks had nothing to
report on their coaching search Sunday night.
USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said he also had nothing to
report on Carroll, who has spent nine mostly glorious years with the Trojans.
The Seahawks fired coach Jim Mora on Friday following
just one season, even though he had three years and about $12 million remaining
on his contract. General manager and president Tim Ruskell was forced to resign
last month, leaving Seattle without a coach, general manager or president less
than four years after the team reached the Super Bowl.
Carroll went 6-10 with the Jets in 1994 and 27-21 while
twice reaching the playoffs from '97-99 with the Patriots before he restored a
dynasty at USC beginning in 2001.
Seattle is 9-23 since its run of four consecutive NFC
West titles ended in the 2007 season. Team owner Paul Allen, the Microsoft Corp.
tycoon, proved money is of little concern by firing Mora after Leiweke had said
he expected the coach to stay.
The Seahawks are hoping the splashy, marquee addition of
Carroll will ignite a notoriously rabid fan base that turned on its team this
season with constant calls for mass firings.
The opportunity is unique for Carroll. The Seahawks do
not have a GM in place, so he could have authority over football matters like he
had at USC, and far more than he would have had filling any of the NFL coaching
openings to which he's been connected in recent winters. The league source,
however, said the only official title Carroll will have is "coach."
This is also perhaps the best time to leave USC since he
arrived in 2001.
Its string of seven consecutive Pac-10 titles ended with
four losses in the just-completed season. And the school has been under several
years of NCAA scrutiny for alleged improprieties in both Carroll's team and
athletic director Mike Garrett's beleaguered department.
When receiver Damian Williams announced he's entering
the NFL a year early, the news release of his departure Friday night didn't
include a quote from Carroll, who often lavishes praise on early entry
candidates.
University of Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, who left
his friend Carroll and the Trojans 12 months ago for his first head coaching
job, chuckled when asked if he'd like to be a head man in the same city as his
mentor.
"That would be kind of fun," Sarkisian said. "He would
do great. He's a great coach."
Carroll's departure comes at a bad time for USC
recruits, who are now caught between whether to honor their commitments or
re-enter the college recruiting derby late in the process.
Carroll had already planned a team meeting for Monday
afternoon, on the day the Trojans return to class following the holiday break.
Tessalone said that meeting is still scheduled.