Quite psosibly the worst kept secret about who will take over Steve Sarkisian's duties as QB coach has been all but confirmed in the L.A. Times by Gary Klein. After a four-year break, it sounds like Carl Smith will be taking over the tutelage of Mark Sanchez, Mitch Mustain, and Aaron Corp.
Asked if Smith would officially be in place by the end of the weekend, Carroll said, "Carl's here and sitting with us and working with us -- it looks good. We've got some stuff we've got to work out. If we can get that thing all ironed out, I'll be really happy about that."
Sarkisian will remain with the Trojans and call plays in the Rose Bowl against Penn State.
Receivers coach John Morton will succeed Sarkisian as offensive coordinator, but Carroll has not yet determined who will call plays next season.
Morton has said he would remain in the coaching booth in the press box. Smith, the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006, would be on the field.
Earlier this week, Smith declined to comment about the possibility of rejoining the staff, saying only "I love watching this team practice."
Obviously, nothing's truly official until it's put out by the athletic department, but I want to guess that they're waiting on this until after the Rose Bowl, because Sark will still be calling plays and running the offense during that game before heading up to Seattle.
Honestly, the hires to fill Sark's roles don't mean a whole lot to me right now, until we actually see in spring practice what they mean for play-calling, as well as who will be doing the play calling. With the Nittany Lions coming to town, that's kind of putting the cart before the horse.