WIth the offensive coaching side of the ball pretty much set all eyes turn to the defense.
It's always hard to determine why guys leave and while we wish those who move on the best but SC still has a program to run so former coaches and players quickly fade in the rear view mirror.
The Question becomes who will be the defensive coordinator now that Holt has left for UW? Its obvious that whomever gets the DC job they will be working under Pete Carroll as he will call the shots. The two obvious names are Norton and Seto but a third name was thrown into the mix...
Carroll also is believed to be interested in former Washington defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, a close friend of his.
"I'm really trying to get this done," Carroll said. "I'm considering everything. There's three ways it can go."
I don't know a lot about Donatell but by judging some of the comments I've read on SBN's UW Blog UW Dawg Pound, they weren't exactly complimentary. Of course with as bad as Washington was last season nobody should get any compliments. Donatell had his supporters but I can totally understand why Sarkisian cleaned house. UW needs a complete culture change. Just like ND or ucla, a strong UW in the Pac-10 only helps USC.
My attitude is a simple one...Pete Carroll has shown that he is more than capable at making decisions that affect this program positively so whichever direction he choose to go is fine with me. He knows what he needs and he knows what he wants. Seeing that Carroll has the final say in how the defense is run I am really not worried. We have some big shoes to fill next season but we also have a lot of talent that has seen some playing time so its not like the cupboard is bare.
Wolf also mentioned that there has been discussion about Jethro Franklin returning to SC to coach the D-line. My attitude is the same here as well...if Carroll thinks it benefits the program then it's fine with me. I've read a few message board postings that discussed Franklin's departure from SC and his work ethic but to me that's just noise, if Pete Carroll wants him back then there probably isn't much to those comments.
If Carroll goes the Seto or Norton route I think we will be fine because Pete still runs the show and it can only be a learning opportunity for either coach and it puts an impressive bullet point on ones CV, so whichever direction he goes I'm really not worried.