Previous era bred rule-breaking atmosphere


Over the last 15 years or so, USC could be thought of as a growing empire.

Academic standards exponentially rose, campus expanded and some of the most highly sophisticated buildings found on any college campus were built.

Athletics were, without a doubt, the center of this empire, holding all the components in place. With revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars pouring in each year mostly from sports (predominantly football), USC was able to accomplish many of the aforementioned    achievements.

President Steven B. Sample was theoretically at the top of the totem pole during this stretch; but with athletics running the show, the real king was Athletic Director Mike Garrett and his prince was coach Pete Carroll.

Over the course of his 17-year tenure, Garrett took an already noteworthy athletics department and conquered the national collegiate landscape. The men’s and women’s water polo teams built dynasties, while women’s soccer, golf, tennis and men’s tennis all won national titles.

Additionally, Garrett oversaw a basketball team that became nationally competitive and a football program that served as the epitome of dominance over the last decade. The only sport that seemed to move backwards was baseball — but that’s a story for a different day.

Garrett should receive some praise for building the Trojan army during his time. But ultimately, as we found out this spring and summer, a mixture of greed and arrogance caused his empire to collapse in on itself.

New Athletic Director Pat Haden recognized that it was the atmosphere of the athletic department that allowed illicit activity to exist by saying, “We’re going to do our best not to allow our players to be corrupted.”

Garrett is the number one man responsible for creating that atmosphere and deserves a lot of the blame. It’s because of his handling that USC is in this mess. As a parent and adult figure, he’s supposed to set the example that his “kids” look up to and he did exactly the opposite.

He’s the one who, according to reports, turned the other cheek when asking Tim Floyd of Rodney Gillroy’s involvement with O.J. Mayo and who, after the sanctions were released, told a group of boosters that the sanctions revealed “a lot of envy” and the prosecutors “wished they were Trojans.” He’s the one who only hired one compliance officer to oversee the entire athletic department.

To make matters worse, Garrett rarely spoke to the media, instead choosing to post video statements online — such as the one revealing self-inflicted sanctions on the basketball program last year. This gave his image a rough edge, as he was rarely available to answer questions, leaving people to speculate and make assumptions. He shied away from any wrongdoing, almost as if he believed that the world was out to get him.

So with Garrett finally gone, it’s obvious that an era has come to an end at USC. But with Garrett went Carroll. And Carroll shouldn’t be forgotten about in this whole mess either.

Thanks to his extremely motivated and generous charity work in Los Angeles with “A Better L.A.” foundation, his life coaching principles and overall likable attitude, Carroll has managed to stay immune to the backlash that has come with the NCAA sanctions. He has gained a Lance Armstrong type of invincibility — Armstrong repeatedly is able to stay in the public’s favor because of his unbelievable success story and his dogged work using his celebrity to gain attention for and help cure a fatal disease. Carroll has used many of the same methods to ensure his own favorable status.

But Carroll is intimately tied to the sanctions, and whether you like it or not, his legacy is undoubtedly tainted.

In the 64-page report put out by the NCAA investigation committee, it states that Carroll contacted a sports marketer, Michael Ornstein, about creating internship positions specifically for student-athletes (interpreted as football players). This violates NCAA rules because the report found no evidence that these positions were ever listed and made available to the public. In other words, the players were able to obtain these internships because of their student-athlete standing, and the NCAA really doesn’t like that.

So, Carroll did have some knowledge that something was going on (even though it’s not confirmed that his recommendations led directly to any internships). But that’s not the point. This interaction contributed to the biggest scarlet letter that the NCAA can stitch on a program: lack of institutional control.

I know that keeping track of 85 college students and making sure they are following NCAA laws to a tee is not exactly easy, but he should have kept a closer eye on Bush and others, including running backs coach Todd McNair, who knew of Bush’s misdeads. As head football coach, it was Carroll’s responsibility to oversee the football team. And he should have been running a much tighter ship.

I’m not saying that Carroll was a Mike Garrett-sized blunder at all. I think he did a lot of good things for the school and for the community. But he should not get lost in this whole mess, as, beside Garrett, he’s probably the person most responsible for creating an atmosphere with “lack of institutional control” that led to these sanctions.

Carroll might have won us a few national championships, but those now come with an asterisk. And so should his name in the history books.

“Spittin’ Sports” runs every Thursday. To comment on this article, visit dailytrojan.com or e-mail Kenny at [email protected].