USC Game Day: Carroll in Control

On of the best quotes I read all week came from Gene Upshaw, former Oakland Raider All-Pro offensive lineman and head of the NFL Players Association. He told Sam Farmer and David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times that Pete Carroll asked him for help in dealing with over-zealous agents swarming his program last year.

Upshaw said the union has been working on a solution since he was contacted last year by USC Coach Pete Carroll, even before allegations were made against Bush.

"He was the first coach to bring this to my attention and how bad the problem has become," Upshaw said of Carroll. "He said he was in charge but had no control. He was reaching out for help."

Upshaw said his work on the topic has nothing to do with Bush, the former USC running back whose connections to prospective marketing representatives and agents while playing for the Trojans are being investigated by the Pacific-10 Conference and the NCAA.

"Pete has a great program with lots of success, and he is being overrun by agents, marketing people and financial advisors," Upshaw said.

"He cannot control what goes on in the dorm or anyplace else. He is reaching out for help. He is powerless on this issue.

"Pete is also a former NFL coach that understands the NFLPA is the only gatekeeper."

I’m not sure if this helps or hurts in showing that the program was aware of alleged improprieties by Reggie Bush and/or his family. But, Upshaw does make a very important point about what our program experienced last year and whether it was ever possible for Pete Carroll to exact institutional control under such circumstances.

No program had ever experienced the level of attention our Trojans did last year. Maybe a few have rivaled our success on the field over the years, but nothing compares to the present-day hype machine – which is now fed by more regional and national sports outlets than ever before; Internet newsletters, Web sites and blogs that didn’t exist just five years ago; and the consumer entertainment and gossip rags.

Along with all this was the apparently unprecendented volume and voracity of sports agents and “runners” descending upon the Trojans, as well.

Of course, we can’t have any faith that the suits investigating BushGate will take these factors into account. We can only hope Reggie knows what he’s talking about.
east coast bias