Less than a week after his team routed Penn State in the Rose Bowl, Southern California coach Pete Carroll began the process of rebuilding his coaching staff Tuesday, announcing plans to replace outgoing offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Carroll said Carl Smith, who left his staff after the Trojans won the BCS national championship game in January 2005, is returning as quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach on offense, and current assistant John Morton has been promoted to offensive coordinator.
"They'll call the game together,"
Carroll said. "We maintain all of the background and the history of our offense and keep moving forward."
Carroll called Smith and Morton "a good 1-2 punch to run the offense,"
saying Smith will call plays from the sideline and Morton will put together the game plans and be stationed in the press box during games.
The 60-year-old Smith was the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005-06 and was out of football the past two years.
"We're trying to keep people in the areas of their greatest strengths,"
said Carroll, whose teams have gone 82-9 over the past seven seasons. "This will work out beautifully for us."
"In my mind, Sark was the spokesperson (for the offense). Johnny will hold that same position."
Sarkisian became the head coach at Washington following No. 5 USC's 38-24 victory over No. 6 Penn State last Thursday in the Rose Bowl. He called plays the last two seasons after sharing offensive coordinator duties with Lane Kiffin, who left two years ago to become coach of the Oakland Raiders.
In addition, Mark Jackson is returning to USC from stints at Syracuse in 2005, in private business in 2006, and with the Raiders in 2007-08 to serve as senior associate athletic director in charge of football — a new position.
The Trojans also lost defensive coordinator Nick Holt, who accepted the job of defensive coordinator at Washington on Monday, and Dennis Slutak, the director of football operations who left to take the same job with the Huskies under Sarkisian.
"We've been through all of this on both sides of the ball,"
Carroll said of the numerous changes. "If we didn't have a plan, it would be really hard. Often when these changes go on, we get stronger. I'm counting on that happening again."
Secondary coach Rocky Seto is believed to be among the leading contenders for the defensive coordinator's job.
Meanwhile, Carroll said he planned to meet later Tuesday with fourth-year junior quarterback Mark Sanchez, who had his best game in the Rose Bowl, completing 28 of 35 passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns. Sanchez is thinking about passing up his senior season to turn pro.
Carroll said he also plans to meet with Sanchez's family after receiving an evaluation on his draft prospects.
"Today I'm going to take him through all the stuff I can convey to him,"
Carroll said. "He needs to get up to speed with what's going on. There's a lot of information we can go on. We can pretty much accurately call what's going to happen. Knowing that we have until (Jan. 15), there's no rush at all."
Carroll said he spoke with third-year sophomore tailback C.J. Gable and fifth-year senior defensive back Josh Pinkard earlier Tuesday about possibly leaving. Pinkard is petitioning for a sixth year of eligibility after missing all the 2007 season recovering from knee surgery.
About Holt's decision to leave, Carroll said: "He really was excited about starting something up, see what he can create. He and Sark are great friends. We wish him the best. We lost a good guy, a good coach."
