Ted Green: Pete Carroll will lose credibility if he goes to Seattle

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According to sources in the know, or maybe not, a deal bringing Pete Carroll to Seattle to be head coach, CEO, CFO, president and general manager, plus chief cook and bottle washer of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, is “going down.”

Tell you what else is going down if Pete takes the Seattle job: his credibility. And any chance he had of forging a coaching legacy anyone will want to remember.

USC is Heisman Trophies, Heritage Hall, the Trojan Band and fighting for the BCS national title nearly every year.

It’s Notre Dame, UCLA, the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl.

The Seahawks are in Seattle someplace, on the way to Alaska.

The Trojans are the best of the best: Ronnie Lott, Charles White, Marcus Allen, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and even that O.J. nut job currently in prison.

The Seahawks are Steve Largent.

To tell you how great the Seahawks have been in their utterly forgettable history, Dave Krieg is in their Ring of Honor.

Dave Krieg (pronounced “Craig”), a 5-11 quarterback, can’t even spell his own name right.

Among USC legends, Dave Krieg would be lucky to be invited to the training table.

At USC, Carroll can wind up on the Mt. Rushmore of college coaches with Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, Woody Hayes and Bear Bryant. In the state of Washington, the only mountain I know is Mount St. Helens.

In Seattle, Carroll can succeed Chuck Knox and Mike Holmgren.

Since a playoff appearance no one outside Skykomish can even remember in 2008, the Seahawks are 9-23. They are the Washington State of the NFC. An outpost.

I can’t believe Pete Carroll would leave Nirvana for umbrellas and Sea-Tac Airport.

I can’t believe he would leave a revolving door of 5-star Parade All-Americans, Studs R Us, to coach Mansfield Wrotto, whoever he is, and I swear it says so right here in my trusty little press guide, Mansfield Wrotto IS one of the Seahawks.

C’mon, Pete, anyone can coach in the NFL and get fired four years later. They nearly all do. Heck, you did yourself. Twice.

But not everyone can coach in seven straight BCS bowl games, win two national titles, narrowly miss a third, and be proud front man and face of a program that is still synonymous with the very best in college football -- Alabama, Texas, Florida and the Trojans’ 9-4 season in ’09 notwithstanding.

Here in Southern California, Pete has Malibu, the beach, courtside Lakers tickets.

What’s he gonna have in Seattle, designer galoshes?

Seattle doesn’t even have an NBA team. The SuperSonics left for greener pastures in beautiful downtown … Oklahoma City.

I know the money’s probably tempting, though not appreciably greater than the little king’s ransom Pete’s bringing home at SC.

I know the challenge appeals to his competitive instincts, but is finishing ahead of the St. Louis Rams really going to be that big of a thrill?

Seattle is the Bermuda Triangle. Once you leave here, Pete, you effectively disappear off the face of the sporting earth.

So here’s hoping this annual, inevitable flirtation with the sterile, homogenized NFL is just that, a flirtation.

Pete, maybe I can put this in even better perspective for you:

In addition to Largent, a Lilliputian of a Hall of Fame receiver, the Seahawks have retired exactly one other number in their pitiful history. Number 12 .For their fans, their “12th man.” I’m deeply touched.

The fans received that honor because so many of them sat, miserably freezing and cold, through so many lousy Seahawk games in the rain.

Oh, and this, Pete, if you’re really thinking of leaving The Perfect Situation behind.

A Seahawk is an osprey, a predatory bird that subsists mostly on fish.

Think of that aroma on your coaching legacy before you do anything stupid.

-- Ted Green

Note: Green is currently Senior Sports Producer for KTLA Prime News. He covered USC football for The Times because the assignments always mattered. He also covered Seahawks games for the newspaper, freezing his kishkes off, because he had no other choice.