Dear Pete Carroll... WTF?!

So, earlier this week it was announced that Pete Carroll was leaving USC to take over, get this, the Seattle Seahawks. After a few hours of blowing this off as a rumor, I was horrified to find out that this was basically a done deal. I'm still obsessed with this on a "What are you thinking?!" level that is going to haunt me until I find out if they offered him $250 million a year and all the Starbucks he can drink. I'm even more annoyed by my reaction because I'm a Cal fan. I should be throwing a going away party for the architect of the Pac-10's most dominant team and our biggest in-state rival... right? I know Oregon and Chip Kelly are doing backflips and fist pumps right now.
In his time at USC, Carroll not only built a great program (granted he had everything he needed in place already), but he also built a stronger connection to the community. The first level of confusion comes because, from my standpoint, he has successfully built one of the greatest opportunities in college football outside of Texas/Ohio/Florida. California is a big football state, and LA doesn't have a professional football team, so the Trojans have essentially become LA's defacto professional team (insert Joe McKnight/Reggie Bush jokes here). This is huge when it comes to convincing top recruit X to join, even though top recruit Y and Z enrolled last year; they all want to be treated like stars, which comes with being LA's premier team. Plus, with the decline of Miami, LA is now the biggest city with the most to offer its budding "student" athletes. Carroll is essentially sitting on recruiting gold in LA, and I haven't even gotten to his style of coaching/recruiting and the Pac-10.
I'm most disappointed in Carroll's move mainly because of who I thought he was, and how much I admire how he built his teams. It is well known that Carroll has an enormous amount of energy and passion that rubs off on his assistants and players, which is nice to see once in a while. As much as I love Jim Tressel and his red vest, the man is an android. I looked for pictures of him doing anything but staring blankly, and I only found one.

Coach happy. Coach show emotion.

I've read plenty of quotes from players about how happy and excited they can be playing for someone like Carroll, and we always wonder how he can get the top players at the same position year after year. The way Carroll runs his practices are also a huge draw - the whole idea that every spot is open to competition drives his players to do their best. You think Matt Barkley was resigned to redshirting? You think Mitch Mustain thought he was going to be handed the starting job? Players want to compete, and I feel like Carroll knows this better than most coaches.
Add in the fact that the Pac-10, which totally skunked it up this year, is usually one of the nation's top conferences, and I'm still more confused. I'm willing to admit the SEC is the best right now, but in a good year the Pac-10 can be as good or better than the constantly overrated Big 12 and definitely the Big 10.* Winning the Pac-10 lands you a spot in the best non-BCS Title bowl, the Rose Bowl, and aside from the great Mack Brown Whining BCS conspiracy of 2004/05 the game features a traditional match-up that will never get old.
So Pete Carroll is walking away from the right place, at the right time, in the right conference, with all the respect and admiration he can handle to coach the floundering Seahawks? The only defense I've seen for his move is that he is 33-31 as an NFL head coach, which is technically not seen as a total failure. I am completely at a loss for words here. Well, not counting the ones preceding this sentence. I can only wait for more information and wonder what could have been for the Pac-10**.

*Side note : What happens if the Big 10 expands as rumored? They are already actually the Big 11, does the Big 12 sue them?
** Side note #2 : After a rant by my Optimator collaborator I am compelled to say that, as a Cal fan, I'm glad to see Carroll go. We just received a commit from a former USC verbal (Trajaun Briggs) and I'm hoping the loss of Carroll destroys the recruiting juggernaut he built. I'm also tired of getting destroyed by USC, I'm going to ignore the fact that they have Barkley for at least two more years and we are stuck with Riley, and I hope the departure of Carroll gives us a better chance at winning.