As Frak mentions in his fan post Pete Carroll promoted Rocky Seto to Defensive Coordinator. Carroll also promoted Ken Norton Jr. Assitant head coach for the Defense as well as bringing back Jethro Franklin to coach the defensive line.

This comes on the heels of an internet firestorm yesterday afternoon that rumored former USC coach Ed Orgeron as possibly coming back to USC which in turn Pete Carroll quickly dismissed.

Tennessee assistant coach Ed Orgeron was a candidate to be Southern California’s next defensive coordinator but is “not involved” in the process according to Trojans coach Pete Carroll, according to a report posted on a Web site that covers the Trojans.

USCFootball.com speculated that Orgeron may have even been offered the position, vacated by Nick Holt, who accepted the defensive coordinator position at Washington. That, however, is unclear. The Rivals' Web site was not ready to eliminate Orgeron as a candidate despite Carroll’s claim.

He spoke to Orgeron but no offer was made. Coach O accepted the Tennessee job last week.

Here is th break down from The L.A. Times

Carroll's announcement came the day after former defensive coordinator Nick Holt was introduced at Washington, where former Trojans offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is the new head coach.

Carroll said he had spoken to several coaches about the Trojans' defensive coordinator job, including former defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who recently joined Tennessee's staff, "just in case we couldn't get anything worked out."

But Seto, 32, was regarded as the front-runner to succeed Holt because of the continuity he provides. Seto has been on USC's staff since 1999 and has coached linebackers and the secondary under Carroll, who will still call the defensive plays.

"He has just continually developed over the years and become a tremendously valuable guy," Carroll said.

This is no real surprise. Pete Carroll likes to promote from within the program and with the recruiting season in full swing and just about in the home stretch these moves will go a long way to calming the nerves of those recruits who might have been having second thoughts. The Norton promotion is an obvious one in that it rewards Norton for his loyalty and gives him more responsibilities as his next step will be to DC at some point.

The Franklin hire was also met with some skepticism from some on the message boards. My attitude is simple, Pete Carroll has been successful with the way he runs the program. Carroll sees Franklin as great recruiter and right now we need to stabilize the recruting front so if Carroll sees Franklin as a positive addition then its fine with me.

It could have gone a couple of different ways but in the end Carroll went with Seto who has been an SC assistant for 10 years. I also think this sets up Norton perfectly for the future. Many feel he may need just a bit more seasoning before taking on a DC role and with the mess between him and Neuheisel when its time for him to make the next move he will have a solid resume in place to take a job without all the drama that he would see across town.

WIth all this finally resolved Pete Carroll and staff can finally put the finishing touches on this years recruiting class.

Congrats to Seto, Norton and Franklin!

While we have been celebrating SC's win over PSU and with all the coaching moves being made we haven't really heard much on the Vidal Hazelton transfer (not that it matters) until now.

Wolf has some interesting info...

Former USC wide receiver Vidal Hazelton was denied permission by the school to speak to any Pacific-10 Conference schools or Notre Dame as he searches for a new college.

Hazelton, who left USC in December, was unable to speak to UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State or the Irish.

"Usually you don't allow a player to go to a school you play against," USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Hazelton's current list of schools includes Pittsburgh and several Football Championship Subdivision schools (Western Michigan, Florida International, Georgia Southern).

If he transfers to a lower-division school, Hazelton will be granted instant eligibility.

"The option is whether he wants to play immediately or sit out for one year," said Hazelton's father, Dexter Hazelton. "I'd like him to stay closer to home."

Two weeks ago, Hazelton narrowed his choices to Missouri and Rutgers but his father said they decided to reconsider their options. "I think (Missouri and Rutgers) are out," Dexter Hazelton said.

I usually wouldn't have given Hazelton a second thought but when I read last week that Hazelton had listed ucla as a possible of school of choice it definitely raised my interest. If PC has to spell out to the Hazelton's that they can't talk to any Pac-10 schools or ND then it shows me that there may be some gamesmanship going on with the Hazelton's, more specifically Dexter. He has it sn his craw that SC screwed his son so he is probabley looking for some payback.

If Vidal ends up at any school that isn't close to home then in my eyes all outrage Dexter has shown towards SC will have been for one reason only...to get Vidal out of USC. That's fine, mission accomplished but he doesn't come off looking good here.

It's SOP for a coach to list the schools that are off limits when it come to athletes transferring. Carroll did the right thing...Dexter should be happy that Vidal doesn't play for Randy Shannon at Miami...

From ESPN.

Enjoy...

Pete Carroll met with Mark Sanchez yesterday to discuss his options to either turn pro or stay at USC.

[... ]the USC quarterback met separately with new offensive coordinator John Morton and with Coach Pete Carroll.

It was only the start of what could be a tough stretch of days as Sanchez seriously contemplates the question Palmer and Leinart faced after their junior seasons: Should he return to USC for a final season of eligibility or turn pro?

It's really hard to know which way this goes. Sanchez could use a little more experience and show us that the mid-season lack-luster play that we saw was more  about the coaches keeping a tight on leash on his abilities than it was about his abilities being less than advertised.

If Sanchez bolts he will likely carry a clipboard for a year, maybe two, just like Carson Palmer did and that worked out pretty good. he could stay another year like Leinart did, increase his stock more (barring injury or a poor performance next season), and become an even higher draft pick. The problem there is that he will surely go to some bottom feeder team and get thrust into the mix very early and as we saw with Leinart that isn't always a good thing.

Its just like playing chess, you need to think 3-4 moves ahead.

The money issue is moot because there won't be any rookie salary cap in the NFL until 2011 so its really more about the long term goal of having a solid career in the NFL. The thing I would really like to know is what the NFL evaluation said. With Stafford announcing this afternoon and with Bradford probably coming out regardless of tomorrow night's results Sanchez would be in the perfect spot to get drafted by a pretty good team that may have a QB that he can learn from instead of getting thrust into the fire right out of the gate.

Here is what one scout said...

NFL team scouts, given anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the topic, said Sanchez enhanced his draft stock with his stellar play against the Nittany Lions.

"He was on the big stage and he performed," one scout said. "Many of the general managers and coaches saw that game, and that will be the performance they remember."

Even so, the scout said Sanchez would be better served to stay at USC for another season, estimating he would be a late first-round pick were he to leave school early.

"He needs more seasoning at the position, but the skill set is there," said the evaluator, who would rank him as the third- or fourth-best quarterback if he were to come out now. "He's not NFL-ready, but he has NFL tools."

Another scout agreed, saying the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Sanchez would benefit from another year to grow stronger and a chance to show that the Rose Bowl was not a fluke.

"That was a breakout game for him, but now I'd like to see him do that repeatedly in the season," he said.

In the end I think he stays, but I think the time to go is now.

I will of course be disappointed if Sanchez goes. I think he needs the extra experience because he is only a one year starter. I realize I am in the minority here, but Sanchez can hone those skills on an NFL practice squad just like Cassell did and he's done fine for himself this season.

I really would like him to stay and take the offense next year to new heights, but I really don't see the benefit of staying. If Sanchez goes SC will be in a real tough spot next year. It would be a true rebuilding year as they will be replacing most of the defense (regardless of the talent on the roster) and they would then have a new starting QB to run a really talented offense but the familiarity would not be there like it is with Sanchez.

At this point it really is hard figure how it will all turn out. If he stays, Great! If he doesn't SC will have its work cut out for them.

WIth the offensive coaching side of the ball pretty much set all eyes turn to the defense.

It's always hard to determine why guys leave and while we wish those who move on the best but SC still has a program to run so former coaches and players quickly fade in the rear view mirror.

The Question becomes who will be the defensive coordinator now that Holt has left for UW? Its obvious that whomever gets the DC job they will be working under Pete Carroll as he will call the shots. The two obvious names are Norton and Seto but a third name was thrown into the mix...

From Wolf.

Carroll also is believed to be interested in former Washington defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, a close friend of his.

"I'm really trying to get this done," Carroll said. "I'm considering everything. There's three ways it can go."

I don't know a lot about Donatell but by judging some of the comments I've read on SBN's UW Blog UW Dawg Pound, they weren't exactly complimentary. Of course with as bad as Washington was last season nobody should get any compliments. Donatell had his supporters but I can totally understand why Sarkisian cleaned house. UW needs a complete culture change. Just like ND or ucla, a strong UW in the Pac-10 only helps USC.

My attitude is a simple one...Pete Carroll has shown that he is more than capable at making decisions that affect this program positively so whichever direction he choose to go is fine with me. He knows what he needs and he knows what he wants. Seeing that Carroll has the final say in how the defense is run I am really not worried. We have some big shoes to fill next season but we also have a lot of talent that has seen some playing time so its not like the cupboard is bare.

Wolf also mentioned that there has been discussion about Jethro Franklin returning to SC to coach the D-line. My attitude is the same here as well...if Carroll thinks it benefits the program then it's fine with me. I've read a few message board postings that discussed Franklin's departure from SC and his work ethic but to me that's just noise, if Pete Carroll wants him back then there probably isn't much to those comments.

If Carroll goes the Seto or Norton route I think we will be fine because Pete still runs the show and it can only be a learning opportunity for either coach and it puts an impressive bullet point on ones CV, so whichever direction he goes I'm really not worried.

No real surprise here, as this is more of a formality.

From The OCR:

Carl Smith is returning to USC as quarterbacks coach, and he will call plays from the sideline, Trojans coach Pete Carroll announced.

Smith, who also will have the title of assistant coach/offense, will help new offensive coordinator John Morton formulate the game plan.

Morton will install the game plan, run the offensive meetings and work games from the press box.

This really isn't a big deal to me. Smith knows the system, Morton knows the system so they really shouldn't miss a step.

I will be more interested in where the Defensive Coordinator search ends up.

Good interview.

I am also working on some stuff from Cowherd last week

UPDATES BELOW

I caught this on Saturday.

USC's Holt negotiating with UW?

Steve Sarkisian is doing a good job of keeping his search for a defensive coordinator under wraps, but I have it on relatively good information USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt is back in the conversation -- and may actually be negotiating a contract with the University of Washington.

Sarkisian initially asked the former Idaho coach to join him prior to the Rose Bowl and, around Dec. 19, Holt declined the offer. But I'm hearing Holt has apparently changed his mind.

That being said, I have neither talked with Sarkisian, nor received official confirmation.

I was a little surprised at seeing that considering it had been discussed that Holt wasn't interested at the time Sarkisian asked him and at the time I thought it would be a lateral/down move.

Wolf then followed up with this piece.

There was a mention in a Seattle paper today that Nick Holt might remain a candidate at Washington for the defensive coordinator's job. But I spoke to Holt and he said nothing's happened since he initially declined the position nearly a month ago.

I thought this was credible because it appears that Wolf went right to Holt about it and it appears that Holt was not interested.

Well, it appears that he is interested in the job after all.

USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt will fly to Seattle today to discuss accepting the same job at Washington.

New Washington coach Steve Sarkisian was cautiously optimistic Sunday he could land his former USC colleague.

"We're talking. It's not done. Hopefully we'll know one way or the other pretty soon," Sarkisian said. "I don't know if it's something that can get done. I hate to be premature."

Holt's interest in the job meant he lied Saturday when he said he was not interested in the Washington job.

"That was like three weeks ago, I don't know why it's still coming up," Holt said Saturday.

Holt did not return a phone call Sunday.

Sarkisian said he only recently spoke to Holt again about taking the job. Holt originally turned him down immediately after Sarkisian announced he would leave USC for Washington on Dec. 6.

"It was a mutual thing," Sarkisian said. "I'm just trying to hire the best guy I can hire."

I guess I can see why he would want to have more control but this is going to be a tough rebuiding process. I am not toally thrilled because this leaves us down one and now possibly two coaches as the recruiting season really heats up. I am not sure he will take it but I am interested in what made Holt all of sudden change his mind.

This will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Update #1 -  Multiple outlets are now reporting that UW will hold a press conference  at 3pm PST to announce their new Defensive Coordinator. No name given but I think it's safe to assume that Holt will be joining Sark at UW.

Update #2 - Molly Yanity over at the Seattle P.I. Husky Blog says Sarkisian will introduce Nick Holt as UW's new DC.

Holt to be introduced this afternoon

Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian will introduce Nick Holt as the team's defensive coordinator in a news conference at 3 p.m. today. A source with knowledge of the hire said that the former USC coordinators -- Sarkisian and Holt -- officially came to terms late last night.

The news conference will be streamed live at GoHuskies.com.

Update #3 - The press conference for 3PM has been postponed until tomorrow at 12:30pm PST. Yanity says it's official though.

News conference postponed; but it's official

An athletic department spokesman just told reporters today's news conference has been "postponed" due to unforeseen circumstances, but they confirmed the hiring of USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt to the same position here.

The news conference has been rescheduled for Tuesday at 12:30.

Is there something going on behind the scenes? Hard to know.