Wednesday, November 09, 2005

LA Daily Breeze: Carroll's toughest call may be that of Maualuga

Coach risked calls of wanting to win at any cost by playing the disciplined player in the second half, but this case might be unique.
By Mike Waldner
It's not always possible to wrap things up in a neat little package. Pete Carroll playing Rey Maualuga in the second half against Stanford provides an example. The knee-jerk reaction to this decision Saturday evening was that Carroll blew it, that Maualuga should have spent the entire game standing on the sideline in uniform contemplating his misadventure at a Halloween party. It went way beyond treat when the 18-year-old freshman linebacker allegedly decked another student. At least one report indicated the attack was unprovoked. Maualuga may have thrown only one punch. Maybe two. It doesn't matter. He threw the punches. He should be held responsible.
We're not talking about one of those guys Ken Swearingen, the old El Camino College football coach, used to call a pencil-necked ant to indicate a small, undersized player. Maualuga's body is a lethal weapon, which is why he has a scholarship to play football at USC. He is 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds of chiseled muscle. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested him Nov. 1, booking him on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. A court appearance is set Nov. 22. Carroll quickly demoted him to the scout team, which is purgatory to a player accustomed to practicing with the regulars. Maualuga spent the first half Saturday contemplating his misadventure as USC turned Stanford inside out. The Trojans were leading, 44-7, at halftime. The wayward freshman was not needed to defeat the Cardinal. Had they run short on linebackers in the second half, a couple of trombone players could have been recruited from the band and the Trojans still would have cruised to victory.
So why was Maualuga in the game?
After USC's 51-21 win over Stanford, Carroll responded. It was pointed out people would question his judgment. "I'm not worried about that," he said. "People have opinions and can think anything they want. I can't wait and see what everyone else will say. We did what we think is the right thing, and I don't have any reservations." That's the positive-make-a-decision-move-forward coach who has won two national championships in the past two seasons and is well along the way to making it three in three seasons. That's a problem that comes with winning. The coach begins to believe everyone slapping him on the back is correct and that he can do no wrong. Those doing the slapping get to a point where they cannot see beyond the next win. Demotion to the scout team for a couple of days and getting benched for a half appeared little more than a slap on the wrist. Making matters even worse, Carroll, who ranks with John Robinson and Tommy Lasorda in the media savvy department, will be judged as being oblivious to anything beyond that next win leading to the next national championship. What he said when he said it was a simple statement. There was no hard edge or hint of a sneer when he spoke. However, those who seek to judge him from a distance will see this as another coach putting himself and his team above everyone and everything. They will read the words in the cold light of day and see Carroll as arrogantly saying winning gives him the right to forge his own path. How about the possibility that he was thinking first and foremost about the well-being of Maualuga? "There's no question he stepped out of character, so we have to help him," Carroll said. "We went through it the way that we do it. We considered all the circumstances and how remorseful the guy was."
The circumstances include Maualuga dealing with emotional stress because his father is seriously ill. At the time, it was easy to come to the conclusion that no matter how much empathy Carroll felt for the young man in pain, the coach saying the player is remorseful provided an easy out. It gave Maualuga too easy an out. It's Terrell Owens saying he's sorry after burning all his bridges with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The neat little condemnation package came apart Tuesday when Carroll was asked once more about Maualuga's status. "Rey, in an emergency, had to go home last night," he said. Maualuga took the last flight he could catch to get home to Eureka in Northern California. "His dad is very sick and, I'm not sure, Rey might be there for a while," Carroll said. "He has to do what he's doing right now. He needs to be where he is." Maualuga's father has cancer. Give the young man and Carroll, who is trying to help him through the toughest period of his life, some slack.

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