USCFootball.com - Carroll names Seto DC, Norton promoted

January 8, 2009

Dan Woike
USCFootball.com Staff Writer

USC head coach Pete Carroll has been in a unique position this offseason.

After winning 12 games and another Rose Bowl championship, Carroll was faced with replacing both his offensive and defensive coordinators.

With Steve Sarkisian headed to take over as Washington's new head coach and Nick Holt following him there as his new defensive coordinator, Carroll was forced to retool his staff, doing so by looking to his past and present coaching colleagues.

Carroll first turned to his staff to promote John Morton to offensive coordinator. Then, he added Carl Smith, a former Trojan assistant, to coach the quarterbacks.

Late Tuesday night, Carroll announced he would fill USC's defensive coordinator void by promoting Rocky Seto, Carroll's longest-tenured assistant.

Seto has been at USC for the entirety of his coaching career, starting as a volunteer assistant in 1999.

Seto had been courted by Sarkisian to be Washington's defensive coordinator, but he turned down the job.

Seto had been named the assistant head coach for the defense after spurning the Huskies' advances. With his latest promotion, that title will go to USC linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr.

In addition to the two in-staff promotions, Carroll announced that former USC defensive line coach, Jethro Franklin, would return to the staff at the same position.

Franklin coached the line in 2005, when USC went 12-1 and lost to Texas in the BCS Championship Game. Franklin then went on to coach in the NFL - first with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then with the Houston Texans.

He was fired by the Texans after the 2008 season.

Franklin's hire could afford current defensive line coach David Watson the opportunity to spend more time working with USC's special teams.

Franklin replaced Ed Orgeron at USC when Orgeron went to Ole Miss to be the Rebels head coach after the 2004 season.

Sources said Tuesday morning that Orgeron, currently the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Tennessee, had been offered the Trojans' vacant defensive-coordinator position.

Sources close to the USC football program confirmed the Trojans had been in contact with Orgeron, but denied the job offer.

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