Norm Chow leaves USC for Titans!

[ISiddiqui]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1987454

Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Titans would be Chow's first NFL job

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ESPN.com news services

Norm Chow will leave USC for the Tennessee Titans, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The Beginning Of The End?

The departure of offensive coordinator Norm Chow from USC to the NFL will not be the end of the Trojans' dominance. It may not be noticed at all this season, when the offense loses only two senior starters and returns a Heisman Trophy winner. But it is the beginning of the end. To pretend that Oakland assistant Steve Sarkisian (should he return to USC) can churn out quarterbacks like a coach who has developed three Heisman Trophy winners (Ty Detmer, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart), not to mention Philip Rivers, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, Jim McMahon and Gifford Nielsen, is foolish. Chow is a singular talent, and coach Pete Carroll decided, for reasons so far unknown, not to work to keep him. You can't help but think that a clash of egos caused Chow to leave. What's not to like about winning 33 of 34 games? One of the more interesting hidden stories this season will be the progress of John David Booty, Rocky Hinds and Matt Sanchez, the three quarterbacks who will jockey to replace Leinart. History tells us that dynasties can begin to crumble from within as well as without. -- Ivan Maisel

Chow, 58, reportedly accepted an offer from Titans coach Jeff Fisher on Tuesday to become the team's offensive coordinator, a position that will pay him nearly $1 million annually plus incentives. This would be Chow's first job in the NFL after 32 seasons at Brigham Young, North Carolina State and USC.


"I'm fired up -- it's an exciting opportunity to get into the highest level of football," Chow told the newspaper. "But my family is very, very sad to leave USC because it's been such a great run."


A press conference to announce Chow's hiring is expected Wednesday, the newspaper reported.


"They're taking a chance on a college guy, and I'm grateful for that," Chow told the Times.


Chow interviewed Friday with the Titans. Chow met in Nashville with Fisher, a USC alumnus, quarterback Steve McNair and other members of the Titans organization before returning to Los Angeles Friday night.


"The thing I'll miss the most is the players, the coaches and the fan base," Chow told the Times in a telephone interview. "It's such a unique place. I'm grateful to Pete Carroll for just giving us the opportunity to be a part of that."


Chow was considered the leading candidate to replace Mike Heimerdinger, who left to serve in the same capacity with the New York Jets


Chow is one of the highest-paid assistant coaches at the college level, earning about $500,000 a year. But it's widely known that Chow longs to run his own program -- an opportunity that would enable him to become his sport's first Asian-American head coach.


Chow has had only three known interviews for college head-coaching positions -- at Kentucky, Arizona and Stanford.


Arizona chose Mike Stoops, the brother of Oklahoma coach Bobby Stoops, a year ago, and Stanford picked Walt Harris three weeks ago.


"Very disappointing," Chow said of not being selected by Stanford. "But it lasted all of about two minutes. What can you do?"


His name came up again when Paul Pasqualoni was fired as the coach at Syracuse by new athletic director Daryl Gross, who left his post as associate athletic director at USC.


"I just think it's the wrong thing for me to pluck someone out of the program I just left," Gross said at the time. "That would be inappropriate."

	Chow

Syracuse later hired Texas co-defensive coordinator Greg Robinson.


Chow has helped groom Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart into Heisman Trophy winners at USC where the Trojans have won the national title the past two seasons. He spent 27 years at Brigham Young working with quarterbacks such as Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, Steve Young and Jim McMahon -- a former teammate of Fisher's.


He left after the 1999 season and spent one year at North Carolina State, working with standout quarterback Philip Rivers. He was hired by the Trojans before the 2001 season.


Chow is the fifth assistant to leave USC since their championship season ended.


Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Is this the end of the USC juggernaut? And will Tennessee see some immediate results? They weren't that shabby on offense last year with Volek and Brown. Should be interesting, at least.

[DanGarion]

BOOOOOOOOO!

[GoldenEagle]

Losing Chow can not compare to losing Orgy. Afterall, it was Orgy who signed Lineart and Bush.

[DanGarion]

It's tough to lose both. But at the same time I'm happy to see them get great opportunities.

This is when we find out how great of a coach/manager Pete really is.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by dangarion

It's tough to lose both. But at the same time I'm happy to see them get great opportunities.

This is when we find out how great of a coach/manager Pete really is.

Agreed.

[MacroGuru]

I also think it turns into a time where you can find out how well of an OC Norm is....his offense works in College, but can he do it in the NFL....

I will be rooting for the Titans a little more this year, but thats only after I root for my Lions!

[MrBug708]

USC got Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush because they are USC and Pete Carroll had just taken them to the Orange Bowl and crushed Iowa. Just remember who is the boss and who is the subordinate in the college ranks. It might have been Chow's offense, but Pete still called the shots. Carroll has a Rah-Rah attitude and regardless of how good Chow and Coach O were, it's still Carroll's team and I highly doubt whoever they bring it will see much of a drop while all of that talent they brought in. Tennessee might have brought in the top ranked class, but SC brought in more 5 stars then any other school has even brought in. The talent there is sick and as a UCLA fan, I'm still scared, even with Chow leaving. Sure they might not be winning championships, but I dont see them dropping too much unless the talent just doesnt gel. However, these kids picked SC knowing they have to compete so if they are expecting to be handed a starting job, they are in for a surprise.

UCLA just needs to hire Butch Davis to make us better now....

[moriarty]

Chow is a singular talent, and coach Pete Carroll decided, for reasons so far unknown, not to work to keep him. You can't help but think that a clash of egos caused Chow to leave. What's not to like about winning 33 of 34 games?

Where did this come from? Everything I've heard is that Chow was just frustrated about not getting a head coaching position and wants to add to his resume to get there. Is this an idiot writer making crap up or was there really some fallout.

[MrIllini]

I still fail to see how an NFL OC job is going to get him more NCAA head coaching opportunities

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by MrIllini

I still fail to see how an NFL OC job is going to get him more NCAA head coaching opportunities

Ever heard of Charlie Weis (sp)?

[MrIllini]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Ever heard of Charlie Weis (sp)?

Yeah, ever heard of the thousands of college assistants that got promoted to HC jobs?

I'll reserve judgement on Weis until he actually does something at ND.

Besides, Weis is an entirely different animal than Chow, Weis has zero college experience.

[moriarty]

Originally Posted by MrIllini

Yeah, ever heard of the thousands of college assistants that got promoted to HC jobs?

I'll reserve judgement on Weis until he actually does something at ND.

Besides, Weis is an entirely different animal than Chow, Weis has zero college experience.

My point being is that OC is both a path to college coaching as well as NFL head coaching. Clearly Chow felt (and i agree) he wasn't getting a legitimate shot at a head coaching job in college. What more can he do? Rather than waiting for the world to come to him, he's stepping up to another challenge - one that if he's successful will do nothing but enhance his chances as a head coach at either the NFL or college.

I suppose he could sit around another year hoping, but if 2 heismans in three years and 2 national championships don't get you offers what will? Personally I applaud his initiative and wish him well.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Where did this come from? Everything I've heard is that Chow was just frustrated about not getting a head coaching position and wants to add to his resume to get there. Is this an idiot writer making crap up or was there really some fallout.

It's known in a lot of circles that Chow isn't the greatest guy to work with, he has some personality issues, it's part of the reason that BYU brought Crowton in and didn't hire Chow...

I also went to High School with his kids, and played ball with one of them, he isn't the nicest guy to say the least..

[I. J. Reilly]

Originally Posted by moriarty

Where did this come from? Everything I've heard is that Chow was just frustrated about not getting a head coaching position and wants to add to his resume to get there. Is this an idiot writer making crap up or was there really some fallout.

It may be an idiot making crap up, but this idiot heard the same thing. It's been all over the Oregon State message boards that Carroll is sick of Chow getting credit for all the success. The coaching version of only having one ball.

[Abe Sargent]

If Norm kicks ass, in a couple of years, he may start getting the NFL coaching interviews, and then he'l at least get a college position, if not one in the bnig leagues.

-Anxiety

[jbmagic]

Can USC survive losing 4 coaches this season?

[scooper]

Originally Posted by jbmagic

Can USC survive losing 4 coaches this season?

Sure, they're still the most talented team in the country. And it's USC. They pay well and will attract solid replacements as long as Petey is willing to surround himself with smart coaches.

There may be some dropoff in performance as players adjust to a new system and I doubt anybody will come in and call a game like Chow, but if any team has room for a dropoff, it's the Trojans.