Hey, Pete Carroll, want to come to Oakland?

Thursday, the owner of the quarterback-less, chaotic Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, called up one of the most highly sought coaching prospects in the nation, USC skipper Pete Carroll.The story twists here: Carroll didn't hang up 4 Brett Favre Purple jersey
the phone. He didn't instantly shoot down Blank's offer, and he is actually thinking about it. Or at least he's making it appear that way for now.Then it hit me: Carroll wouldn't even pretend to mull over an opportunity to coach for the . The story wouldn't even be newspaper material, because it's so ridiculously far-fetched. And the Raiders have a quarterback on their roster who was the No. 1 pick last April, a top-five selection in 2008 and a young, talented defense.The Falcons, well, the Falcons have a top-five pick, too ... and Joey Harrington.The difference is the Falcons have a flexible owner. Blank, a co-founder of successful American retailer Home Depot, knows that he isn't the most qualified person to run the day-to-day operations of an NFL team. So, Blank did the smart thing when he called up the 56-year-old Carroll: He told him he'd have full control of personnel decisions if he took the job.Under that condition, the USC coach could hire any defensive coordinator he wanted, for example. Say, for instance, Rob Ryan -- well, that is if Al Davis didn't flex his 78-year-old muscle and subdue his own head coach, Lane Kiffin, who wanted to fire Ryan earlier this offseason. If Kiffin had what Blank was offering to Carroll, Ryan would be gone right now. Instead, Kiffin is stuck with the 45-year-old coordinator for at least another season against his will.In the meantime, Atlanta is courting one of the most successful college head coaches in the nation. Carroll has won two national championships with the Trojans, compiling a 76-14 record along the way.In the end, he may shoot down Blank and choose to stay with USC or coach elsewhere in the NFL.Though, it still reveals something about the way Davis does business. The longtime owner controls one of just 32 NFL head coaching jobs in the world, and he still has had trouble finding and keeping candidates in recent history. And when it seems like things are finally going well, he does something to ruin the relationship. Think: Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan and, now, Kiffin.There have now been a over a dozen near-identical reports all laying out the same storyline this offseason: Kiffin wasn't happy with the job Ryan did in 2007; as a result, he was intending on firing the D-coordinator; Ryan, then, was planning on taking a position with the New York Jets; then, Kiffin would hire a new coordinator, preferably one familiar with the Tampa 2 defense.It was simple enough, until Davis did what he's been criticized harshly for since Oakland lost the Super Bowl back in 2002: meddle in day-to-day team operations. Now, Kiffin has remained rather quiet since then, likely choosing that route instead of making matters worse than they already are 36 Bettis Black Jersey
now.Davis, who first began his stint as the Raiders' general manager 45 years ago, seems to grow more determined, but he's also more involved with each passing year. Unfortunately, as hard as it may be for team loyalists to face this fact, the game has passed Davis by.It's a harsh reality, but until Davis steps down from his dominant role, every offseason in Oakland will take the form of this one: confusing, controversial and utterly unnecessary.