Does Will Ferrell have any eligibility left? There's a school out there that could likely use his services.
The actor and noted USC fan kicked a field goal with help from Pete Carroll on Wednesday night in Carroll's first public appearance at the school since he left for the Seattle Seahawks.
Carroll departed USC in 2010 amidst NCAA sanctions, which came down after he left. The sanctions included a two-year bowl ban and a three-year reduction of 30 scholarships. The upcoming season, the first for new head coach Steve Sarkisian, is the final year with scholarship reductions.
Sarkisian was co-offensive coordinators with Lane Kiffin under Carroll. Kiffin was fired as USC's coach in September.
Carroll, whose Seahawks won the Super Bowl in February, spoke in front of a group of 1,200 and also met with some media members. He said the sanctions were "dealt with poorly" by the NCAA, a belief he's held since the penalties were handed down.
“We made some mistakes along the way but I don’t think it was dealt with properly,” he said. “I thought it was dealt with poorly and very irrationally and done with way too much emotion instead of facts.”
Carroll was asked to elaborate on what he meant by mistakes.
“We just didn’t know what was going on," he said. "Had we known I would like to think we would do the right thing and would have stopped everything and fixed it by doing what we should have done. But unfortunately, because we didn’t know, the university gets killed over the deal.
What wasn't handled poorly? That kick. Maybe it's the dramatic slo-mo, but with some form practice, Ferrell could be automatic from 40 yards and in.