When I picture USC execs standing to face the music and have to accept the sentences for their NCAA crimes, a caricature scenario runs through my mind that includes ex-Trojans football coach Pete Carroll driving off in the getaway car leaving his fellow cronies behind to take the beating.

Carroll’s name has come up around the NFL regarding coaching vacancies several times over the years since he returned to an NCAA bench but he never took any offers seriously enough to leave until this off-season.

When it was announced Carroll would be leaving USC to return to the NFL, the NCAA allegations against USC were long out there with investigations dragging out over several years, so the timing of him shedding his Cardinal and Gold comes into question.

Being behind the Trojans bench this year would have been a disaster since the sanctions include a two-year ban from participating in a bowl game, the loss of 20 scholarships and sacrificing wins over the past several years. The L.A. Times has all the sanctions listed here.

Good luck recruiting with your hands tied like that.

The records for top NCAA football programs after being issued harsh sentences have produced grim results in the past. The five-year conference records for Alabama Crimson Tide was (21-14), OU (17-15-2) and Auburn (18-22) after being penalized by the NCAA and after an impressive winning run, the University of Miami took several years to dig out of a hole after they were slammed with sanctions.

It’s all about recruiting in college ball which is basically the minor league of the NFL. Elite high school players get lured to whatever schools can get them the most exposure to the NFL scouts.

So what’s going on in Knoxville then? Where Lane Kiffin left the University of Tennessee hanging just as the team was making its way around the corner from a dark, dingy alley they had been stuck in for several years.

Be assured there will be some heavy partying at that campus when Kiffin learns his recruiting has suddenly become so difficult.

Kiffin is known as one of the kings of recruiting and even went as far as sending hot looking babes in skimpy outfits to high school games and events trying to lure top prospects to UT during his short stay.

While all this is happening in Southern California, the caricature comes back to mind and I picture Carroll glancing back in the rear view mirror of the getaway car, well out of danger, heading toward sunnier skies in Seattle.

MORE: L.A. Times Lists All Sanctions Here

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax, LLC