USC's Pete Carroll is left alone at the top

Seven key coaches have left the program in the last few years, and the football coach now has an unchallenged voice that might be leaving him hoarse and distracted.

From a dreary field in Seattle to an eerie field in Eugene, the whispers have been the same.

From first downs at the Coliseum to the last series in South Bend, the wondering has been incessant.

Who is coaching these guys?

While the source of the rips and tears in this strangely ragged USC football team can be debated, the overall appearance cannot.

Pete Carroll's Trojans do not look like Pete Carroll's Trojans. They don't swarm, suffocate or scheme like them. They don't attack with the same intensity, defend with the same abandon, or behave with the same inspiration.

And, oh yeah, these Trojans don't tackle like those Trojans, largely because they don't tackle at all.

Who is coaching these guys?

After five years of whirlwind turnover, the answer is, we don't really know.

And the scary part is, perhaps the players don't either.

At a time when Carroll's coaching staff should be fostering his philosophy through the sense of stability that comes with nearly a decade of success, its most important voices are either too new or too unsteady.

At a time when the coaching staff should be building on the philosophies that led to consecutive national championships in 2003 and 2004, well, the heart of that group is gone.

Seven coaches gone, to be exact.

Call it the Curse of Chow.

The unnecessary departure of offensive coordinator Norm Chow after the 2004 championship led to an all-star coaching stampede out the Heritage Hall doors.

Offensive gurus Chow, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, gone.

Lineman touchstones Ed Orgeron and Tim Davis, gone.

Heart and soul guys Nick Holt and Kennedy Pola, gone.

They weren't thrown out, they walked out, to better jobs or different scenery, but their departures left a hole in the heart of this program that has not won a national title since.

Five years later, Carroll is left with a new and ever-changing staff that lacks either the experience or security to challenge the boss.

The players are left with some coaches who lack the championship credibility and cultural understanding necessary to sell them on the boss' vision.