USC Coach Pete Carroll says consultant operated within NCAA rules

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USC Coach Pete Carroll said the Trojans cleared the hiring of special teams consultant Pete Rodriguez through its compliance department and abided by NCAA rules last season.

The Times reported today that Rodriguez attended practices, monitored games and offered Carroll behind-the-scenes advice, which might have violated NCAA rules that prohibit consultants from coaching.

‘This is something that we have gone through all the proper channels a long time ago to make sure that we were doing the right thing and all that,’ Carroll said at Pacific 10 Conference media day. ‘We’ve documented it.’

Carroll declined to specify what Rodriguez did in his role, but said the former NFL coach was within the parameters of NCAA rules.

‘We stuck with what we [how] understood it and interpret it,’ Carroll said. ‘We tried to do everything exactly the right way.’

Carroll confirmed that Alex Gibbs and other coaches with NFL experience have served as consultants during his tenure at USC, but he declined to name them.

‘The fact that it comes up now is way after the fact,’ Carroll said of questions about Rodriguez’s role. ‘But we’re going to to do everything we need to do to cooperate ... by the guidance of the university.’

-- Gary Klein