Charlie Weis, Pete Carroll

Charlie Weis may be finished with college football, but he’s not quite finished with USC coach Pete Carroll. In an otherwise straightforward exit interview with IrishIllustrated.com’s Tim Prister, Weis implied Carroll lived with a graduate student, separate from his wife.

In the interview, Weiss was asked about how the public in South Bend perceives him; he then went on to say that if Pete Carroll were living in Malibu with a grad student, no one in Southern California would care, whereas Weiss, if the same allegations were made, would end up in the stockade.

petecarrollwithoutgradstudent Pete Carroll was living with a grad student

The problem was the way in which he said it; anyone reading it could possibly come away not really knowing for sure if he was accusing Pete Carroll of an impropriety, or he was just trying to make a point.

Apparently, according to Weiss, it’s the latter. Pete Carroll was understandably miffed by the mix-up; he said as much to the Los Angeles Times. The father of three also vehemently denied that he was involved in an improper relationship, just in case some folks took what Weiss said at face value. Weiss has expressed his regret over the misunderstanding.

There are two other ways to look at Weiss’s strange comments; first of all, one could just as easily surmise that he (Weiss) was admitting that he was having an affair with a student.

The media is hyper-vigilant about such revelations, especially after a week of one sordid tale after another regarding Tiger Woods.

When all is said and done, the Pete Carroll/grad student interview was meant to be a subjective, hypothetical scenario to make a point, according to Weiss. Instead of making that point, however, he may have just unwittingly provided some insight into why he was fired.