Pete Carroll has rarely committed errors during one of the most successful coaching careers in football, but he did at Southern California with Clay Matthews.
To this day, Carroll still shakes his head when he thinks about it.
A defensive mastermind throughout his years in pro and college football, Carroll always has had an eye for talented linebackers. Somehow, he didn't immediately see the skill in Matthews, a third-generation player who wasn't much more than a special teams guy early on with the Trojans.
Carroll's Seattle Seahawks will face Matthews' Green Bay Packers today in the NFC Championship Game. Carroll said he loves what he sees out of Matthews, a five-time Pro Bowl linebacker, even though the coach didn't recognize that play-making ability back at USC.
"That's a really interesting story," Carroll told Barry Wilner of The Associated Press. "When Clay came in, he was 208 pounds and he didn't run really well. He wasn't really strong, but he loved playing and he tried really hard."
Carroll paused, looking as if he wanted to smack himself upside the head before he continued with the USC saga.
"Unfortunately, this is one of the great mistakes that I missed in my coaching was how good of a player he was," Carroll said. "I had said going in I think maybe his junior year, somebody asked me about Clay Matthews, and I said, 'I think he might be one of the best special teamers to ever play at USC.' He was a great player on [special] teams.
"I knew I couldn't really validate that, but I was blowing him up because he was a great kid."
Fast-forward to Matthews' final season with the Trojans. He was not a starter when top-ranked Southern Cal was losing at Oregon State. Searching for some answers, Carroll turned to Matthews.
The Trojans still lost, but Carroll realized he'd missed the mark with Matthews.
"I should have figured that out a lot sooner than I did," Carroll said. "He made the rest of it history and has been an extraordinary player ever since."
Give them time
Pace of play has become a concern for baseball, and this season a 20-second pitch-clock will be used in the minor leagues at Class AA and Class AAA stadiums.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is no fan of any clock.
"If you [use a pitch clock], you take the beauty out of the game," Lester said. "There's such a cat-and-mouse game as far as messing up hitters' timing, messing up pitchers' timing. Different things that fans and people that have never played this game don't understand.
"I feel like if you do add a clock, it just takes all the beauty away from the game. I think you're going down a path you don't want to go down."
The right time
Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone, on Twitter, after the Seattle Mariners acquired left-handed pitcher Mike Kickham: "I'd suspect their plan is to use Kickham when they're down."
Sports quiz
Jon Lester threw a no-hitter against what team on May 19, 2008?
Sports answer
Kansas City Royals
Sports on 01/18/2015