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Shutdown Corner - NFL

Shutdown Corner

Wed Feb 09 10:18am EST

Seahawks assistant loses college job after online protest

By Chris Chase

Seattle Seahawks assistant coach Rocky Seto wanted to get the word out that he had accepted the defensive coordinator position at UCLA. He texted reporters the news, told his friends and family, and watched congratulations pour in on his Facebook page all before the official announcement was made.

The early dissemination of the news had an unintended consequence. A massive fan backlash to Seto's hiring, ignited by the coach's preemptive self-congratulations, caused UCLA to rescind the offer.

A college newspaper reported last week that Seto sent a text message to a reporter saying that he had accepted the coordinator position at UCLA. It was a return to college for Seto, who played at USC and later served as defensive coordinator under Pete Carroll before following the coach to Seattle when he took the head coaching job with the Seahawks.

UCLA fan sites exploded with the news and immediately began a "Veto Seto" campaign aimed toward the school's athletic director. The website, Sports By Brooks, explains the root of the anger:

It had everything to do with the common knowledge that Seto, who previously served as defensive coordinator under Pete Carroll at USC, held that position in name only. It was Carroll who ran the defense when Seto was credited with being USC's DC.

After Carroll left USC, Seto not only wasn't retained in any capacity by new coach Lane Kiffin, his lack of job prospects landed him as Carroll's lowly "quality control" coach with the Seahawks.

The campaign worked, UCLA took back the offer and Seto is left without a job. Even if Seto hadn't leaked the news himself, the fan backlash may have still occurred. Or maybe he would have signed the deal without the news getting out and today he'd be UCLA's coordinator. We'll never know. In essence, the coach's eagerness to promote his new job is what indirectly led to his ouster. But, one thing is for sure, he violated a basic rule of the coaching business: Don't talk until it's announced.

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