Leinart’s Second Loss Is a Big One

Standing at that lectern a couple of weeks ago, his voice breaking, his forehead sweating, we thought Matt Leinart was making this difficult decision alone.

Turns out, he had company.

“This was about Matt and Norm,” said his father, Bob. “They were doing this together. One last year together.”

Together, Matt and his guru Norm Chow, meeting for an hour every day to talk about everything.

Together, quarterback Matt and offensive coordinator Norm designing and running plays that have resulted in 25 victories in 26 starts.

Together, Matt and Norm at Norm’s house on Thanksgiving, on the phone after dinner, on the field hugging after consecutive national titles.

When Leinart announced last month that he was turning down NFL millions to remain at USC for his senior season, he said, “Something special is going on that I just wasn’t ready to give up.”

More than anything, that something special was Chow.

Leinart didn’t want to sacrifice their relationship.

How unfortunate that, a few weeks later, USC sacrificed it anyway.

How disappointing that the powerful Trojan family couldn’t do enough to keep the guy who put the game in Leinart’s head and the “man” in Leinart’s Heisman.

For once, a big-time player reminds us that the game is still personal, still fun, and what happens?

For the umpteenth time, a big-time team reminds us that it’s all business.

All the talk this week is about how USC and Pete Carroll will survive the loss of Chow.

What about the star who stayed specifically to play for him?

“It’s very disheartening, and I know Matt is also very disheartened,” said Bob Leinart, speaking not as a critic, but as a dad. And who can blame him? “We know this is a business, but this is the bad part of the business,” he added. “There’s no loyalty, and that’s sad.”

Bob Leinart wouldn’t say it, but someone should.

This is not about the coach’s loyalty to the program, but vice versa.

Norm Chow had already shown his loyalty to USC. He bought a house here last summer. He sent two of his children to USC. He turned down the head coaching job at Kentucky to stay here.

He has told anyone who would listen that he wasn’t enamored of the NFL.

Until this week, he has never openly sought a job in the NFL.

And nothing he has done in his low-key career suggests that he was ever doing this for the money.

So how in the heck do the Trojans lose him to a mediocre NFL team like the Tennessee Titans for a far-less-than-Pete-Carroll salary of about $900,000?

Here’s guessing, if they wanted, they could have kept him for less.

Here’s wondering if his changing job description and potentially reduced responsibilities made him feel as if he didn’t have a choice.

The Trojan family can move mountains, so it’s strange that nobody was willing to keep the shine on a Heisman or buy a lock for a dynasty.

“You have to understand, Norm Chow was the guy who Matt spent all of his time with,” said Bob Leinart. “Norm was his guy. That makes it hard.”

Remember, as a senior at Mater Dei High, Leinart verbally agreed to attend USC when the coach was Paul Hackett. He agreed to remain there only after newcomer Carroll hired Chow.

Also remember, when Carson Palmer was leaving school, Leinart was a third-string underachiever. He became a starter only after being anointed by Chow.

Leinart’s emergence was directly tied to Chow’s offense. His confidence directly sprouted from Chow’s challenges.

Before this year’s Orange Bowl, Chow flatly told Leinart that the entire game rested on his shoulders. He knew Leinart loved the prodding and could handle the pressure. Leinart responded with five touchdown passes that most thought would send him to the NFL.

But with Chow’s having failed again in his bid to become a college head coach, and having stated his dislike for the NFL, Leinart was confident that his confidant would remain at USC one more year.

So he, too, stayed, telling Chow about his decision several hours before he told the public.

“I love that they had become so close,” Bob Leinart said. “As a father, what could be better than someone taking care of your son at school?”

In the end, though, Chow was maybe the only one taking care of Leinart.

Pete Carroll is the best college coach in the country, and deserves benefit of the doubt.

But in this case, there is doubt.

It was first reported in this space that Carroll and Chow, while always complimentary of each other, were increasingly uncomfortable with each other.

It is naive to think that just because they won’t publicly acknowledge disagreements means they don’t exist.

Knowing Chow was eventually leaving to be a college head coach, Carroll probably wanted to start planning for life without him.

Wanting more input and credit in the offense, maybe Carroll figured the time to start fading the spotlight on Chow was now.

Here’s guessing Chow felt he better leave before he was pushed out.

The only thing certain is that their most important player is the one who feels the biggest loss.

If the NFL had given him an extra six weeks to figure out his future, do you think he would have turned pro? Would you blame him?

If he was able to finish his schoolwork in June and become eligible for an NFL supplemental draft this summer, would he do it? Why not?

Leinart can still have a splendid senior season. He knows the offense so well, he could audible every play and make it work.

His receivers trust him. His running backs will block for him. Steve Sarkisian will return to the sidelines to push him.

Yet even with all that help, there will be times that Leinart will feel alone.

Without the Chow comfort zone, there will be a lot more pressure. There will be many more adjustments. It can’t be as much fun.

Standing at that lectern last month, having forsaken instant millions for the Trojan family, Matt Leinart said, “The one thing I realized is that the NFL is a business.”

At least it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.