He will be the eighth head coach in Seahawks history.

“We are excited to add Pete as our coach. He brings a great passion for winning and a positive attitude that is contagious,” said Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke. “We now turn our full attention to the hiring process for a general manager.

"Our intended structure is for Pete and the new G.M. to work in a collaborative capacity on football matters.”

Carroll returns to the NFL after spending the previous nine years as head coach at USC, where he won seven consecutive Pac-10 titles (2002-08), two national championships and led the Trojans to a 97-19 record.

Carroll began his NFL career as defensive backs coach for Buffalo (1984) and Minnesota (1985-89) before becoming the New York Jets defensive coordinator (1990-93) and head coach (1994). He spent two years as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator (1995-96) before leading New England to a 27-21 record and two playoff appearances as head coach (1997-99).

Carroll’s overall head coaching record is 33-31 in the regular season and 1-2 in the postseason.

As previously reported, the Seahawks fired coach Jim Mora on Friday following just one season, even though he had three years and about $12 million remaining on his contract. General manager and president Tim Ruskell was forced to resign last month, leaving Seattle without a coach, general manager or president less than four years after the team reached the Super Bowl.

Carroll went 6-10 with the Jets in 1994 and 27-21 while twice reaching the playoffs from ’97-99 with the Patriots — before he restored a dynasty at USC beginning in 2001.

Seattle is 9-23 since its run of four consecutive NFC West titles ended in the 2007 season. Team owner Paul Allen, the Microsoft Corp. tycoon, proved money is of little concern by firing Mora after Leiweke had said he expected the coach to stay.

According to Associated Press sports writer Gregg Bell, the Seahawks are hoping the splashy, marquee addition of Carroll will ignite a notoriously rabid fan base that turned on its team this season with constant calls for mass firings.

This is also perhaps the best time to leave USC since he arrived in 2001.

Its string of seven consecutive Pac-10 titles ended with four losses in the just-completed season. And the school has been under several years of NCAA scrutiny for alleged improprieties in both Carroll’s team and athletic director Mike Garrett’s beleaguered department.

Carroll’s departure comes at a bad time for USC recruits, who are now caught between whether to honor their commitments or re-enter the college recruiting derby late in the process.

Carroll had already planned a team meeting for Monday afternoon, on the day the Trojans return to class following the holiday break. That meeting is still scheduled. ...

Now that Carroll is in place in Seattle, USC's opening could have an impact on the NFL.

Profootballtalk.com reports that USC's first choice to replace Carroll, Mike Riley, has accepted a contract extension to stay at Oregon State.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher has already told USC no, according to multiple reports. The school has contacted Herm Edwards, according to the L.A. Daily News. Former Trojan and current Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio is reportedly interested, but USC "has reservations" about him.

Del Rio, however, is set to meet with Jacksonville owner Wayne Weaver this week in what's been characterized as a "job interview." There's still some question as to whether he'll be retained. ...

Meanwhile, with everyone heading into the 2010 season on the hot seat in Chicago, former USC offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates has opted to join Carroll with the Seahawks, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.

The Bears wanted to hire Bates, which would have reunited him with quarterback Jay Cutler. Bates served as Cutler's position coach in Denver.

As for the G.M. position. ... According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Patriots senior football advisor Floyd Reese is the latest candidate for the G.M. position.

Reese was on the initial list of ten candidates, which has shifted and changed dramatically with the firing of Mora and the hiring of Carroll.

Now, a revised short list of candidates has expanded to four, with Reese, Steelers exec Omar Khan, Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross and Packers director of football operations John Schneider due to interview this week.

Carroll, Bates and whoever joins them as general manager will then have to decide whether veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who has been slowed greatly by injuries in recent seasons, is still capable of leading the team to success -- or if they need to go in another direction.

It's safe to assume rumors linking such former USC standouts as Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer with their former college coach will begin to circulate.

In fact, PFT's Mike Florio already suggested -- only half his tongue in cheek -- that based on his lackluster performance in 2009 and his $10.5 million salary in 2010 and the absence of any cap consequences from trading him in an uncapped year, the Bengals might be willing to think about shipping Palmer back to the West Coast.

Look for more chatter like that in coming weeks as Carroll settles into his new job.