According to several reports, Pete Carroll is a candidate to succeed Bobby Petrino in Atlanta and the just-retired Joe Gibbs in Washington. Carroll, reached on vacation in Hawaii, said "I'm not talking. I'm not responding to anything." His agent Gary Uberstine did not return a phone call seeking comment. However, USC spokesman Tim Tesselone circulated the following statement: "As Pete told our beat reporters last Wednesday [Jan. 3], he understands that his name is going to come up for NFL jobs, as it has in each of his past years here, but that he was not going to comment about NFL openings because it would just lead to speculation." "'There's nothing going on, no reason to even talk about it," Caroll said. "Pete is out of the office on vacation this week, but he reiterated that to me this morning on the phone."