Seahawks secondary assistant coach Rocky Seto accepted a verbal offer to become UCLA’s next defensive coordinator last week. He was so excited, he had to tell his friends and family.
And those friends and family started posting congratulations to his Facebook account.
“My intentions were not to get the news out. Maybe I shouldn’t have told as many friends and family,” Seto told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I was just so excited. And we were scheduled for a press conference on Wednesday.”
The press conference never happened. UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel called the day after offering the job and rescinded the offer. So what happened?
Scott Wolf of the LA Daily News reports that the Facebook messages “infuriated UCLA and incited a fan backlash.” Seto was a former Pete Carroll assistant at USC.
Neuheisel wouldn’t confirm the news leaking out cost Seto the job, but he didn’t deny it either. He needed approval from the “UCLA board of regents” and said he considered a number of factors before changing his mind.
It’s a lesson for everyone, especially in this technological age: Try to stay quiet about a new gig until a contract is signed.