"They say it could've come down to a coin flip, but futures and lives aren't decided by such binary means.

The fact is, Matt Cassel and Matt Leinart were both struggling through the 2004 preseason at Southern California, and coach Pete Carroll had to make a decision on a starting quarterback. If neither was better than the other, then Carroll had to decide who was less bad. It was Leinart by a hair, and like that, Cassel's career seemed to be decided.

"It's hard to revisit," Cassel said this week. "You didn't know how it was all going to pan out."

A promising young passer had his future decided by others. Now what? Stick it out or transfer? Complain about his coach's decision or accept it?

Six years after Cassel was passed over, fate has begun to settle itself. Cassel never got his chance at USC, but now he's the Chiefs' starter. Leinart is the third-string passer for Houston after being released earlier this season by Arizona. Somehow, the college senior with no shot now has a firm grip on his NFL team's future - and the other is in professional purgatory.

That, and Carroll left the college ranks after last year to join the Seattle Seahawks, whom the Chiefs will play Sunday.

"I don't know how many times that has happened," Carroll says. "Maybe it has, but I can't think of any stories. I don't know how that could've happened."

But it did, and Sunday, Cassel will try to show his former coach what he missed, and the coach will try to slow what has quietly become an impressive season for the Chiefs quarterback.

Here's the odd thing: Cassel not only doesn't blame Carroll for benching him in 2004; he said it was the right call. And, even now, it's difficult even to suggest that Carroll could've done even marginally better if he had chosen Cassel over Leinart, who had already led USC to the AP national title in 2003. The quarterback who won that preseason competition led the Trojans to that season's BCS championship, and he also won the Heisman Trophy."