CBS: USC to hire Steve Sarkisian

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per CBS:

Steve Sarkisian will be named the next coach at USC, a source told CBSSports.com Monday morning.

The 39-year-old Sarkisian, a Torrance, California native, spent five seasons at Washington and led the Huskies to a 34-29 record after taking over a program that went 0-12 in 2008. He led UW to an 8-4 record this season behind an O that ranks eighth in the nation in total offense. Washington finished the regular-season by winning four of its final five games.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/bruce-feldman/24315215/usc-to-hire-sarkisian

Go Gophers!!
 


I see Washington as a bit of a sleeping giant (we love to throw that "sleeping giant" thing around here). Their "new" stadium is absolutely stunning, a very good fan base, and they have a good recruiting base and some history to build upon. I would think that job would be a very desirable one for just about any coach outside of the current powers in TX and FL.
 

positively4thstreet said:
And UCLA fans are dancing in the streets.
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And Wisconsin fans are crying themselves to sleep. Apparently a 5* RB (Joe Mixon) was down to them or OU until Sark took the USC job at which point Mixon tweeted that USC was now back in the fight. BOOM!
 

I was watching the USC vs UCLA game and the USC cheerleaders would be enough for me to commit to play there. Wowzer!
 


Living and raising my kids in the Seattle area, the Huskies have become my 2nd favorite team. Sarkisian said this morning on the local sports radio that he has spoken with USC, but has not interviewed. However, they know him quite well, he has done a great job at Washington, and he still has a home in Southern California. I generally don't like coaches moving in conference, so I hope USC is giving him a boatload of money to do so.
 

34-29.

At a place like Washington, you are what your record says you are.
 

Studwell55 said:
34-29.

At a place like Washington, you are what your record says you are.
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Is the world always so black and white to you Stud? UW was gawd-awful when Sark started there- possibly worse than what JK had to work with at the U. Take away the 0-12 first year and UW has been 34-17 the last 4 years and they get better every year. Saw them in person against OSU a few weeks back- they're huge, well coached and have great underclassmen at most the skill positions. Whoever takes over that job will have a full cupboard to work with.
 

ESPN radio said that Ed Orgeron the interim Head Coach resigned rather than coach them in the Las Vegas Bowl. The also reported that Orgeron turned down a raise to stay on as an Assistant Coach under Steve Sarkisian.
 



Iceland12 said:
ESPN radio said that Ed Orgeron the interim Head Coach resigned rather than coach them in the Las Vegas Bowl. The also reported that Orgeron turned down a raise to stay on as an Assistant Coach under Steve Sarkisian.
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He was not happy, at all, supposedly.

There is a possibility, albeit slim, that Jim Mora would consider the UW job. It's his alma mater and has better facilities, AD, etc.
 

I have a buddy that worked for Washington and he stated that there is really no crying on this one. He believes that Chris Peterson is there number one candidate. We both agreed that Doug nussmeier may end up being the guy. Former OC at Washington and has been a top assistant for the last couple years.
 

positively4thstreet said:
He was not happy, at all, supposedly.

There is a possibility, albeit slim, that Jim Mora would consider the UW job. It's his alma mater and has better facilities, AD, etc.
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Mora came up as well but there will be a bidding war
 

Sarkisian is a good coach who will do very well at USC. I'm not surprised by the hire other than it is usually bad manners to hire a conference coach. It will be interesting to see where Washington goes from here. Could be right back in the toilet.

And my guess is Ed Orgeron will get another chance at a head job very soon. He could be hugely successful at the right job.
 



Sparlimb said:
Sarkisian is a good coach who will do very well at USC. I'm not surprised by the hire other than it is usually bad manners to hire a conference coach. It will be interesting to see where Washington goes from here. Could be right back in the toilet.

And my guess is Ed Orgeron will get another chance at a head job very soon. He could be hugely successful at the right job.
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He was awful at Ole Miss. He was actually remarkably similar to Brewster.
-He had never been a Head Coach.
-Known as a recruiter
-Kept switching coordinators.
-Made a splash in recruiting, but didn't recruit the guys who were the right fit and lost people due to attrition.

He did a nice job at USC, but with the USC job it's hard to give it to a guy for 1 big win (Stanford) and a questionable track record.

But you're right he'll get another look, probably at a mid-major.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
He was awful at Ole Miss. He was actually remarkably similar to Brewster.
-He had never been a Head Coach.
-Known as a recruiter
-Kept switching coordinators.
-Made a splash in recruiting, but didn't recruit the guys who were the right fit and lost people due to attrition.

He did a nice job at USC, but with the USC job it's hard to give it to a guy for 1 big win (Stanford) and a questionable track record.

But you're right he'll get another look, probably at a mid-major.
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I agree with just about everything you said except the last line. I really get the impression guys with his recruiting ability and time at the major college football level don't go the mid-major route. My guess is he'll get another opportunity in one of the major conferences outside of the SEC at a lower rung team.

At the low end a program like Colorado (I know they have a new coach) level program or at the max maybe even an Oklahoma State if a guy like Gundy were to jump ship at the end of the year. Give Ed O's recruiting capabilities with the facilities of OSU with Texas in the backyard could be a deadly combination in a league that always seems up for grabs like the Big 12.

I say this now and feel free to quote this and make fun of me when he inevitably ends up at Temple.
 


Orgeron already interviewed at Florida Atlantic yesterday
 

Oregon Gopher said:
Is the world always so black and white to you Stud? UW was gawd-awful when Sark started there- possibly worse than what JK had to work with at the U. Take away the 0-12 first year and UW has been 34-17 the last 4 years and they get better every year. Saw them in person against OSU a few weeks back- they're huge, well coached and have great underclassmen at most the skill positions. Whoever takes over that job will have a full cupboard to work with.
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While I agree that Sark is a solid coach, the Huskies were not 0-12 in Sark's first year. They were 0-12 in Whittinghams's last year. Under Sark, they never won fewer than 5 games in a season. They were 3-2 vs USC, 4-1 vs WSU, but 0-5 v Oregon. Their first win vs USC in Husky Stadium was huge vs a highly ranked USC team. And I think they are headed in the right direction.
 

Keyshawn Johnson was not too happy with the hire. Basically he wanted them to split from the Pete Carroll/Lane Kiffin ties. He said Sarkisian is basically Kiffin's buddy.
 

Oregon Gopher said:
Is the world always so black and white to you Stud? UW was gawd-awful when Sark started there- possibly worse than what JK had to work with at the U. Take away the 0-12 first year and UW has been 34-17 the last 4 years and they get better every year. Saw them in person against OSU a few weeks back- they're huge, well coached and have great underclassmen at most the skill positions. Whoever takes over that job will have a full cupboard to work with.
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He is a great recruiter who pissed off a lot of the other programs by poaching the best recruiters off the staffs of several of the other teams in the conference by throwing a boatload of cash at them. Sark has underperformed relative to the great talent he has assembled and the consensus is that if they get the right hire, they can get back to an elite status in a hurry. It will be interesting who they get.
 

raindog said:
While I agree that Sark is a solid coach, the Huskies were not 0-12 in Sark's first year. They were 0-12 in Whittinghams's last year. Under Sark, they never won fewer than 5 games in a season. They were 3-2 vs USC, 4-1 vs WSU, but 0-5 v Oregon. Their first win vs USC in Husky Stadium was huge vs a highly ranked USC team. And I think they are headed in the right direction.
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And some people are talking here as if Washington's football history is like ... ours. Washington has been mostly good for decades. They won a national championsip as recently as 1991 and a conference championship as recently as 2002. They did have two bad hires that made the past decade pretty dreadful for them, but Sarkisian seems to have turned that around.
 

Hates Monikers said:
And some people are talking here as if Washington's football history is like ... ours. Washington has been mostly good for decades. They won a national championsip as recently as 1991 and a conference championship as recently as 2002. They did have two bad hires that made the past decade pretty dreadful for them, but Sarkisian seems to have turned that around.
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National championships prior to 1993 are to be mocked, what are you a Princeton fan? ;)
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Keyshawn Johnson was not too happy with the hire. Basically he wanted them to split from the Pete Carroll/Lane Kiffin ties. He said Sarkisian is basically Kiffin's buddy.
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Oh no, not that, anything but that! How dare they make Keyshawn Johnson mad!? How dare they? If USC is going to listen to Keyshawn Johnson, they might as well shut down the program.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Keyshawn Johnson was not too happy with the hire. Basically he wanted them to split from the Pete Carroll/Lane Kiffin ties. He said Sarkisian is basically Kiffin's buddy.
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The difference, though, is that Sarkisian worked his way up from the bottom and earned a "promotion" to the USC job based on a steady course of improvement and relatively successful BCS head coaching experience. Kiffin started on 3rd base because of his last name and failed his way up to one of the 4-5 best jobs in the country, if not the best.
 

beavergopher said:
Sark has underperformed relative to the great talent he has assembled
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Since this was his 5th year there, the 2013 Washington squad is the first that is exclusively comprised of Sarkisian recruits.

His four full recruiting classes (and Rivals conference rank):

2010: 6th
2011: 5th
2012: 5th
2013: 3rd

Given that they finished 6th after the regular season this year, they finished exactly where their talent said they should. I don't get how anyone could argue otherwise.
 

positively4thstreet said:
And UCLA fans are dancing in the streets.
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This hire is underwhelming. USC is a top 10 coaching spot and this is best they can do? Recycle a guy from the staff that earned the sanctions. Pat Hayden is a Rhodes Scholar, but........
 

I know very little of the situation, but is it possible that he is credible and will bring integrity to the program? Maybe he recruits well in California (not the USC should ever have a problem recruiting)?
 

nokomismod said:
I know very little of the situation, but is it possible that he is credible and will bring integrity to the program? Maybe he recruits well in California (not the USC should ever have a problem recruiting)?
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Seems like most of us really don't know much about Steve S. Hayden has a lot more experience with him. I have always had a lot of respect for Hayden (he is right, relative to the Miami fiasco, USC did get screwed), but he needs to get this one right. I can't remember if he was the guy who hired Kiffin, but it was as bad a hire for them as Brewster was for us, well maybe not that bad, but pretty bad.
 

corcoran1 said:
Seems like most of us really don't know much about Steve S. Hayden has a lot more experience with him. I have always had a lot of respect for Hayden (he is right, relative to the Miami fiasco, USC did get screwed), but he needs to get this one right. I can't remember if he was the guy who hired Kiffin, but it was as bad a hire for them as Brewster was for us, well maybe not that bad, but pretty bad.
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Sarkisian is a great recruiter with ties to USC already. Good offensive mind. Bringing a stud recruiter with him in Lutoi, Washington's d-line coach.

It's Haden, not Hayden.

Haden did not hire Kiffin. Kiffin was hired the winter before Haden got there.

Kiffin is a much better coach and recruiter than Brewster ever was.
 

Most here feel that currently Sarkisian is a better recruiter than coach and is still getting better at coaching every year. He's a smart young coach with plenty of upside that also fielded a top 10 offense this year. If he can handle the added pressure from the USC boosters and media, he'll do fine there.

Regarding Washington's status as a football power, they have traditionally been the team for the Pacific Northwest and part of Northern California. With their Nike fueled spending spree, Oregon is now the team to beat for the top recruits in the area. However the Huskies just completed a huge facilities upgrade, have recruited very well for 5 years and have always had a very good fan base, maybe the best in the PAC 12. If they can hire a good coach, they'll be a consistent top tier team in the conference.

Edit: wasn't clear that Oregon had the spending spree and some grammatical corrections.
 

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