Sarkisian was placed on leave Sunday after he was a no-show at a team practice.
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USC athletic director Pat Haden announced Sarkisian’s termination in a statement released Monday.
“I called Steve”, Haden said on Sunday.
The final straw came Sunday when he acted strangely at a team meeting, then left campus before practice began.
Once a golden boy in college football for his prowess as offensive coordinator on the USC sideline, Sarkisian became head coach at Washington for five seasons before returning to Los Angeles to take his dream job at USC. Sarkisian, Haden said, also passed school and NCAA background checks.
Although Haden, speaking at a news conference (via Pac-12.com) in Los Angeles, described the situation as “very hard”, he defended firing Sarkisian, who reportedly checked into an outpatient rehabilitation facility on the same day he was dismissed. “None of them raised a question”.
“Further, Steve was never disciplined while at the University of Washington”, he said.
While saying he owned the fact that the decision to hire Sarkisian did not work out, Haden also defended the school’s hiring process.
Haden went on to describe that he made several attempts to contact Sarkisian personally on Monday to inform him of the decision, but was unsuccessful. “I know him before and I think there’s a lot to offer the world”.
“I’ve had an ear and a hand in here since Sark was a real young assistant”. This is going to take a long time.
“It was a great learning experience”, he said, “and I walked away from it a better coach”. I wouldn’t have hired him otherwise.
Washington athletic director Scott Woodward issued a brief statement: “It is evident that Steve is dealing with a serious personal matter and we wish him the best in facing whatever challenges lay ahead”. He has my support, our support. “Through all of this we remain concerned for Steve and hope that it will give him the opportunity to focus on his well being”.
Sarkisian is going through a divorce.
“He has violated those agreed-upon expectations in the conduct expected of all our USC coaches”, Haden said.
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Sarkisian was 12-6 overall at USC. “Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve been in this situation before, and once again am very fortunate to have a group of first-class kids that are extremely talented and want to do something special here”, Helton said. “He cares deeply for our student-athletes, and he always makes their well-being his highest priority. It’s about his personal life and getting things in order and I know he’s committed to taking the right steps to do that, and this is hugely important to him”. “I look forward to working with Pat Haden as our USC AD for many years to come”.
