“We talked about this a while ago”, Saban said.
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“I made a decision for this game that whatever we did at quarterback was for now”, Saban said Saturday. “We’ve got to build around the very good players that we have, but we’ve got to get more consistent execution I think from a lot of the players so we don’t have negative plays, we don’t have some of the things we had early on on offense”.
Alabama’s quest for a fifth national championship in eight seasons under coach Nick Saban began in resounding fashion inside AT&T Stadium near Dallas as the No. 1 Crimson Tide erupted for a 52-6 shellacking of the No. 20 Trojans. “He’s going through some personal things to get himself in a very positive position and wants to continue to do those things in the future”. Both were assistants under Pete Carroll at USC when the Trojans dominated the Pac-10. “We thought it would be a good thing for our organization”.
An offensive analyst does not serve as an on-field assistant, with NCAA rules limiting teams to just nine assistants per staff.
The 42-year-old was slated to join Fox Sports as a television analyst this season, but instead will take a job with the Crimson Tide.
Hired by USC before the 2014 season after a five-year run at Washington, Sarkisian went 9-4 in his first campaign before off-field problems derailed his career.
“I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s a very, very good coach”, Saban said of Sarkisian.
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ESPN’s Shelley Smith reported USC instituted a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol use, which Sarkisian broke when he arrived to team facilities in October allegedly appearing intoxicated. Sarkisian later sought treatment for alcoholism and has since sued USC for firing him over what the suit claims is a medical condition.
