The storied USC program on the West coast fired its troubled second-year coach Steve Sarkisian.
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It’s been a tumultuous season for coach Steve Sarkisian and Southern Cal. Sunday, Sarkisian was told to take a leave of absence from the team.
Meanwhile, USC offensive lineman Damien Mama said that the decision on Sarkisian indeed came as a shock to all of them, as per Los Angeles Times.
Sarkisian had spoken of that issue in August following his slurred speech and profane language while addressing a USC preseason event. Haden defended the decision Tuesday to hire Sarkisian, citing background checks conducted by the university and NCAA and interviews with “dozens” of people including head coaches, staff members and longtime friends of Sarkisian.
In a written statement, Director Scott Woodward said, “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 did not coach them in their bowl game as he was named the head coach at USC.
Helton, the offensive coordinator, has taken over as interim head coach.
Sarkisian, a former USC assistant coach, returned to USC in 2014 to take over as head coach following five seasons at Washington.
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.
“This is a situation where Sarkisian is obviously under a lot of stress, “ESPN analyst Joe Schad said”.
“I think this is an opportunity for Sark to get right and to get well”, Carroll said during his regular weekly Monday meeting with the media.
The hallowed USC football program has endured turmoil for most of the past six years since Carroll left the school for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks in 2009.
“I called Steve, talked to him”.
It affects a high-profile college football team to be sure, it’s an embarrassment to a university, but, more significantly, it’s a tale of a talented man who is ill, a man who needs help, a man going through a divorce, working a pressure-packed job, looking for relief in the wrong places.
Sarkisian was placed on leave Sunday after he was a no-show at a team practice. Sarkisian’s Huskies teams were tough, but he never finished a season in the upper northwest better than 8-4. “But he recognizes it and he’s going to do something about it, so this is the day the turn occurs”.
Haden said he had not spoken to Sarkisian since Sunday, when Haden put him on indefinite leave.
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USC (3-2) will play at No. 14 Notre Dame (5-1) on Saturday.
