A source told ESPN that University of Washington football coach Steve Sarkisian interviewed with USC athletic director Pat Haden over the weekend about the Trojans’ head coaching vacancy. Sarkisian completed an 8-4 regular season Friday with a 27-17 victory over Washington State in the Apple Cup.
Acccording to the report, Vanderbilt coach James Franklin and Boise State’s Chris Peterson are the frontrunners for the job to replace Lane Kiffin, and that the search for his successor might be concluded this week.
Interviewed on KJR radio this morning, Sarkisian confirmed there was contact from USC, but “I didn’t interview for the job,” he said. “They reached out to me, and I talked to them, but I’m not anywhere in the course of taking that job.
“I continue to say I’ve got a great job at Washington.”
Asked whether he would have more talks with USC, he said, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’ve tried to not talk about hypotheticals.”
Sarkisian, who is 34-29 in five seasons at Washington, has made the Huskies bowl eligible in each of the past four years. The eight wins compiled by Washington this season are the most since 2001. The Huskies await next weekend’s game outcomes to learn of their bowl invitation.
Sarkisian worked as an assistant at USC under Pete Carroll. During that time, the Trojans went 74-15, including 22-3 when Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator. Sarkisian tutored two Heisman Trophy winners, Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart, at USC.
USC has also made it known to interim coach Ed Orgeron that the school values his contribution and would like him to stay in some capacity.
9 Comments
Please let this be true! :)
“Source,” and “ESPN” in the same sentence. Hmm…
Why would they want him?
By halftime Friday, I was rooting for the Cougs to make this dream come true!
Scratch Chris Petersen from that list of USC coaching candidates…he’s dropped out. Like Mark Few with Gonzaga basketball, Petersen is smart enough to not want to leave a gig where you already make seven figures while being able to raise your kids in a smaller city where you walk on water to jump feet-first into the meat-grinder that is coaching at USC. My guess is that the way Haden fired Kiffin (outside the team bus at LAX while Kiffin’s players and assistants were watching, then leaving him standing in the parking lot and pulling away with his gear still on the bus) hasn’t been lost on some coaches.
Frankly, USC should stick with Ed Orgeron, who took over that disaster and immediately made the Trojans competitive. He’s earned another year.
I agree with RadioGuy. I think Orgeron has earned the USC coaching job by his performance this season. If USC chooses someone else, if I were Orgeron, I’d beat the bushes really hard to find a coaching job elsewhere. With his skills, finding a suitable position shouldn’t be difficult.
I wonder if USC got permission from UW? I’d think you’d need school permission for any sort of contact with another coach.
I think USC is selling themselves short. They can getter higher profile coaches than Sark or Franklin. I wonder if Petersen is waiting to see what Sark does and has his sights set on UW?
ESPN is reporting Sark accepted and is going to USC. DC Wilcox is going with him.
Orgeron to the Dub. Petersen withdrew from consideration over the weekend.