SARKISIAN’S NOTHING IF NOT SURPRISE PICK
By Jim Moore
Seattle Post Intelligencer
390908_moore06.html?source=mypi
Dec 6 2008
WA
IF YOU ASK me, the whole Washington football coaching search ended
with a whimper.
After seeing some big names on their supposed wish list, the Dawgs
hire Steve Sarkisian. Steve Sarkisian? Are you kidding me? When they
said that money was no object, they offer the job to an offensive
coordinator who has no head coaching experience?
But if I think the hiring was suspect, chances are great that Sarkisian
will be Pac-10 coach of the year next season.
As a Coug, it’s not my inclination to support a Husky hiring,
whoever it is, especially when they didn’t even interview the three
men I boxed in my trifecta — former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer,
Buffalo coach Turner Gill and Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen.
Fullmer, who went 152-52 at Tennessee, was at the top of my list. Gill,
46, was best remembered as the Nebraska quarterback who went 28-2 as
a starter in the ’80s. But he’s better known in Buffalo as the coach
who led the Bulls to their first bowl game in 50 years.
Most of my money was on Mullen, the longest shot on the board. He’s
Urban Meyer’s right-hand man, the offensive coordinator who tutored
quarterbacks Alex Smith at Utah and Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at
Florida.
Jeff Golden / Getty Images Steve Sarkisian, with USC quarterback Mark
Sanchez, has Huskies boosters excited.
I also like that Mullen is married to former Golf Channel anchor Megan
West, which has nothing to do with anything, making it significant
to me.
If I had been handicapping this search like a race at Emerald Downs,
Sarkisian would have been the second horse I threw out after Mike
Haywood, the offensive coordinator from Notre Dame.
Yet Sarkisian prevailed, though UW president Mark Emmert would not
admit it when I spoke with him Friday. An official announcement is
not expected until Sunday or Monday, so Emmert didn’t want to violate
his own embargo.
All he said was: "Obviously the world knows we met with Steve
Sarkisian, and we certainly liked our conversations with him. I think
he’s an incredibly promising young coach."
Emmert also said the job was offered to only one person. To another
question about the future of the program, he said, "Husky football
is going to be heading in all of the right directions right away."
Right away is defined as 24 hours from now, after the UW’s benchmark
12th defeat at Cal, a winless season signaling the end of the Tyrone
Willingham era and the start of Sarkisian’s.
To get an idea of what Husky fans think about the hire, I called
Dawgman.com’s Kim Grinolds, who was his predictable wise-guy self.
"Steve Sarkisian is no Paul Wulff," Grinolds said. "Washington goes
to L.A. to get guys, not to Cheney."
Grinolds added that after Jim Mora, the fantasy candidate, anyone
would do, including Sarkisian.
"You could hire me a snowman, and he’d win more games than Tyrone
did this year," he said.
Prominent Husky booster Ron Crockett was more enthusiastic, saying:
"I’m very excited. Obviously I don’t know the fella. I like the age
(34). Some people say he’s too young. I disagree. … He comes from a
great program, he can recruit on the West Coast, and he has a passion
to be here."
As is usually the case in this space, I went on a search for useless
information, specifically wondering if Sarkisian golfs, drinks beer
and owns a dog. I struck out and still don’t know. I tried calling five
Sarkisians in Torrance, Calif., his hometown, and left messages or got
a busy signal. No one called back, and, frankly, I don’t blame them.
So I went scraping for stuff from the USC sports department and
discovered that he’s a family man who married his high school
sweetheart, Stephanie. They have two daughters — Ashley, 5, and
Taylor, 6 months or so; and a son, Brady, 3.
According to the USC media guide, Sarkisian is pronounced sar-KEY-juhn,
and one story said he’s half Armenian and half Irish — the latter
leading me to believe he must be a beer drinker. Then again, he went
to BYU, so it’s hard to say.
I typically go to great lengths to unearth little-known nuggets about
new coaches, but this is not one of those times. He was born March 8,
1974, which makes him a Pisces.
According to psychicguild.com, Pisces frequently become top business
leaders. On the same Web site, it’s said that Pisces "seldom perceive
whatever is going on around them in its true light. They see life
as they want to see it, coloring their view of the world in hues and
tones far removed from its true reflection."
In other words, Sarkisian’s the perfect coach for Washington because
he’s probably delusional, too!
Then again, with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, he might be able to
once and for all explain U-Dub fans’ irrational behavior. This is more
certain — it won’t be long before they’re complaining about him, too.
Food for thought for Coug fans rooting against Sarkisian — sure,
he’s great at USC, but how will he do coaching average players? And
the last time the Huskies hired a thirtysomething, it backfired into
March Madness pools and courtroom drama.
Crockett plans to reserve judgment, saying he doesn’t know Sarkisian
"from a can of paint."
But most signs are good — a USC spokesman said Sarkisian is "real
enthusiastic, real personable and real positive," calling him "a
mini-Pete Carroll."
Which could be a major problem for the rest of the Pac-10.