OT: L.A.Times- Sarkisan Had "Issues" at Washington, Too
It seems that former USC coach Steve Sarkisan's alcohol problems were quite known and even well-documented during his stint as head coach at the University of Washington.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/usc/la-sp-usc-sarkisian-washington-20151012-story.html
The L.A. Times story has its' comic elements, to be sure, but overall, it's simply a story of the (hopefully) final descent of Sarkisan to the bottom so that he can get the help that he needs.
Been there and done that. I'm pulling for Mr. Sarkisian.
My question is that given how well documented Sarkisan's issues seem to have been at Washington (where his drinking issues seem to have been an "open secret"), this can't reflect well on USC AD's Pat Haden. Either Haden knew the extensiveness of Sarkisan's problem and hired him anyway or he really didn't know...and I don't know which is worse.
October 15th, 2015 at 1:41 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 1:48 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 15th, 2015 at 1:52 AM ^
The amazing thing is that USC used a search firm to hire him.
October 15th, 2015 at 2:38 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 2:51 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
...USC, when Haden announced his suspension, knowing that they would have an interim coach for the rest of the seaosn, I really hoped that they could hold off on termination and give him a chance to clean up and return.
I can't think of a time when this was happened at that level of the sport and it would have been a nice (and rare) display of humanity and compassion over a concern for winning (in what is after all an amateur sport).
But then they fired him. Best of luck to coach Sark.
October 15th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 7:41 AM ^
Haden goes for the short term glitz. He has that Hollywood mentality and hires by "appearance" more than substance. Haden wouldn't look twice at McKay, Robinson, Tollner, or Smith if they were younger and available because they aren't "sexy" enough for LA.
Pat Garrett was a far better AD than Haden. He found and hired Pete Carroll who returned USC to being a monster. Haden's big claim to fame was being reprimanded for going down on the field to help Sark attempt to browbeat the officials.
October 15th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^
the debacle with Rick Majerus. He may have just gotten lucky once. Those other hires were really dreadful. He also played a role in getting the hammer from the NCAA and sabotaged their appeal.
October 15th, 2015 at 10:35 AM ^
CARROLL FELL INTO GARRETTS LAP BY DEFAULT! Garret gets zero credit for that!!!
October 15th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
Are we really going to say Garrett was a "far better" AD because of 1 great hire?
We seem to be quick to forget--that "great hire" got USC in a lot of trouble with the NCAA because of the win-at-all-costs culture he, and the AD, created. USC vacated a national championship, lost a ton of scholarships, and was given a postseason ban--one of the harshest punishments in NCAA history.
Garrett is also the guy who said, "As I read the decision by the NCAA, all I could get out of all of this was...there was nothing but a lot of envy, and they wish they all were Trojans," after the hammer was brought down on USC.
I'm not saying Haden has been a good AD. In fact, I believe he's been a pretty poor AD. But I wouldn't exactly call Garrett better. Both are terrible, just different kinds of terrible.
October 15th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
Garrett's first choice was Dennis Erickson. He whiffed. Then Mike Bellotti. It was only after he'd been turned down by Mike Riley that he offered the job, in desperation, to Carroll.
Sure, it turned out to be a great hire if you don't mind all the sanctions and baggage that came with it. But he would rather have had Mike Riley.
October 15th, 2015 at 7:49 AM ^
A "search firm" is used when you know who your next coach is going to be but want it to look "transparent".
October 15th, 2015 at 8:23 AM ^
Does it?
October 15th, 2015 at 9:44 AM ^
Michigan and Hackett used a search firm when hiring Harbaugh.
It's more about a CYA when it comes to HR and other 'fair hiring practices' - things like the Rooney Rule in the NFL that most teams simply BS their way through to check a box.
October 15th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
Is the illusion of transparency really worth spending six figures on a search firm to select the ex-OC drunk from your conference?
October 15th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
That's like asking if it's worth $500 for a tune up. For your 2004 Chevy Impala? No way. For your 2015 Porsche? Yes.
When millions are on the line, what's a few hundred thousand up front to a private school like USC?
peanuts
October 15th, 2015 at 2:24 PM ^
A search firm is very useful in private business, but in that world, most people don;t know who works where and who's the head of marketing at company x. But all coaching information is public knowledge, and anyone who takes the time can research very easily in a weekend, who a list of candidates might be.
October 15th, 2015 at 2:07 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 2:57 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
Most people in general want to give you the benefit of the doubt when you are sick. Hard to blame USC or Haden for Sark's sickness. Only Sark really could say for sure. It is possible to function for a time at a higher level like Sarkisian did, but there is really only one way to go---down.
The circumstances of my own escape from denial were on the front page of the newspaper, and the lead story on the evening news in the relatively small city (compared to LA) I resided. It makes it a little different, but really, you feel so horrible at that point, it hurts, but you don't even care. That was 25 years ago.
But no matter who you are, or what you have been, there are more people watching than you think.
Like you, I hope Sark embraces the opportunity to have a life he never imagined possible, and faces it rather than runs from it.
HARBAUGH
October 15th, 2015 at 3:16 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 15th, 2015 at 3:18 AM ^
Haden has clearly tried to scapegoat the 'hiring firm' and has been overtly defensive in his actions. Hell, I don't work in high profile collegiate athletics but have been made aware of a potential candidate's social habits during a hiring process more than once.
IMO, Haden is toast.
Especially if the theory is true that Haden wanted to fire him before he could be diagnosed as an alcoholic.
Hope Sark gets his life together - the anecdotal stories are pretty dramatic
October 15th, 2015 at 4:05 AM ^
I lived near South Lake Union and frequently saw Sark, other UW coaches, and what looked like active UW players (they could have been grad assistants) drinking frequently at Joey's South Lake Union and Citrus.
The article actually undersells the incidiences, as you could easily read into the claims as a coach that had too much fun traveling on the road or at crowded bars on the weekend but it was actually much more depressing than that. I mostly saw them on Wednesdays and often there weren't many other patrons at the bar at all, but they were all incredibly intoxicated.
I'm pretty confident that I saw them there before a Thursday game as well.
October 15th, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^
I used to walk over to Joey's when I would be in Seattle on business. Man, the scenery there was pretty damn good!
And it seemed the staff was largely U-Dub students
October 15th, 2015 at 4:36 AM ^
and on ESPN multiple times.
I know I'm being a whiny baby about it - but this has been a shit week for board topic and everyone's sensitive on it.
But this was already posted and there have obviously been 3 other Sark threads as things progressed with his situation.
This time article also doesn't tell you that much (you didn't know) besides the player comments. I've worked in athletics for many years now...I know coaches with bar tabs that long who don't even drink. Clearly not the case with Sark, but just saying it doesn't prove that much. Unless someone can prove he was drinking all of it by himself.
Head coaches make millions - most assistants and staffers don't. Who do you think picks up the tab when they all go out?
Hell, just last month I was out with my family for dinner - our head basketball coach was eating with his 4 assistants and we happened to be seated next to each other. Before leaving Coach tells the waitress that he wants to pay for all of our alcohol. We were far from raging...but his tab obviously got a little longer.
Anyway, Sark is out of control and clearly needs help. The stuff we already knew was the bad part...keeping alcohol in his office, bar hopping, alcohol on his breath at the ASU game, showing up to team meetings smelling like alcohol, etc. - the public records request could've been left out and it's still a horrible situation.
Regardless, all of this has been discussed on TV, in the media, and on MGoBlog...I suppose we can get OT - Lamar Odom next.
October 15th, 2015 at 6:07 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 6:56 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 15th, 2015 at 7:08 AM ^
It doesn't look like Sark was picking up the tab. They have photocopies of the receipts so he must have been expensing it.
October 15th, 2015 at 7:31 AM ^
on your dinner last month, less on the thread complaining. Is he wrapping the team's feet in bubble wrap this year?
October 15th, 2015 at 7:43 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^
wow, nice essay on a topic you don't think should be a thread. you guys need to get over yourselves already. i think we've had enough of the bitching about threads. maybe you have seen it for the last 3 days on mgoblog, espn, fs1, etc., but not all of us cling to every headline or article on every topic. it's nice to get caught up with everything when i'm not busy in my actual life. not all of us can spend 24 hours a day on message boards from our moms' basement.
October 15th, 2015 at 8:14 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 8:18 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 15th, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^
Quit being so crabby. You've been around here plenty long enough to know that if you don't want to read a thread, you don't have to. As it happens, this is the first time I've read one of the Sark threads. With the page down feature semi-permanently broken, it is a pain to look back very far in the week. Also, if there is any new information, it is fine for something to be posted more than once. Be thankful that there is a lot of good stuff to post on, from recruiting to the play of Michigan to the angst of enemies to all the myriad ways no one has it better than us.
October 15th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
referenced here muliple times and yes, you are being a "whiny baby" about it.
While this is my first time seeing it, I came across it only because of a tweet out there that says that Sarkisan may contest the firing...
October 15th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
I don't think everyone is sensitive about it--only a coterie of self-satisfied MOD wannabes with a lot of points and their sycophantic mutual-enablers. There seems to be a competition among them: First to point out a repeat thread: three points; first to claim a topic is not worthy: two points; first to be unnecessarily smug: 1 point; first to be pedantic: 10 points plus a set of steak-knives.
October 15th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
Now this was funny! Upvote.
October 15th, 2015 at 6:17 AM ^
I've seen some BYU folks hoping he'll coach at his alma mater for a while as he cleans up. It'd presumably be a good environment for it. I don't know if the admins would allow it though, and they seem pretty set at HC and OC so it'd have to be as qb coach at most.
I don't know if too many teams will be keen on handing him the keys so maybe that's what he will need to do anyway.
October 15th, 2015 at 6:50 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 7:10 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 6:54 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 7:52 AM ^
Alcoholism is no joke. I found out last year that my lawyer died of complete organ failure due to alcoholism at freaking 34 years old. Then of course there are the family issues it can create. It's not a fun thing.
October 15th, 2015 at 8:20 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 8:25 AM ^
October 15th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
when it gets to a point when you are actually performing your job responsibilitied intoxicated you are no longer performing at a high level. People who are at the stage where they use drunken oblivion as a reward for sober performance may still be able to perform well, but when you are attempting to perform your craft while intoxicated you are exposed almost immediately. I don't think it is a coincidence that USC was looked upon as a Top 5 talent team and got taken to the shed by Stanford and beat by Washington, it kind of figures.