The Basics
Only 46 years old
Head coach at UW and USC (six years). High profile places, pressure environment and the survivor of many big time recruiting battles.
NFL offensive coordinator and QB coach (two teams) - the gold star establishing that the football world believes you are an offensive guru. He was 30 when the Raiders hired him to coach QBs.
USC - 7 years under Pete Carroll as QB coach, offensive coordinator and assistant head coach
Bama - 3 years. 2 year offensive coordinator and QB coach under Saban. Turned down multiple head coaching interviews to stay with Saban.
Coaching Skillset:
1. Development
Here are the QBs on Sark’s watch
Palmer 02-03 (1st round pick, 1st overall)
Raider QB Coach 04
Leinart 05 (1st round pick, 10th overall)
Booty 06-07 (5th round pick)
Sanchez 08 (1st round pick 5th overall)
Oh, and he followed it up with:
Jake Locker 09-10 at UW (1st round pick - 8th overall)
Keith Price 11-13 (CFL)
Kessler USC 2014 (3rd round pick)
Tua at Bama (1st round pick - 5th overall)
and then this year
Mac Jones (three star composite 247 recruit)
Some of his success is materials, but we've had a lot of comparable materials at Texas that never developed.
He hit on every one.
2. Recruiting
Washington (using Rivals team rankings) - steady improvement at a place with no national resources
Year Nat. Rank
2009 - 68
2010 - 28
2011 - 23
2012 - 21
2013 - 18
USC - kinda crushed it
2013 - 5 12 man class due to scholarship limitations (five 5* recruits - that is not a typo)
2014 - 10 20 man class
Also, look at category No. 1 and ask yourself how the pitch might sound to Ewers? OSU cannot compete with that QB resume.
3. Navigate and Use Boosters
He's worked with Boosters at USC and Bama. No locations more comparable to Texas exist. Three years under Saban helps give him more insight into this process than any other "B" option we are discussing.
4. System and culture training and experience
Outside his own experience, Sark's two most significant college coaching influences are Saban and Carroll. Quick, someone name me another college coach you'd rather be the blue print for what the next Texas coach might do. Me, I've got nothing.
5. The Staff
This is key to me. Initial staff hires sunk our last two coaches before they ever got started.
Sark is tied to NO staff, yet also has an enormous amount of coaching relationships on both a pro and college level. He has also spent a decade learning the value of balancing recruiting, Xs and Os and development from Carroll and Saban, in addition to having six years of high level college head coaching experience himself.
6. Use Consultants Properly.
Back to Saban and Carroll. Sarks time with Saban began as a consultant and Saban is the master of this craft. I would not expect anyone on our plan B list will be better prepared to implement consultants to the program.
7. Positive Insecurity.
Sark went from USC head coach to an analyst position. He knows he is marked due to rehab. I doubt anyone has a bigger chip or is more afraid to fail than Sark. If the pressures of the job do not make him succumb to alcohol, his mixture of cockiness and fear should be perfect for a head coach.
The Head Coaching Resume
Here is UW's records for the five years immediately before Sark. He took over a team that was 0 and freaking 12.
| 2008 | Pac-10 | 0 | 12 | Tyrone Willingham (0-12) | |
| 2007 | Pac-10 | 4 | 9 | Tyrone Willingham (4-9) | |
| 2006 | Pac-10 | 5 | 7 | Tyrone Willingham (5-7) | |
| 2005 | Pac-10 | 2 | 9 | Tyrone Willingham (2-9) | |
| 2004 | Pac-10 | 1 | 10 | Keith Gilbertson (1-10) |
Here is Sark's record. He took a really bad program and made them pretty solid during a time the conference was relatively strong, with coaches like Chip Kelly and Harbaugh. If you are not impressed by his UW coaching resume, consider that USC, who knew him well, was.
| 2013 | Pac-12 | 9 | 4 | Marques Tuiasosopo (1-0), Steve Sarkisian (8-4) | Fight Hunger Bowl-W |
| 2012 | Pac-12 | 7 | 6 | Steve Sarkisian (7-6) | Las Vegas Bowl-L |
| 2011 | Pac-12 | 7 | 6 | Steve Sarkisian (7-6) | Alamo Bowl-L |
| 2010 | Pac-10 | 7 | 6 | Steve Sarkisian (7-6) | Holiday Bowl-W |
| 2009 | Pac-10 | 5 | 7 | Steve Sarkisian (5-7) |
Also, while at USC, Sark came in after USC just completed 3 years of mammoth sanctions and scholarship reductions. He had 12 kids in his first recruiting class and ran a program with about 2/3 of a roster. He went 9-4 with a bowl win in his only complete season, while dealing with alcoholism.
In conclusion, Sark has more experience, grooming and pedigree than anyone else mentioned as a "reasonable" plan B option.
When interviewing, we need to ask Sarkisian:
1) Why and how can we trust your sobriety; (three years working with Saban is a pretty good test)
2) What would be your plan to build a staff and who would be your first coordinator targets; and
3) Lay out for me your vision to build a program culture that supports winning college football
I highly suspect he is very well prepared to answer each of these questions effectively. If he did so in a convincing fashion, he'd be my coach if Urban is truly a no.
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