Earlier today, pondering the latest mess at USC, I found myself flashing back to the 2013 season. Trojan fans know the one I’m talking about. A few big things happened: firstly, Lane Kiffin was fired on a Los Angeles tarmac in the middle of a night after a disastrous loss to Arizona State in Tempe. Secondly, fan and player favourite Ed Orgeron was hired as an interim coach, and turned USC’s program around. Thirdly, Athletic Director Pat Haden decided to not hire Orgeron, instead bringing back former Pete Carroll assistant Steve Sarkisian.
The swap of Orgeron for Sark wasn't very well received in most circles, except perhaps inside Haden’s office. Quite obviously, the players loved Orgeron and Orgeron loved them. It was as cohesive a team environment as there’d been at USC since the last, chaotic days of the Pete Carroll era. Yet Haden decided to bin that for a coach he thought was a better fit for the program. Orgeron left the team before the Las Vegas Bowl, and Clay Helton coached the team to a big win over Fresno State. Sarkisian was hired around the same time.
Two years on, and after a string of controversies on and off the field, Sarkisian has taken an indefinite leave of absence, as announced by Haden on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. It comes hot on the heels of some shocking decision making in USC’s disastrous loss to Washington, their second loss at home as a ranked team against an unranked opponent this year.
You probably know the story of Sarkisian turning up drunk to a pre-season event, at which he said some rather inappropriate things about USC’s fellow Pac-12 schools. There were whispers then – and before, to be frank – that Sarkisian had an alcohol problem. He blamed the situation on mixing booze and medication, but that scarcely quieted the voracious rumour mill.
Now, with Haden admitting that Sarkisian wasn't well, and placing the coach on indefinite leave – you assume this was more of an order from Haden than a suggestion – the school is having to deal with these ugly rumours again, and already there is talk from those usual unnamed sources that Sarkisian was turning up to training sessions drunk. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and you can imagine the conflagration now.
In a serious case of déjà vu, Clay Helton, still offensive coordinator and play caller, finds himself interim head coach of the Trojans, who sit at 3-2 and likely out of the Pac-12 race now, and there have already been plenty calling for Sark’s head after Thursday’s shocker. Nothing went right. Even the sure-handed offense looked out of sorts.
A season that started so brightly has descended into something fairly chaotic. What happens to Sarkisian now? Will he ever walk the sidelines of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as coach of USC again? I highly doubt it, and I’m not alone in that thought. It’s everywhere you turn.
What, then, of Haden, one of the greatest players in the long and storied history of USC Trojan football? His hire of Sarkisian was an interesting one right from the get-go, considering Sark hardly set the world alight at his only previous head-coaching job, with the University of Washington. The idea of trying to recreate the Pete Carroll era has been tried once before, with Kiffin, and look how well that turned out! It brought the proud USC program just about to it’s knees.
There were many great candidates out there for the USC gig – James Franklin, now at Penn State, springs readily to mind, and he would’ve been a sensational hire – but Haden ignored them all in favour of Sarkisian, a mediocre coach at best. His season-and-a-bit at the Coliseum hasn’t done much to change that perception, either. Questionable play calls, poor defence, poor offense and the off-field whispers that’re becoming more of a roar now have combined to cast Sarkisian’s future in great doubt.
Look, obviously Sarkisian has problems away from the football world, and I hope that the man takes all the time he needs to get his personal life in order. He’s going through a divorce, and there are obviously other issues affecting him. Those personal life problems are surely being exacerbated by the high-pressure job he occupies.
In a way, this is a chance to wipe the slate clean at USC and reboot – and that is exactly what they need to do. They needed to do it this year, regardless of whether Sarkisian saw out the entire year or not. Actually, they’re about two years too late. Really, they should have rebooted after Orgeron, himself a Pete Carroll era assistant, wasn't retained as head coach in the fall of 2013.
Let’s be honest: the Trojans missed a golden opportunity to bring in some outside voices, but Haden preferred to hire Sarkisian. With every passing day, that hire looks worse and worse. Simply put, USC has far too much A-grade talent on both sides of the football to be as mediocre as they’ve been recently. And especially against a young and inferior squad such as Washington.
One thing is for sure and certain: there’s as much pressure on Haden as there’s ever been. The fact that he’s a legend at the school has probably saved him from the serious heat of the blowtorch, but how long will that last? He needs to get this next hire absolutely right, whether it comes at the end of this year or at some other time in the near future.
For Haden to survive, the new head football coach of the USC Trojans needs to be a home-run hit. Maybe not National Championship in the first year sort of deal, but certainly there can’t be embarrassing losses to unranked teams on the Trojans’ home turf. If there’s a repeat of the Sarkisian incident(s), then Haden may be following his ex-coach out the door, too.
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