Athletic Director Pat Haden goes with former Trojans offensive coordinator and Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian to take the reins of USC football; Ed Orgeron has reportedly left the program completely
UPDATE (12/02/13 2:31 pm): Ed Orgeron will be leaving the program immediately, and won’t even coach USC‘s bowl game, according to CBS Sports and multiple other reports.
Multiple sources have confirmed that USC has hired Washington’s Steve Sarkisian as the next head coach of the Trojans football team, according to Fox College Football:
The 39-year-old Torrance native is a Trojans alum and served as an assistant coach under Pete Carroll from 2001-2003 and then from 2005-2008. Sarkisian was then hired as head coach of the Washington Huskies in 2009 and had a combined record of 34-29 in his five seasons, winning the Holiday Bowl in 2010.
Washington finished third in the Pac-12 North this season with an 8-4 record overall but only 5-4 in the conference. His contract with the Huskies was through 2015 where he would have made $2.85 million.
Less than 48 hours after their 35-14 loss to cross-town rival UCLA, athletic director Pat Haden wasted no time in replacing popular interim coach Ed Orgeron, who turned around a disappointing Trojans season and helped finish the year with a 6-2 record including a signature win over #4 Stanford.
After taking over for Lane Kiffin on Sept. 28, Orgeron completely revitalized the team and had them playing better. Many believed he was one of the favorites to be named the permanent head coach of USC.
Sources told ESPN.com that Haden offered to keep Orgeron on the coaching staff and make him one of the highest paid assistant in the country. However, Coach O was extremely upset about this decision and resigned from the Trojans. Reports have also stated that offensive coordinator Clay Helton is expected to coach whichever bowl game USC plays in.
There were many big names that were linked to the USC head coaching vacancy, which is one of the prestigious jobs in college football. Names like Jack Del Rio (Denver Broncos defensive coordinator), Jon Gruden (former Super Bowl championship coach and ESPN NFL analyst) and Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M head coach) were all believed to be on the top of the list for the next coach of the Trojans football team.
Even Boise State coach Chris Petersen and Vanderbilt’s James Franklin were highly considered for the position.
As great as any of those other guys may have been, Haden believes he has found his guy with Sarkisian. Some may feel that Haden should have taken the “wait-and-see” approach, especially with the success Orgeron had to finish the season. However, he was probably convinced during their interview this weekend that Sarkisian will not just be a one or two year option; but someone who could be the coach of this team for 10 or 15 years.
Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator under Carroll from 2007 and 2008 with the Trojans compiling a 22-3 record combined in those two seasons.
The feedback about the hire of Coach “Sark” has received mostly positive reviews from former USC players. Former quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart posted his approval of the hiring of Sarkisian on his Twitter page. He said “I think Sark is a great hire. I was with him for 4 or 5 years at USC. Great recruiter, motivator, and teacher! Really happy for him #sc.”
Copyright 2014 SportSpeak LLC, all rights reserved. For more coverage, follow @SportSpeakLA and @SportSpeakOC on Twitter.
