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USC offensive coordinator absorbs brunt of ongoing criticism
Editor's note: This story about Steve Sarkisian appeared in the Nov. 9 editions of the Orange County Register.
LOS ANGELES -- Steve Sarkisian is the man USC's merciless message-board posters love to hate.
They question his credentials. They criticize his play calls. They knock him for not being Norm Chow.
Sarkisian, USC's second-year offensive coordinator, greets their vitriol with a shrug and a grin. His colleagues don't let the haters off so easily.
"I think it's totally unjust," said offensive line coach Pat Ruel, who joined the staff in February 2005, the same time Sarkisian returned from a one-year stint in the NFL. "I've been in this business for 32 years. He is one of the brightest, best coaches I've been around, bar none."
So why, then, does Sarkisian feel the fans' wrath every time something goes wrong with the offense?
It's not as if stuff goes wrong often; USC ranks first in the Pac-10 and 10th nationally in total offense and points.
It's just that expectations are outrageously high. In '05 -- when USC still had Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and LenDale White, and Sarkisian wasn't yet the primary play-caller -- the Trojans led the nation in total offense, ranked second in scoring and set Pac-10 records in both. The year before that, with Chow in charge of the offense, they won the national championship.
"Sark came in right after we had the most prolific offense of all time," Ruel said. "We're trying to live up to some of that, and it's not easy."
Add in the regular recruitment of "five-star" prospects and the USC defense's ridiculous stinginess, and every offensive hiccup feels like a nasty cough. Besides quarterback Mark Sanchez -- a five-star recruit -- the easiest person to blame for performances like Arizona State (five turnovers) and Arizona (season-low 17 points) is the play caller.
Sarkisian understands that criticism comes with his job and that the standards at USC are as high as can be.
"But as I've always said, expectations are higher within than they are outside," Sarkisian said. "At the end of the day, the ultimate goal, all we ever want to do, is to win. If we can go out and win, week in and week out, and call the game accordingly to ensure a victory, there's your satisfaction."
Since Sarkisian became the offensive coordinator last season, after Lane Kiffin left for the Oakland Raiders, USC has a record of 18-3.
Sarkisian remains in charge of the quarterbacks, a star-studded group he has mentored since first becoming the QB coach in 2002. The list includes Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Leinart, and now Sanchez, who might have a Heisman in his future. Sanchez credits Sarkisian for aiding his development in ways only a former quarterback could.
Sarkisian started, and starred, at quarterback for two seasons at BYU and played three years in the CFL. It isn't uncommon for Sanchez to hear Sarkisian's voice above the din of a packed Pac-10 stadium, urging him to change a play.
"Right when I'm about to check, he's screaming, 'Check it, check it!' " Sanchez said. "X's and O's, he's lights-out."
Sarkisian is just as thorough with his pregame preparation, providing "at least three or four plays a week that are just automatic," Sanchez said. He added that Sarkisian is "very open" to suggestions and feedback, which might surprise fans who accuse him of being rigid and predictable as a play caller.
Sarkisian doesn't allow much leeway in terms of how his quarterbacks carry themselves.
"When you're a young guy coming in, he wants to make sure you understand there's expectations for the quarterback on and off the field," Sanchez said. "When you're traveling, if you're supposed to wear a black 'SC polo, you can't be wearing a gray T-shirt ... with your hat on backwards.
"He wants his quarterbacks to look right, say the right things, be courteous, be conscientious, be aware of their surroundings. That's where you get into trouble with Sark. By now we've formulated a pretty good friendship."
Sarkisian, 34, is close to running his own program after reportedly being offered the Washington head coaching job Thursday. He first got the coaching bug as a player.
"I had to play the game as a coach," Sarkisian said. "I wasn't as physically gifted as a lot of other guys. I think that's when I learned that I liked the game within the game, the nuances, the X's and O's, how to attack.
"For me, as a player, it was never about how far I can throw it, or let me see if I can fit that throw in there. It was about understanding the coverage, the play we had, how to attack that coverage with my reads, with my eyes, (then) with my throw."
Sarkisian has an advocate in USC coach Pete Carroll, who rehired Sarkisian after his year as Raiders QB coach in 2004. Sarkisian returned after Chow left amid reportedly growing tension between him and Carroll (which they publicly have denied).
Sarkisian's reunion with Carroll put a strain on the once-strong bond between Sarkisian and Chow, who initially hired Sarkisian at USC and coached him at BYU. Chow, now the offensive coordinator at UCLA, declined to comment about Sarkisian for this story. Sarkisian called Chow "one of my influences," though not necessarily the biggest one.
Sarkisian says he tries to incorporate the teachings of all the coaches he has worked for into his own style. They include Norv Turner and Carroll, who considers Sarkisian "a sure-bet deal" as a head coach -- because of the very thing the message-board posters rip him for regularly.
"When you hire a guy that's done what Steve's done, you know you're getting the offense," Carroll said. "You're getting all of the technology, all of the history, all of the potential. You're getting a guarantee of the system. There's a lot of proof of what that can become."
Source: seattlepi.nwsource.com
Editor's note: This story about Steve Sarkisian appeared in the Nov. 9 editions of the Orange County Register.
LOS ANGELES -- Steve Sarkisian is the man USC's merciless message-board posters love to hate.
They question his credentials. They criticize his play calls. They knock him for not being Norm Chow.
Sarkisian, USC's second-year offensive coordinator, greets their vitriol with a shrug and a grin. His colleagues don't let the haters off so easily.
"I think it's totally unjust," said offensive line coach Pat Ruel, who joined the staff in February 2005, the same time Sarkisian returned from a one-year stint in the NFL. "I've been in this business for 32 years. He is one of the brightest, best coaches I've been around, bar none."
So why, then, does Sarkisian feel the fans' wrath every time something goes wrong with the offense?
It's not as if stuff goes wrong often; USC ranks first in the Pac-10 and 10th nationally in total offense and points.
It's just that expectations are outrageously high. In '05 -- when USC still had Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and LenDale White, and Sarkisian wasn't yet the primary play-caller -- the Trojans led the nation in total offense, ranked second in scoring and set Pac-10 records in both. The year before that, with Chow in charge of the offense, they won the national championship.
"Sark came in right after we had the most prolific offense of all time," Ruel said. "We're trying to live up to some of that, and it's not easy."
Add in the regular recruitment of "five-star" prospects and the USC defense's ridiculous stinginess, and every offensive hiccup feels like a nasty cough. Besides quarterback Mark Sanchez -- a five-star recruit -- the easiest person to blame for performances like Arizona State (five turnovers) and Arizona (season-low 17 points) is the play caller.
Sarkisian understands that criticism comes with his job and that the standards at USC are as high as can be.
"But as I've always said, expectations are higher within than they are outside," Sarkisian said. "At the end of the day, the ultimate goal, all we ever want to do, is to win. If we can go out and win, week in and week out, and call the game accordingly to ensure a victory, there's your satisfaction."
Since Sarkisian became the offensive coordinator last season, after Lane Kiffin left for the Oakland Raiders, USC has a record of 18-3.
Sarkisian remains in charge of the quarterbacks, a star-studded group he has mentored since first becoming the QB coach in 2002. The list includes Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Leinart, and now Sanchez, who might have a Heisman in his future. Sanchez credits Sarkisian for aiding his development in ways only a former quarterback could.
Sarkisian started, and starred, at quarterback for two seasons at BYU and played three years in the CFL. It isn't uncommon for Sanchez to hear Sarkisian's voice above the din of a packed Pac-10 stadium, urging him to change a play.
"Right when I'm about to check, he's screaming, 'Check it, check it!' " Sanchez said. "X's and O's, he's lights-out."
Sarkisian is just as thorough with his pregame preparation, providing "at least three or four plays a week that are just automatic," Sanchez said. He added that Sarkisian is "very open" to suggestions and feedback, which might surprise fans who accuse him of being rigid and predictable as a play caller.
Sarkisian doesn't allow much leeway in terms of how his quarterbacks carry themselves.
"When you're a young guy coming in, he wants to make sure you understand there's expectations for the quarterback on and off the field," Sanchez said. "When you're traveling, if you're supposed to wear a black 'SC polo, you can't be wearing a gray T-shirt ... with your hat on backwards.
"He wants his quarterbacks to look right, say the right things, be courteous, be conscientious, be aware of their surroundings. That's where you get into trouble with Sark. By now we've formulated a pretty good friendship."
Sarkisian, 34, is close to running his own program after reportedly being offered the Washington head coaching job Thursday. He first got the coaching bug as a player.
"I had to play the game as a coach," Sarkisian said. "I wasn't as physically gifted as a lot of other guys. I think that's when I learned that I liked the game within the game, the nuances, the X's and O's, how to attack.
"For me, as a player, it was never about how far I can throw it, or let me see if I can fit that throw in there. It was about understanding the coverage, the play we had, how to attack that coverage with my reads, with my eyes, (then) with my throw."
Sarkisian has an advocate in USC coach Pete Carroll, who rehired Sarkisian after his year as Raiders QB coach in 2004. Sarkisian returned after Chow left amid reportedly growing tension between him and Carroll (which they publicly have denied).
Sarkisian's reunion with Carroll put a strain on the once-strong bond between Sarkisian and Chow, who initially hired Sarkisian at USC and coached him at BYU. Chow, now the offensive coordinator at UCLA, declined to comment about Sarkisian for this story. Sarkisian called Chow "one of my influences," though not necessarily the biggest one.
Sarkisian says he tries to incorporate the teachings of all the coaches he has worked for into his own style. They include Norv Turner and Carroll, who considers Sarkisian "a sure-bet deal" as a head coach -- because of the very thing the message-board posters rip him for regularly.
"When you hire a guy that's done what Steve's done, you know you're getting the offense," Carroll said. "You're getting all of the technology, all of the history, all of the potential. You're getting a guarantee of the system. There's a lot of proof of what that can become."
Source: seattlepi.nwsource.com
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