OT: Report: Sarkisian to USC
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^
I wonder if UW goes after Mora. That would piss off the Pac 12 commish to no end with all of this internal poaching going on.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
Good hire for USC.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
I think Sark is a good coach, but a really meh hire for USC. If Washington can snag Mora from UCLA, they come out the big winner. Wouldn't be surprised if they promote Wilcox, though.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
UCLA is a better job than Washington. Mora played at Washington, but he is actually from Californai.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^
Mora's already stated numerous times how much he loves Washington. He's definitely going to get a call and he's definitely going to think about it long and hard.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
He might love Washington, but UCLA is a way better job. And he's set up to win at UCLA now.
That comparison to Miles isn't even close by the way. Mora has spent the majority of his coaching career in California, not Washington.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
They have a worse all time winning pecentage, less national championships, are the #2 sport at the school, and the #2 football program in their city, no more state.
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
Yeah but Washington has more rain! So there's that. Which is nice.
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
He's basically a god at UCLA right now, there's a better local recruiting base to go off of and I would say the football tradition of the two schools is comparable as being good, but not great programs. Mora has UCLA on the upswing right now with better things to come, I would be shocked if he left.
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:42 PM ^
I think Washington is the better job. UCLA has a long way to go before they're anything but second fiddle in Southern California. Sure, Mora is a god at UCLA, but he would be the same at Washington, probably even more so since he's their guy.
Now, the difference isn't huge, but his personal allegiance is the big difference. Mora would leave UCLA for the pros, he might not do that at Washington.
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^
UCLA plays in the Rose Bowl off campus and doesn't sell out. They don't have luxury suites for boosters and their practice facilities aren't brand spankin' new/state of the art. They are in SoCal and Mora does have them on the uptick. However, UW can offer a great deal of great significance that UCLA cannot. They have a brand new stadium in the most picture-eque setting in the land, a greater ability to generate revenues now, brand new practice facilities, and the Seattle scene is what many do prefer to the LA smog and limelight. The quality between the jobs is far closer than you think.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
But the whole "REAL big time programs only go out and hire sure fire winners and big names" thing doesn't really seem to be working or happening for USC. I mean, that 34-29 career record...he's only getting the job because he has USC ties! /s
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:36 PM ^
Haden basically hired Lane Kiffin's less douchey doppelganger. I'd rather spend the cash on an OC and keep Coach O in charge, if only for entertainment value.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^
That would be the lunatic fringe segment of the Washington fan base.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^
Urban Meyer called and thinks the whole "dream job" thing is over rated.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
As others said, there was a rather brief, largely unheralded statement this morning that Chris Petersen had withdrawn his name from consideration for the job, and indeed, only an hour or so ago, the only reports were still about Sarkisian interviewing for the position. There was also a report from ESPN that James Franklin was in the running, but that proved to be untrue per Bruce Feldman.
This is something I thought USC might do - get someone with ties to the program. As I recall, Steve Sarkisian was an assistant, QB coach and even OC under Pete Carroll for two separate stints.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:31 PM ^
I think we can expect to see James Franklin's name come up in any major openings from now on.
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^
But,not a homerun type hire. Surprise they didn't go homerun...hmm?!?!
December 2nd, 2013 at 7:49 PM ^
When was the last time USC had a 'home run' hire? in hindsight Carrol, but at the time he wasn't a home run hire.
It's generally kind of rare for a school to steal a big name coach. Generally, coaches move up the ladder.
Alabama, OSU and South Carolina are three schools that had home run hires, but none of those 3 coaches were coaching at the college level when those schools hired them.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
Looks like they went and got themselves a Trojan Man.
I've always been more of a Durex man myself.
Good hire though. I wonder who Washington goes after now?
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:27 PM ^
and a wise choice by USC. I was hoping that they'd hire somebody other than Sark, who might fall on their face.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^
I guess we'll see where Tosh ends up. If USC keeps Eddy O, Tosh would be a great recruiting guy to put in your program.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
Hey needs an offensive coordinator. Take Borges, please.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
Here's hoping UW takes a nice, long look at Pat Narduzzi.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
I don't want Narduzzi to go anywhere. I want to smash his defense in the mouth next year at the Toilet in E.L. Beat 'em when they're on top as well as when they're down.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^
I am surprised to read a lot of positive reactions to this hire on this board. I personally think USC could have had a homerun hire, and they missed a royal opportunity. Sarkisian is 34-29 (1-6 vs. Stanford/Oregon/UCLA) over 5 years. Does that make him a bad coach? No. But it doesn't inspire confidence that he can win championships at USC.
In the end, I think his experience at Washington shows he's a good coach, just not great. I really thought Pat Haden would look outside of the Pete Carroll circle and make a run for someone like James Franklin or Chris Petersen. This is similar to our own coaching search 3 years ago. Sark had enough allies in and around the AD, and that is largely the reason he got this job IMO.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:42 PM ^
You left out the most imporant part of his tenure at Washignton. He inherited an 0-12 program that went 6 years and 2 coaches without going to a bowl game. And you also must remember he is in the second hardest division in the country.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
It's fair to point out that omission. I just think that after 5-years and recruiting pretty darn well (to his credit), his results on the field don't scream homerun hire.
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:30 PM ^
Sark was 4-5 in the conference in year one, and has gone 5-4 each of the last four years. There wasn't some long rebuilding period and they haven't gotten any better. Only difference this year was an easier non-conference schedule (they beat a fairly mediocre BSU team).
Harbaugh inherited a situation as bad or worse and was in a BCS bowl in year 4. Sark is basically Kiffin with less douche.
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:52 PM ^
Agree completely. Sark has basically spent his whole career at Washington losing to all the good teams and beating all the bad teams, with just a handful of exceptions on either side. He has never been able to build an impressive recruiting class either.
My exact comment to my SC fan brother-in-law earlier was "This seems like Kiffin all over again, without the douchebaggery." What it comes down to - if it weren't for his history with SC, they never would have looked at him for the job. No other big program was looking to snag him.
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^
At least Haden isn't fucking up basketball. Between Beilein and Dunk City I may start hybernating until mid-November.
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:00 PM ^
I agree there are Hoke and Sark comparisons, but Hoke had been a HC at a couple spots and was able to make drastic (and quick) turnarounds ar both programs. He brought double-digit win totals to teams used to double-digit loss totals. IMO, that's more impressive than what Sark did at Washington.
December 2nd, 2013 at 11:53 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
kinda saw it coming but thought Haden would of went bold but went safe solid pick up with Sark as for UW job the name could pop up is Doug Nussmeyer former Wash OC and current Bama OC. But everybody put the main canidates as Peterson and Mora and some wild theories about Gruden to UW. but Nussmeyer seems to be the fit for them as head coach.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
I thought Gruden was going to USC next year..
December 2nd, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
Orgeron earned the full time job.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
Am i the only one who thinks this is Kiffin all over again?? Hes done an average job at a top teir program and thier hiring him on name alone. I dont see this as the sexy hire everyone was talking about. And im really suprised Sumlin turned them down i thought for sure hed get out of there when he had the chance. The SEC west is a death trap for coaches because competing with Bama LSU Auburn is impossible IMO. Still cant believe Beileima took the Arkansas job
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
I don't know if it's Kiffin all over again, but I agree that they could have done better. Re: Sumlin, I read somewhere over the weekend that USC's interest in him soured over time as they saw TAMU's abysmal defense.
December 2nd, 2013 at 7:51 PM ^
that if you look at Sumlin's history at A&M and Houston, his defenses have never been that good.
December 2nd, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 4:20 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^
Live every week like It's Sark Week.
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:05 PM ^
RT @adamgorney: Reports that Tosh Lupoi and Justin Wilcox will join Sarkisian at #USC. Huge boost for recruiting.
December 2nd, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^
December 2nd, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^
I'm not familiar with these guys. Are they that highly regarded? Washington didn't set the world on fire when they were there.
December 2nd, 2013 at 8:22 PM ^
Those guys are ace recruiters and stellar D-coaches. Wilcox is an underrated D-Coordinator in the national conference of high speed spread offense. Lupoi is one of the best recruiters in the nation. These guys don't get their due because of the west coast bias. However, they will KILL at USC. They're a better get than Sark for USC, IMO. I wanted them to stay at UW.