11/05/24
December 02, 2013
USC Hires Steve Sarkisian: The USC Trojans have hired head coach Steve Sarkisian away from Washington, according to reports Monday. Since taking over in 2009, Sarkisian led the Huskies to a 34-29 record. Prior to that he was a USC assistant for seven seasons and was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator under Pete Carroll. Ed Orgeron, the interim coach who led the team to a 6-2 record, is being pursued to stay on in another job.
Ed Orgeron, the interim coach who led the team to a 6-2 record, is being pursued to stay on in another job
posted by Bonkers at 06:44 PM on December 02, 2013
Great. Turf out a guy with six Pac-12 wins for a guy with five.
posted by Etrigan at 06:58 PM on December 02, 2013
Three weeks ago, I thought Orgeron was doing a good job in a difficult situation. As of this week, I thought they ought to hire him as the permanent guy. Even though he's no one's idea of a perfect cultural fit for the school.
I don't see what Sarkisian has done as a head coach that has been so distinguished that he merits this consideration. It comes at an intangible cost that may prove significant.
If the AD is choosing coaches partly based on criteria that are unique to the current way of handling things at SC, I will admit that of the two, Orgeron would be a hell of a lot harder to fire on the spot from the front steps of the team bus.
posted by beaverboard at 08:59 PM on December 02, 2013
So after a night of thinking about it, my issue at this point is as much with the process as the actual hire; Sarkisian is no worse a choice than Orgeron would have been. But it's one thing to throw out Kiffin in the middle of a clearly badly started season. It's another entirely to throw out Orgeron the day after the season ends and to do so essentially via the press. No one was pursuing 8-4 Steve Sarkisian for a better job -- it would have been trivially easy to spend the next month letting Orgeron get the team ready for a bowl and telling him, "Hey, we'd love to do a full sit-down formal interview once you're a little removed from the day-to-day coaching pressures, so let's talk mid-December." And then say, "Well, Ed, we love you, but you're just not the direction we want to go for a head coach right now, but we'd love for you to stay on as OC and RC and Head Coach in Waiting, and by the way, here's the biggest raise you've ever seen in your life because we can afford it because we're USC."
Pat Haden fucked this up, badly.
posted by Etrigan at 07:13 AM on December 03, 2013
As an alum I'd love to hear Haden's explanation for not going with Orgeron. The timing makes me wonder if he waited on the (f)UCLA result since if the Trojans had won he couldn't have not hired Coach O.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:39 AM on December 03, 2013
If the AD is choosing coaches partly based on criteria that are unique to the current way of handling things at SC, I will admit that of the two, Orgeron would be a hell of a lot harder to fire on the spot from the front steps of the team bus.
Orgeron is an outsider and he is overrated. He finished 0-8 against SEC teams while he was at Ole Miss and he's also one of Kiffin's boys. Sarkisian was an assistant at USC for 7 years prior to his stint at Washington. So if anything, they are keeping it within the family.
If USC needs to reboot for another year or two, let them reboot. If Orgeron beat UCLA, then maybe there's something to talk about. Can't wait to see what prestigious institution Kiffin fails upwards to.
posted by phaedon at 04:29 PM on December 03, 2013
Orgeron has been at USC for more than a decade over two stints. He was there before Kiffin and Carroll both.
posted by Etrigan at 04:47 PM on December 03, 2013
Dang, you're right. Orgeron's no outsider. He must be so pissed.
posted by phaedon at 09:20 PM on December 03, 2013
And the rest of the Pac-12 can now breathe a deep sigh of relief. Sarkisian is a good coach and has done a good job at UW, but he wasn't mind blowing good. There's hope that USC won't jump straight back to the days of Carroll and roll everyone in the conference now.