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James Rickard
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Robin PottratzUniversity of Washington Hires Steve Sarkisian as Head Coach
December 9th 2008 20:05
Steve Sarkisian will replace Tyrone Willingham as the Univeristy of Washington’s 3rd head coach in 5 seasons.
Just as the UW football season came to a close last Saturday – the worst in school history at 0-12 – a new era began as Steve Sarkisian was named the replacement for Tyrone Willingham. Willingham was relieved of his head coaching spot earlier in the year – yet allowed to finish out the season. Sarkisian will become the university’s 23rd head coach – but more importantly, it’s 3rd in the last 5 seasons.
Replacing Willingham should not be difficult. Under Willingham, UW was 11-37 overall and only managed to win 6 Pac-10 games in his 4 year tenure. Sarkisian will bring a large amount of QB coaching and experience to the Huskies. This should greatly benefit UW’s current QB – Jake Locker. Under Willingham, Locker seemed to struggle at times and many UW faithful felt that the university was wasting his years at the helm. Sarkisian should be able to get Locker, at least, back to form – and the UW football program should follow.
As a college player, Sarkisian enjoyed plenty of success. As a junior at BYU, Sarkisian passed for 3,437 yards and 20 touchdowns in an All-WAC performance season – in which he set and NCAA record for completion percentage in a game with 91.2%. During his senior season, Sarkisian lead the Cougars to a 13-1 record including a Cotton Bowl victory en-route to finishing 5th in the nation in both the AP and Coaches Polls. He also threw for 4,027 yards with 33 touchdowns during the regular season, and his 173.6 passer rating led the entire NCAA. In addition, Sarkisian was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year and a 2nd team NCAA All-American while also winning the Sammy Bough Trophy (awarded to the nation’s top passer). His NCAA career passer efficiency rating of 162.0 is 3rd all-time. Just by the numbers alone – no one can attest that the hiring of Sarkisian will serve as a huge boost to Jake Locker’s career. In doing that, one would hope that he is able to begin to right the ship for the once nationally prominent University of Washington football program.
As far as head coaching credentials are concerned – Sarkisian may be lacking. However, he comes from some very strong lineage and has shown great ability in the coaching roles he has maintained. In 2001, Sarkisian landed his first college coaching job as an offensive assistant for Norm Chow at USC. For the 2002 and 2003 seasons he was tasked as the team’s quarterbacks coach – USC’s QB’s in those years included Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, Matt Leinart and John David Booty. In 2004, Sarkisian jumped to the NFL as QB coach for the Oakland Raiders – a year that saw the Raiders compile over 4,000 yards passing and rank 8th in the passing offense category for the league. Back at USC for the 2005 through 2008 seasons, Sarkisian has held the position of QB coach, offensive coordinator and assistant head coach to head coach Pete Carroll.
It may take a year or two to turn things around at Washington, but for Sarkisian – he landed in a win-win situation, as it doesn’t take much to do better then a winless season. The University of Washington has given him 5 years to do it, as he has reportedly signed a 5 year, $9.25 million deal to take the reigns.
Just as the UW football season came to a close last Saturday – the worst in school history at 0-12 – a new era began as Steve Sarkisian was named the replacement for Tyrone Willingham. Willingham was relieved of his head coaching spot earlier in the year – yet allowed to finish out the season. Sarkisian will become the university’s 23rd head coach – but more importantly, it’s 3rd in the last 5 seasons.
Replacing Willingham should not be difficult. Under Willingham, UW was 11-37 overall and only managed to win 6 Pac-10 games in his 4 year tenure. Sarkisian will bring a large amount of QB coaching and experience to the Huskies. This should greatly benefit UW’s current QB – Jake Locker. Under Willingham, Locker seemed to struggle at times and many UW faithful felt that the university was wasting his years at the helm. Sarkisian should be able to get Locker, at least, back to form – and the UW football program should follow.
As a college player, Sarkisian enjoyed plenty of success. As a junior at BYU, Sarkisian passed for 3,437 yards and 20 touchdowns in an All-WAC performance season – in which he set and NCAA record for completion percentage in a game with 91.2%. During his senior season, Sarkisian lead the Cougars to a 13-1 record including a Cotton Bowl victory en-route to finishing 5th in the nation in both the AP and Coaches Polls. He also threw for 4,027 yards with 33 touchdowns during the regular season, and his 173.6 passer rating led the entire NCAA. In addition, Sarkisian was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year and a 2nd team NCAA All-American while also winning the Sammy Bough Trophy (awarded to the nation’s top passer). His NCAA career passer efficiency rating of 162.0 is 3rd all-time. Just by the numbers alone – no one can attest that the hiring of Sarkisian will serve as a huge boost to Jake Locker’s career. In doing that, one would hope that he is able to begin to right the ship for the once nationally prominent University of Washington football program.
As far as head coaching credentials are concerned – Sarkisian may be lacking. However, he comes from some very strong lineage and has shown great ability in the coaching roles he has maintained. In 2001, Sarkisian landed his first college coaching job as an offensive assistant for Norm Chow at USC. For the 2002 and 2003 seasons he was tasked as the team’s quarterbacks coach – USC’s QB’s in those years included Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, Matt Leinart and John David Booty. In 2004, Sarkisian jumped to the NFL as QB coach for the Oakland Raiders – a year that saw the Raiders compile over 4,000 yards passing and rank 8th in the passing offense category for the league. Back at USC for the 2005 through 2008 seasons, Sarkisian has held the position of QB coach, offensive coordinator and assistant head coach to head coach Pete Carroll.
It may take a year or two to turn things around at Washington, but for Sarkisian – he landed in a win-win situation, as it doesn’t take much to do better then a winless season. The University of Washington has given him 5 years to do it, as he has reportedly signed a 5 year, $9.25 million deal to take the reigns.
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Comment by James Rickard
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