Steve Sarkisian

[JSeahawks]

I'm just going to ask a question and then not reply to this thread because I dont want to be further viewed as a UW bashing Ducks homer (which I am, but thats not the point of this thread).

In the Jim Mora thread in teh NFL forums Chris posted this:

Sark turned down interview opportunitys again this year, I think he is waiting for the right gig and someone to retire closer to home. I also think he wants to get that stadium built and have the Huskies play in it. Alot of what has got done is due to him and he finally has a full class of his recruits. Winning a PAC 12 Championship won't hurt his chances at all at getting a NFL Job, staying and seeing this thru will if deleivered well shows his loyalty to his kids and program about a plan put in place.

(I gotta be honest, when I read that post my first thought was "bullshit". I worked google and found that he turned down the Rams last year. Also found one guy tweeting that Sark turned down interviews this year.)

I'm just curious if you Husky fans think he's done a good enough job at Washington to warrant an NFL job? I know on Dawgman before the free boards went away it seemed that half the Husky fans wanted him fired. From my perspective Husky fans should be more worried about losing Josh Wilcox then losing Steve Sarkisian. If I was a fan of your program and had to pick between the two i'd promote Wilcox to head coach and let Sark walk.

I know Pehawk inparticular loves Sark and has talked about him being the Seahawks offensive coordinator someday. But what about NFL head coaching abilities. Do you think he has the chops?

Now i'll bow out of this thread, i'm just curious to read your replies and your thoughts on him and his NFL future. And also, if Wilcox was offered a head coaching gig elsewhere and the only way to keep him woudl be for him to replace Sark... what decision would you make?

 

[Jazzhawk]

He was good for the program overall, but I think he was too loyal to guys (coaches and players) that weren't getting the job done. Seems to me the program takes two steps forward then a step back and hasn't progressed back to the elite level yet. Getting there, but much slower than it should.

 

[chris98251]

First head coaching gig, you learn on the fly about some things, firing freinds is the hardest of lessons if they don't perform.

He has learned and replaced the broken pieces as seen by the defense and how it improved.

He has a plan and a mantra that he sticks to and it's a lot of what Pete taught him, his ability to put the program back together and recruit against USC, Oregon and still improve is actually pretty impressive given our depth of hole to crawl out of.

He knows how to handle the media, alumni and players and his staff, doesn't make headlines for stupid stuff, (Kiffin).


He hires guys that are credible and good for the program. His organzation skills appear top notch as well.

I think it has to be the right ownership and right team of front office and staff for him much like Carroll, his style in the wrong situation may fade like Carroll in N.E. and N.Y.

J shame on you for thinking I pulled that stuff outta my butt.

 

[The Yugoslavian]

Jazz I don't know if I agree that it's taken "much slower then it should". 4 years in, 3 bowls a full recruiting cycle finally. I'd say this is pretty much what my realistic expectations were. Now I hoped, as a fan, that we would progress quicker and have more overall success. .. But these are realistic benchmarks where the program is currently from where he inherited it.


I don't know about him being worthy of an NFL promotion yet though. I think he really likes it here, and if we win the Pac-12 this year I think he will stay here for another 3-5 years at least.

 

[kearly]

I think he'd be a better NFL coach than college coach. He is a Carroll disciple and they share some common traits. He's positive and upbeat. He schemes around his players rather than forcing square pegs into round holes. He has a good eye for assistant coaching talent. He chooses his words intelligently in press conferences. And he is very good with QBs at putting them in position to succeed and maximizing their potential.

The problem with Sark has really been his inability to recruit ace lineman on either side of the ball. The college game is a league of haves and have nots, and no area of the team shows that more clearly than the offensive and defensive lines do. Sark has had some good recruiting classes on paper, but without building strong lines UW will never achieve contender status, and Sark has been spinning his wheels there going on four years now (although finally the D-line is starting to show something).

There is also the fact that while Sark is a rock solid coach, he lacks the genius Carroll possesses. So his maximum upside as a coach will probably never reach Carroll levels. Comparing him to Carroll would be like comparing George Seifert to Bill Walsh.

I am happy with Sark, but I also think that he might be best served in the NFL where his mediocrity as a recruiter (when considering his resources) will no longer factor. If he needs to build the lines up, he can just draft players or throw money at them.

Again, nothing about Sark strikes me as "special". He's a good coach, but in the NFL he'd probably start out on the lower tier of coaches. My advice to him would be to wait a few years and hope to be the next "hot item" like Chip Kelly, then cherry pick to find a team/situation that is very favorable to walk into. If he does that, he gives himself a solid chance to last as an NFL coach.

 

[zifnab32]

I know on Dawgman before the free boards went away it seemed that half the Husky fans wanted him fired.

Never listen to the guys on Dawgman, huge group of whiners.

The problem with Sark has really been his inability to recruit ace lineman on either side of the ball. The college game is a league of haves and have nots, and no area of the team shows that more clearly than the offensive and defensive lines do. Sark has had some good recruiting classes on paper, but without building strong lines UW will never achieve contender status, and Sark has been spinning his wheels there going on four years now (although finally the D-line is starting to show something).

It didn't help that UW had 4 starting OLinemen get hurt either during fall camp or in the first two games. Next year is the judgement year, he's brought in good talent and should finally have some decent depth.

UW was the youngest team in the conference by far, they had something like 4 5th year players (the last guys from Willingham) and 6 4th year players (Sark had a month or so to put together that class)

 

[sutz]

It seems too soon for Sark to go pro, especially as a Head Coach. He's not done at UW IMHO.

 

[SharkHawk]

Sarkisian was offered the Raiders job about 3 or 4 guys prior to Lane Kiffin. So he has had NFL opportunities going back what 4 or 5 years ago? How long ago was Kiffin in Oakland? Sarkisian was offered that job straight out and turned it down.

Interesting thing about Sark. I went to school with him. We attended BYU at the same time, had classes together, the whole 9 yards. He didn't pursue coaching out of college at all. He had zero interest. He tried out for NFL teams... was told he was too short (where have we heard that before). The guy was deathly accurate as a passer at BYU. The only other guy I've seen that was that accurate was McMahon, and he had a freaking rifle.

Sark then went to the CFL as they were expanding, but then said screw it and was working for some marketing company. He was doing really well at building a very large company here in Utah and then just randomly one day I am talking to somebody and they say that Sark called somebody and they called somebody else, and next thing you know he's working for John Robinson at UNLV. I was kind of blown away. I knew he'd be a good coach and I think he will be a good coach. If you talked to the guy for five minutes you'd say to yourself, "This guy has what it takes to be a great coach. He is a natural leader." Interact with him if you ever get the chance. He has that "it". I think Don James had it. Pete has it. Mike Holmgren has it. Norm Chow has SOME of it. And Lavell Edwards oozes IT out of every pore of his body. Sark learned from and followed some greats, and he'll be fine as a college coach, and I think someday he'll lead an NFL team to great heights. He is going to be a better NFL coach than Gary Kubiak. I think he has a similar mindset though. Really cerebral and calm former college QB that just understands the game and can deal with people.

I was really surprised that he ever even went down the coaching path after his initial seeming total aversion to it, but he has far outdone my expectations thus far, and I think he'll eventually reach the expectations I had watching him on the sidelines at BYU. At that point I thought he'd be an all-time great coach. The way he led his team was amazing. He was in charge and they all would have run through a brick wall for him. So it's weird that when he didn't take up coaching I thought what a lost opportunity it was and he had taken the wrong career path. Then all of a sudden he's a coach and getting promoted every year and is now coaching the college I grew up near and followed, but was the QB and one of the all time best at my favorite college and one I ended up attending. Kind of weird. Too bad he'll never end up at BYU, but they won't hire a non-LDS coach. Otherwise I think they would have gone after Steve hard a couple of years ago. Now they are retreading the OC they fired 2 years ago because the only other Mormons who are running offenses are Ken N. (won't even try to spell his name) who is the head coach at Navy, Mike Leach at Wazzu, and Andy Reid who is now the head coach at Kansas City. I guess Gary Crowton is too, but he's burned bridges everywhere he went and basically ruined the BYU football program so he doesn't count, but did fairly well at Oregon and LSU.

 

[kearly]

It didn't help that UW had 4 starting OLinemen get hurt either during fall camp or in the first two games. Next year is the judgement year, he's brought in good talent and should finally have some decent depth.

UW was the youngest team in the conference by far, they had something like 4 5th year players (the last guys from Willingham) and 6 4th year players (Sark had a month or so to put together that class)

Very true, but my point is this, how many of those lineman (injured or not) were nationally heralded recruits? None of them. He's had some MAJOR prospects from in-state walk on his watch too.

I think Sark has done a good job getting more out of less, but one of his problems is that in year 4 he's still a "more with less" coach. I think his recruiting fortunes will probably start to turn around now that he has Lupoi, but until he starts assembling a team with USC/UCLA type talent, he'll never win the Pac-12. That's not hating on him by any means, just a simple observation of one of his few flaws.

 

[zifnab32]

Very true, but my point is this, how many of those lineman (injured or not) were nationally heralded recruits? None of them. He's had some MAJOR prospects from in-state walk on his watch too.

I think Sark has done a good job getting more out of less, but one of his problems is that in year 4 he's still a "more with less" coach. I think his recruiting fortunes will probably start to turn around now that he has Lupoi, but until he starts assembling a team with USC/UCLA type talent, he'll never win the Pac-12. That's not hating on him by any means, just a simple observation of one of his few flaws.

Two of the four were 4* recruits with offers from most of the Pac-12. Kohler had a Notre Dame offer. A third 4* from that same class managed to stay healthy.

UW has never and probably will never match the raw talent of USC/UCLA. In Don James heyday they still got regularly beat out for top recruits.

 

[drrew]

Very true, but my point is this, how many of those lineman (injured or not) were nationally heralded recruits? None of them. He's had some MAJOR prospects from in-state walk on his watch too.

Colin Porter would have played in the NFL if he didn't have to quit because of neck issues. Erik Kohler was offered by Notre Dame, Oklahoma, USC, etc...what part of that doesn't say 'nationally heralded recruit'.

Sark missed on two stud in state lineman last year and that's going to hurt for a few years, he's gotten basically every other local lineman they have targeted.

His recruiting is fine, you can make a case that the staff has not done a very good job coaching up at certain positions, but recruiting is the least of his problems.