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Times are quite hectic in South Central Los Angeles. In the span of one day, USC head football coach Steve Sarkisian showed up to practice ''in no condition to work'', was put on administrative leave, and finally, was fired. Sarkisian supposedly has had a long history with alcohol abuse, and his firing was the right decision. The most important thing for Sarkisian is getting the help he needs with this very serious issue, and I wish him the very best in his efforts to get clean. This article will not be about criticizing Sarkisian for his mistakes. The person who I will be critical of is the man who hired and fired him.
Pat Haden was hired as USC Athletic Director on August 3rd, 2010, succeeding Mike Garrett. Garrett had done a lot of good things in his tenure, the best of which was hiring Pete Carroll as head football coach. But the program had been sanctioned by the NCAA under his watch, and that is what did him in. While USC has not been hammered by the NCAA during Haden's tenure, the football program has not come near the heights that it reached during the Carroll regime. After Carroll departed for the Seattle Seahawks, Lane Kiffin was hired to take over the program. Aside from a 10 win season in 2011, Kiffin's tenure was marked by underachievement, and he was fired after a mediocre 3-2 start to the 2013 season. Ed Orgeron took over as interim head coach for the rest of the season.
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| ''Coach O'' deserved better treatment from Pat Haden |
The Trojans caught fire after the coaching switch, going 6-2 the rest of the regular season and earning a place in the Las Vagas Bowl. Before the bowl game, Orgeron resigned, and this is where our problem starts. Orgeron deserved the head coaching job, as the work he did in cleaning up Kiffin's mess was remarkable and deserved a much greater reward. Pretty much every fan/player associated with the program agreed, except for the person whose opinion mattered most: Pat Haden.
Not only did Haden refuse to give Orgeron the job when he clearly had earned it, he gave it to a man who had a fairly underwhelming track record. His name was Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian worked under Pete Carroll as the school's offensive coordinator from 2007-2008 (similar to another failed Trojan coach whose name rhymes with Bane Tiffen). In 2009, Sarkisian left SC to become head coach of the Washington Huskies. In his 5 seasons in Seattle, Washington's records were as follows: 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6, 8-4. While ''Sark the Shark'' did a good job of rebuilding a program that was left in shambles by the great Tyrone Willingham, his record was far from great and it is hard to believe that he would have even been considered for the job if not for his SC ties. Orgeron getting passed over might have made sense if, say, Haden picked a coach whose best season resulted in a greater reward than an invitation to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Sarkisian's good but not great head coaching resume was reason enough for Haden not to give him the job. This brings us to what lead to Sarkisian's demise: Alcoholism. While it is not clear how serious the issue was before he was hired at SC, it is hard for me to believe that Sarkisian suddenly discovered booze at the age of 39 (his age when he was hired), and this bill that was charged to Sarkisian and a few assistant coaches from his time at Washington serves as evidence that this has been a problem for far longer than USC let on
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| That's quite an expensive bill. Courtesy: LA Times |
When hiring a head coach, an AD should know everything there is to know about his background. Either Haden was extremely naive, or he overlooked Sarkisian's condition. Either way, Haden should have known better, and he made an inexcusable mistake. There were even more warning signs of Sark's illness this past August. At USC's annual ''Salute to Troy'' banquet, Sarkisian was clearly intoxicated when he took the stage to give a speech. According to various reports, Sark dropped at least one f-bomb, slurred his speech, and put down some of USC's competition by saying ''They all suck!'' Four days later, Sarkisian acknowledged at a press conference that he ''might have a drinking problem.'' Instead of doing the right thing and checking their head coach into a rehabilitation facility Haden, and other administrators proceeded as usual, and Sarkisian faced no discipline for his actions.
That brings us to this past Monday when Sarkisian was relieved from his position as head football coach at the University of Southern California. Haden finally had nowhere left to run, and he did what he had to do. There is no doubt in my mind that Pat Haden deserves just as much, if not more blame than Sarkisian for all of this drama. It was ignorance on Haden's part to make this hiring in the first place, and now he is sleeping in his own bed. Now USC alumni and fans are wondering if the school was ignorant in hiring Haden as their athletic director. Haden is no stranger to controversy, as he had a disgraceful act of stupidity last season when, in a game against Stanford, he left the press box and jogged across the field to confront an official.
The athletic program at SC has made no significant strides under Haden, and it's time for school president C.L. Max Nikias to consider if he has the right athletic director for the job. Unless Haden can do something to right the wrong that he committed on December 2nd, 2013, I think that he should be removed from his job and replaced by somebody who will be better for the program and for college sports.
Amen!
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