Former USC coach Steve Sarkisian makes first comments after firing

After talking with Sarkisian on Sunday, Trojan athletic director Pat Haden determined that the coach was “not healthy”. Sarkisian has since entered an out-of-state treatment facility and was sacked for cause, a source told ESPN’s Joe Schad.

“I was able to gather facts and determine that Steve’s conduct did not meet USC standards and expectations of a head coach”, Haden said. “He knew those expectations and failed to meet them, so we made a decision in the best interest of our student-athletes and that was to terminate Steve”. Former athletic director Mike Garrett fired famed USC coach John Robinson in 1997 with a message left on his answering machine, followed by a news conference to announce the hiring of Paul Hackett – who wasn’t there. What an unbelievable opportunity.

Spurrier, who led Florida to the national championship in 1996 and was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Florida in 1966, noted that it was a resignation, not a retirement. “It’s your opportunity and it starts Saturday”. USC’s president issued a statement of support for Haden earlier this week, saying he looked forward to working with Haden for many years to come.

Sarkisian, the Trojans’ fourth head coach in just over two years, went 12-6 with a talent-stacked roster, losing four games to double-digit underdogs. Senior defensive end Claude Pelon is also out with knee injury.

The best way for Helton to cope with that turmoil would be to win, frequently and immediately. With a big rivalry game coming up, Clay Helton decided that his team needed a big jolt of motivation for their final practice before getting on a plane to South Bend. Sarkisian was hired a year ago to revive the Trojans. “At the age of 62, I know what I stand for”.

“We can only control what we can control as a team, so your focus has to be primarily on what lies ahead, and the focus right now is Notre Dame and one game at a time”.

We would hope that UB Athletics would have acted differently with any of its head coaches if faced with a similar situation. “I really do”, Kessler said. “They may not duplicate that here, but I expect them to have success after Notre Dame allowed 24 points in consecutive games against Clemson and Navy”.

Haden has been the subject of criticism in recent days for his vetting of Sarkisian as a head coaching candidate and also for his handling of Sarkisian’s behavior at the August event. Kelly may feel the same way now, but he has numerous connections to the Pac-12 after his time at Oregon and this could be a job that makes him think about heading back to the college ranks. I’ve been around a few quality men, and I picked up numerous things from each one. “I will not comment on any personal things dealing with Coach Sark”.

“This is a very hard time for my family and me”, Sarkisian said. “It’s unclear just how mentally sharp they will be based on everything that has taken place over the last 48 hours, but I do believe the USC offense at the very least will do their part to make amends for one of their worst efforts in the Sarkisian era”.