Sarkisian Situation Bigger Than Jeweled Shillelagh
Posted
Mark Howe-mhowe@timesuniononline.com
University of Southern California athletic director Pat Haden found himself in an awkward situation of his own doing Sunday. Allegedly, Steve Sarkisian, the fired head football coach of the Trojans, has an alcohol issue. Before the season began Sarkisian showed up drunk for a booster function, and Haden gave him a timeout. Sarkisian let his team decide the method of disciplinary action, and the team chose a number of up-downs. At that moment, Haden became an enabler. To be fair, Haden relinquished that role in Sarkisian’s life yesterday. The story goes that Sarkisian showed up for practice Sunday “in no shape to run a practice,” and the coach was placed on a leave of absence. From there, it’s easy to imagine a scenario where Haden reached out to his coach, but made going through rehabilitation a condition of employment. It’s easier still to imagine Sarkisian saying he didn’t need help. There’s little doubt emotions ran high during this conversation. So a week before the Notre Dame game, a red-letter date on both teams’ schedules regardless of record, Haden had to fire his coach. Now, who am I to say some dude in Los Angeles is an alcoholic? That’s not for me, or even Pat Haden, to decide. It’s obvious Haden didn’t want to make the move in the middle of the season. The Trojans, even with two losses, are still a part of the college football playoff picture, but need to run the table to get there. Notre Dame week is a lousy time for such a team to change coaches. But really, from a human point of view, what other options were out there? There are things more important in life than the Jeweled Shillelagh. It goes without saying that if a coach, any coach, shows up for practice under the influence, it erodes a coaches’ ability to discipline his own players. It’s unimaginable. Steve Sarkisian woke up today with a couple of options. It appears he’s on the verge of losing everything he’s ever worked for, and his personal life is likely in disarray. No one gets out of bed and says to themselves “I think I’ll go get me some of that rehab stuff today.” There’s always something that triggers it; usually it’s thought of in terms of bottoming out. Rehab represents a commitment, but not one that’s always kept. Football coaches know of, and speak often of, commitment, and it’s in those terms Sarkisian, presuming there is an issue, needs to think of his own situation. If true, he needs to remember he’s not the only one suffering from his issue. His football team is merely the most public victim. Hindsight is always 20/20. Haden tried to give Sarkisian the benefit of the doubt. It happens almost every time, and the result is predictable. Now it’s up to Sarkisian. He’ll have to develop a whole new set of habits, and figure out how to apply those habits in the real world. Like a game plan for football, adjustments will need to be made to get to what works and avoid what doesn’t. Sadly, this isn’t likely to be the last of this kind of story in the sports world. My hope is in a year or two we’re welcoming Sarkisian back to the coaching ranks. The alternative is asking “whatever happened to Steve Sarkisian?”
