Disappointment and Hope

I had decided I wouldn't do anymore sports posts until after the University of Washington Huskies won their bowl game.  Then came the news yesterday that Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian has accepted an offer to immediately become the head coach at USC.  He won't even be coaching the Huskies in their as-to-be-determined bowl game.  His twitter profile today says he's the head coach at USC.  According to what I read in the Seattle Times today, he'll basically double his salary (to nearly $3 million per year) taking the USC job and be able to return to his home area of Los Angeles.  Sarkisian was an assistant coach at USC under Pete Carroll (now head coach of the dominant NFL Seattle Seahawks).

I have mixed feelings about this.  Sarkisian did a great job taking a team that was 0-12 five years ago

Steve Sarkisian

and making it 7-5 two years later and won the Holiday bowl against Nebraska in an upset victory.  Then came two more 7-5 years and two bowl losses.  The Huskies seemed to have stagnated.  They'd play brilliant for a game or two, then get blown out by a team they should have been able to beat.  And he never, ever beat Oregon, the team Huskies love to hate (admittedly, Phil Knight bought Oregon a pretty good team).  The Huskies were 8-4 this season losing to very tough teams that went on (mostly) to do great things (Stanford, Oregon, Arizona State, and UCLA).

So maybe it's a good think Sark is moving on.  Maybe he's taken the Dawgs as far as he can.  Maybe some new blood will help make the Huskies dominant again not only in the Pac-12 but nationally.  Maybe we can bring in a coach that can take this team to the next level.  Candidates mentioned include the current defensive coordinator, UCLA's head coach (and former Husky player) Jim Mora, and Boise State's head coach.  We'll have to see.

In a way I'm heartbroken.  And I'm looking forward to the future.