Pat Haden Says Sarkisian On Indefinite Leave Of Absence

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Pat Haden said he spoke to Steve Sarkisian and “it was apparent he was not healthy.” They spoke by phone.

57 thoughts on “Pat Haden Says Sarkisian On Indefinite Leave Of Absence”

  1. Haden has to go. Sark may or may not be an overgrown frat boy who may or may not have a substance problem. But this middle of the season coaching change stuff is a worse look than not winning a single game.

    • They were warned … and sure Sark was warned about his drug or alcohol use hopefully , he is fired at the end of season

    • Sark has lost everything in the space of one year. Yes, he’s hurt our football program —but I really hope the university helps him get through this period. Prisoners with a lot less on their minds than Sark are put on suicide watch.

  2. Of course, Kevin O’Neal was also a drunk. Haden really knows how to pick them.

  4. Bruce Feldman reported (twitter) Sarkisian arrived at Howard Jones Field in no condition to coach – this was related by more than one player.

    Steve is better off elsewhere to heal

  5. Sark has been doing his best,he is human;he is overwhelmed and humans do different things when overwhelmed.He thought he was ready for this level,he isn’t,he was wrong ,so was Haden;he deserves some compassion,he is just in over his head;great coaches are not numerous,remember this is a sport ,not life and death…I pray for him,and SC gets one of those great ones.

    • Then don’t act like it is … Sark loves the victim roll , him and Kiffin have used and abused USC football since 2005 … good riddance once and for all

      • Why do you hate USC so much? We are on the right track and just need to give Sark time to get past the sanctions. FIGHT ON, Bruin troll boy!!!!

    • We Trojans need to rally around Sark and Fight On. He is the right man for the job and has just hit a couple of speed bumps. It is hard to argue with 40 points per game. FIGHT ON!

      • Hey Nicky, go rehearse with your boy band. Maybe you get on America’s Got Talent. We all know you’re a scumbag bruin troll, so you and the cub scout troop go play somewhere else. We’re talking about a human being who is very sick.

        • Go back to Westwood SCgrad12! We Trojans don’t need your nonsense. Why would we get rid of Sark? We Trojans don’t turn our backs on our fellow Trojans. Sark has proven himself elite and is dealing with a few issues. Let’s all FIGHT ON!

  6. I don’t think the program can rebound from this under Steve Sarkisian, so look for some type of diplomatic resignation in the near future. And with all due respect to Sarkisian, the program has been tarnished once again!

    • The program of Paul Hackett, Larry Smith and John Robinson’s 2nd tour… I’ll take a drunk. And that might not be clear given the three I mentioned.

    • Of course you’re right, Fred. I doubt that Sark has any leverage under his employment agreement, and I’m sure that USC and Sark’s reps will find a way to spin it, but there is no reason why USC should accommodate Sark’s return.

  7. The coaching against UW was as if somebody was drunk. I didn’t like Sark as our football coach but as a human being I hope he can get better and have a happy and successful life.

    • I’m sure there will be a lot of ‘stories’ from ‘unnamed sources’ over the next few weeks of what was seen and what was heard – best for all this is over.

  8. If Sark doesn’t come back we must hire Coach O and Norm Chow. We would be set up for another run.

  11. While Sark should definitely be shown support by the university and fans, he should have been put on a leave of absence and FORCED to seek treatment right after the Salute to Troy incident. Haden’s decision to allow him to continue to coach has caused the university even more embarrassment and has put the players in a terrible situation. Subjecting them to the erratic behavior of a broken man and destroying their season. The warning signs were there and Haden ignored them. He needs to be show the door. I hope Sarkisian gets the help he needs. I have heard to many fans who have met him that he never big times them, and in watching his interviews on other sites, he seems like a genuinely good guy, but he obviously has some demons. Who knows how it’ll end if his downward spiral is allowed to continue.

    • After the “incident”, I thought Haden was making the correct decision. On Thursday/Friday, I reversed my thinking.

      Unless Haden has a killer hire on tap, it’s best that Haden concentrate on replacing himself with a very experienced sports executive/AD.

      I don’t blame Haden for the basketball hire. It was logical even if it doesn’t work out. However, Haden was way too hands-off with Kiffin, and his hire of Sark was just not logical at that time, let alone in retrospect. Then, as Haden had done with Kiffin, Haden gave Sark too much leeway.

      Haden is not an experienced executive, so naturally he will be prone to more errors. He’s hurting the university, an institution that I think is very important to him.

      No one likes to resign in these circumstances, but I think Haden is an evolved person, and hopefully, he will set aside his pride, and do what seems correct.

  12. I feel bad for Sark. SC has to do what it has to do. Sark was never qualified for the job and then add a divorce and a possible drinking problem and it just had to blow up.

    He needs time away and time to get some real help before returning to football, wherever that may be.

    • Well said, and with the amount of money USC has pay for his buyout, he can take some serious time off .

  13. Basically what pat Haden is saying is that Steve sarkisian is not stable enough, to be around the USC football team, and there will be a new coach next year.

  14. Legally, it may be that SC has to offer treatment. I don’t know the terms of his contract, but it could be that SC has to continue to employ Sark in some capacity. While it would appear that he coached his last game, he may not be done at SC.

    • True and in fairness they owe it to him i.e. they (Haden) hired him (Sark) as such they neglected to vet him or chose to ignore –

      • Their may also be a buyout offered. There is a lot to play out but this reeks of a bad background check by the AD.

  15. This news doesn’t surprise me at all. As a recovering alcholic myself, I know how hard it is to drop the bottle. When sark had that news conference, and said he would quit drinking, I knew that was all BS. Alcoholism is a serious disease, and Steve sarkisan has the fight of his life ahead of him.

    • Funny how just about all of us ignored the obvious train wreck that was going to occur. As if sports is any exception to the rest of the world

      • Who is this ‘US’ you refer to? You’re the silly boys that believed a couple of ups and downs would take care of everything…..
        fight on CLOWN U

    • You could tell how much in denial he still was. He’s going to need to hit bottom and he’s just about there. He’s coached his last game at USC.

  16. I just checked ESPN again, and the story got a bit worse.

    “Sarkisian was not in attendance at the Trojans’ practice on Sunday afternoon. A player told ESPN’s Shelley Smith via text that Sarkisian “showed up lit to meetings again today.”

    Sarkisian showed up Sunday morning at USC and “he appeared not normal” and then was told to leave, a source told ESPN’s Brett McMurphy. “They wouldn’t let him come to practice,” a source said.”

    • Yeah – Bruce Feldman had that on his Twitter feed – same Feldman who was recorded this past Friday with Leinart and Papadakis –

  17. Now I would really like to hear from the St. Haden defenders. Give it your best shot. Go ahead…

  18. I feel sorry for Sark. I do hope he gets his life together….not only his alcoholism but his marraige problems. Divorce is hard on the children as well as everyone else. But ultimately, whether he comes back again will depend upon whether he can get the results that SC is looking for. You can’t just hire him back because you feel sorry for him. Personally, I don’t think that he will be back but I could be wrong. I do think that it was a mistake hiring him over Peterson. That one is on PH. He’s the guy that they need to get rid of. If they do have to replace Sark, I certainly don’t want PH doing the search for a replacement.

  19. Sark was the worst possible hire for SC, and SC hiring him was the worst possible thing for Sark. Thank you Pat Haden

  20. Pat Haden won’t dare allow Steve Sarkisian back as head coach. For if he did, he would then be the total focus point of the fans & supporters anger of what is happening to this program.
    Let’s hope Max Niklas gives the responsibility of finding & hiring the next USC football headcoach to a search committee that is paid attention to this time and Haden is just 1-member & 1-vote on it!
    As for Steve Sarkisian, he needs to back off from the demands of football coaching and get his life back under total control. His family is paying a stiff price for all this. He needs to get his priorities in line. If he is honest with himself, he will take himself out of football…

  21. Trojans need to get through this season, somehow. They can start putting out feelers for possible new coaches, but the business of football continues. I feel sorry for the players, lets hope they can overcome and kickass the rest of their games. Say a prayer Sark will get himself straightened out. It is obvious he has no future at USC.

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