Sark to Texas....
- Thread starter ttowncoug
- Start date
Well, take the football mind of Sark, ability to recruit, etc...subtract all of the darkness, and you could have something (apparently he’s stayed clean).
I mean it’s pretty impressive what he was doing at WA and USC as a functioning alcoholic, chasing tail, etc. I’ve gotta think thats the mindset of Texas with this hire. Wouldn’t surprise me if it worked out for them. May want to put some limits on the Amex though.
Being an understudy to Saban has probably helped him tremendously, and he’s performed very well as their OC—wouldn’t surprise me to see him take a big step in development as a HC.
Yeah, I get the reasons for hope, and I could see it working out OK. There is some upside potential. Just has a variety of ways it couldn't work out and seems more like the thing you do if you're Tennessee, Ole Miss, ASU, or something like that, not the program with more money than anyone, one of the best recruiting territories in the country, fans with really high standards, and a key rival who went out and spent 8 figures a year to grab an actual head coach from another borderline top program who had won a natty (and who now has that program as a borderline playoff team).
He worked for Pete Carroll as an "understudy" previously as well.
I was going to make the same comment. He's had good mentors before. Entirely possible the Saban regime kept him in line. I wouldn't trust Sark as the head guy of a major program from the jump. Want to see how he holds up on a smaller stage like Kiffen did at FAU before handing a program over to him.
Yeah but how long ago was that? He’s had a good amount of time to grow up and learn from his mistakes. I would imagine the humiliation that goes with being demoted has a profound effect. But who knows, maybe he’s just the kind of guy that copes with stress by drinking and he falls back on his old ways.
Agreed. He still had some demons in front of him when he was with Carroll. I’m no fan of Sark but I do think he’s a top CFB mind when his head is clear...which would include none of his time at USC and probably very little at UW. Now the flip side is does your recruiting ability take a dip when you put the bottle and stacks of singles away? If you are at Texas and you have a pulse recruiting shouldn’t be a problem. I predict he will have them in the NY6 within a couple years.
Had this same discussion from 2003 to 2011 whenever it was pointed out that the players who hated attending class as WSU players under Walden/Erickson/Price weren't particularly into recruiting as WSU assistant coaches.
I’m undoubtedly underselling this, but do we not subtract a few points for “excelling” at one part of the Alabama business model? I mean, in any given year, you have the best QB in the country standing behind the best OL in the country, to either hand off to the best RB in the country or throw to the greatest WR corps in the country. Not to mention, having the best defense in the country getting you the ball back a few extra times a game. How many Bama QBs burn down CFB but can never sniff the starting spot on Sundays because the field is leveled? And will the field not be leveled (more than at Alabama) at Texas, having to face currently-superior OU and getting solid bowl games?
In no way am I saying anyone can do it, but I am saying that (IMO) an average coach can look interstellar when he’s got all the best pieces on the board.
Also, HC is such a different proposition from OC. Oftentimes it’s hard to keep up the excellence in one part of the game when you go from worrying about one, to worrying about all 3 phases.
In no way am I saying anyone can do it, but I am saying that (IMO) an average coach can look interstellar when he’s got all the best pieces on the board.
Also, HC is such a different proposition from OC. Oftentimes it’s hard to keep up the excellence in one part of the game when you go from worrying about one, to worrying about all 3 phases.
Sark is an O coach, and Texas needs O help. Sark is also oily enough (deliberate pun) to fit with the alums.
On D, he will focus his limited D attention on making sure the CB's learn to hold, a la the Carroll school of D back instruction.
The shady recruiting practices will be nothing new for him.
I think he will do OK at Texas.
On D, he will focus his limited D attention on making sure the CB's learn to hold, a la the Carroll school of D back instruction.
The shady recruiting practices will be nothing new for him.
I think he will do OK at Texas.
“Ok” isnt what Texas is looking for though.
At a program like UT the HC isnt calling plays. There is too much on his plate. He is a CEO and has to delegate. Sark is a hot name in coaching, I dunno that he will deliver what UT wants. National titles.
Take Paul Wulff, inject some football acumen and personality, and you could have something too.
I’d guess that the stress of the HC job will get to Sarkisian.
The associated reward with Sarkisian is not apparent to me. He was going to get canned at uw and USC bailed him out.
Gib, while your first statement was snarkiness, the second is unfortunately likely. Not a sure thing, but likely. The Texas HC position is a fish bowl in which none of us would like to live. We got a glimpse of what it is like at Alabama when Price jumped. Texas is similar, if not worse, and that was before the massive internet exposure effect had taken hold, eliminating privacy. Sark brings a couple of things to the party; let's give him credit. He is a better than decent O coach. Not a bad organizer. And a good personality for recruiting and alum relations. Probably can also get along with his boss. He will need all that. The flip side is not as pretty. Leave his addiction out of the discussion for a moment, and you still have what sometimes appears to be a bi-polar personality, with all that goes with that. Whether he is or is not, his behavior has been consistent with that. A lot of bi-polar people end up self-medicating or abusing themselves when out of control and end up with some sort of addiction. In his latest coaching stop he has seemed to have gotten himself together. My concern if he were my friend would be what Gib brings up...the stress of the job. IF he has the right DC; IF he can adapt to the constant spotlight and zero privacy; IF the rest of his staff can be assigned tasks and simply carry them out with a little supervision (and that will require both an ability to not micromanage when stressed, and the ability to make the right hiring decisions, two things he has not previously displayed the ability to do); then maybe he will be successful. Without all of those things, he will simply be another guy who failed at Texas.
What stress???
Acknowledge two things when you take the job at UT..
#1. You will be fired at some point regardless of whether you win national titles or not. That's just part of the job. You are only holding the spot for the next guy.
#2. You will receive a buyout large enough to never work again, your children never work, access to anything and everything you could ever want in life as well.
At some point you have to accept those things as part of the job. If you want to add stress because that's just what you do, fine. Keep in mind you have just been hired to one of, if not, the best job in all of football. Have fun, win games, cash checks, live life.
Acknowledge two things when you take the job at UT..
#1. You will be fired at some point regardless of whether you win national titles or not. That's just part of the job. You are only holding the spot for the next guy.
#2. You will receive a buyout large enough to never work again, your children never work, access to anything and everything you could ever want in life as well.
At some point you have to accept those things as part of the job. If you want to add stress because that's just what you do, fine. Keep in mind you have just been hired to one of, if not, the best job in all of football. Have fun, win games, cash checks, live life.
Constant interactions with boosters that suck away your time while you're trying to achieve the things that will prevent #1 would cause stress. This is also a nonsensical comment. People want to win and succeed, not just line their pockets. Plus, all of Alabama's coaches between Bryant and Saban were just holding the job too. Why can't the next guy at Texas be Bryant or Saban? That's obviously what Texas wants, so on the employer side of things you have commitment and nearly limitless budget.
I’d say we’re looking at this from the Texas perspective of would you hire Sark vs the Sark perspective of would you take the job. I don’t think anyone would argue with you that if you’re Sark you take the job. At worst you’ve got some humiliation and a $20M+ golden parachute. And I’m not sure he could be more humiliated than being shitfaced at a public event in front of his team and having it go viral followed by the public airing of his substance abuse and marital failings. Calculated risk for Texas but they may think his best coaching is ahead of him, and they could be right.
He’s 46 years old. He will get better as a coach. Texas is essentially buying a Saban franchise. They want Sark to bring with him what Alabama is doing.
Is he the right guy? Depends. Who at UT can stare down a booster and have them get in line like Saban did/does at Alabama? Is that guy Sark? Does he have someone in the admin that can do it for him? 46 year old guys trying to tell 76 year old oil money boosters what to do may not work. If he wins big, they get in line. If he doesn’t, well, he takes the $20m buyout and goes somewhere else.
I think he'll go 7-6 every year, like he did at UW. He and Texas are perfect for each other. Both think they should be better, but neither is sure whether the other is the cause of their problems
You're both right IMO. "What stress" is a silly (perhaps tongue-in-cheek) comment to make, but a zen master can make peace with the fact that it's always 1969 in Texas (just like it's always 1991 in Montlake) and anything less than running the table is a letdown for their big time boosters. At the same time, I just don't think anyone in CFB has dealt with boosters until they've dealt with UT boosters, who would have turned the Buddha into Charles Whitman.
I don’t know that he’ll view Texas as a pressure gig. He’s coached at UW, SC, Bama (twice), and in the NFL. Saban hired him twice, which says something.
Texas is definitely a win or else program, but they offer a lot to a confident coach. You’ve got instant access to the best recruits in the Nation. Your facilities are top-3. You’re pretty much an 8 win program without trying.
It’s typically a National Championship fan base, but they’ve been looking up at Oklahoma for a while now, so winning the B12 will satisfy the boosters for a while.
Texas is definitely a win or else program, but they offer a lot to a confident coach. You’ve got instant access to the best recruits in the Nation. Your facilities are top-3. You’re pretty much an 8 win program without trying.
It’s typically a National Championship fan base, but they’ve been looking up at Oklahoma for a while now, so winning the B12 will satisfy the boosters for a while.
Mario Cristobal is a Saban guy. 2 star culture according to some.
Sarks always been more sizzle than steak. Surround him with excellent supports and his talent will shine through. Get him on his own and he'll have problems. Herman had things moving in the right direction, fairly sure they downgraded with Sark. Oh well.
Sarks always been more sizzle than steak. Surround him with excellent supports and his talent will shine through. Get him on his own and he'll have problems. Herman had things moving in the right direction, fairly sure they downgraded with Sark. Oh well.
He’s starting with 2 strikes against him. First, he’s from SoCal. Second, he’s not from Texas.
Good luck.
Last edited:
I think Sark is a good coach, I think being humiliated in the past will keep him somewhat humble. He has had a great offense at Alabama, however when you have the best players in the nation on your team, it's much easier to look good. The Alabama passing offense is much better now than it was when Sark took over, so give him credit for that. If he can load up on talent on Texas, like he had at Alabama, he will be successful, however I highly doubt he will land that kind of talent and depth Alabama has, but he has a lot of talent in Texas. So he will have to do more with less, but his less is far more than 99% of the teams out there, still not his strong suit. He is going up against OU each year, and don't underestimate what is going on at Iowa State, then there is Baylor, TCU, and OSU each year, all teams that will have the potential to beat you. Texas is looking to go undefeated in Conference, I doubt Sark can pull that off. At this time it would appear, OU, ISU, TCU and Baylor have solid coaching staffs which will cause Sark issues, and throw in OSU, going 5-0 against those teams with solid coaching staffs will be a tall order for anyone, and he has 3-4 years to do it or he's gone. So when he leaves in 4 years, he'll get 15 million or more and they will tell him to leave, so I don't see a downside to him taking the job. The risk is not with Sark, it's all on Texas.
Last edited:
I was being a bit facetious since if you are from California it follows you can't be from Texas. The point I was trying to make is if you "belong" you better win at a place like UT. If you are an "outsider" you better win a helluva lot quicker.
I wasn't predicting Sark will succeed in Texas. I was responding to commentary about the pressure he'll feel. Coaches at that level aren't wired like that. Hell, I wouldn't be wired like that. Texas gave Herman 4 years. Even programs like WSU aren't going to give coaches more than 4 years if they're declining.
If Sark falls on his face, how is that going to devastate his career? He'll go back to being a top level coordinator in college or maybe head back to the NFL. My point is that, when you've reached the level that Sark (or Leach) is at, what's there to feel pressure about? You're a multimillionaire with an extensive coaching resume. I'd rather fail at Texas or in the SEC as opposed to trying to grind out wins at Memphis.
Depends on what you mean by devastated. Mike Price’s career certainly took a giant step backward from Alabama.
Well, conduct related transgressions weren't a part of my reasoning with coaching changes. My point has to do with coaches being afraid of the pressures that await them at blue-blood programs. I don't think that ever crosses their minds.
How many shots of tequila is Sarkisian from a conduct related transgression? Them hippies from LA don't get the benefit of the doubt.
