Sarkisian to be Head Coach For First Time Since 2015

After five years, Steve Sarkisian will be a head coach on the sidelines of a college football game once again when Alabama faces Auburn in the Iron Bowl Saturday. 

With Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban ruled out for the Iron Bowl due to COVID-19, Sarkisian will need to shake off the dust and assume the role for the first time since his firing from USC midway through the 2015 season. 

Before his firing, Sarkisian had success at USC and Washington, posting only one losing season as a head coach from 2009 to 2015. His coaching record between the two schools is 46-35, and he brought his teams to bowl games in every year he coached except for his first and last years. 

Since his firing, it’s been peaks and valleys for Sarkisian as a football coach. 

Alabama hired him as an offensive analyst back in 2016, where he would eventually conduct the Alabama offense during a losing effort in the  2017 CFP title game after Lane Kiffin left for the head coaching position with Florida Atlantic. 

After only one game coordinating for the Crimson Tide, Sarkisian would leave for a job with the Atlanta Falcons to be their offensive coordinator. After their offensive production dropped significantly from 2017 to 2018, he was fired from the Falcons organization. 

It was announced in January of 2019 that Alabama would rehire Sarkisian to be the offensive coordinator in relief for the departing Mike Locksley. It would prove to be a highly beneficial hire for the Crimson Tide, as their offense has ranked in the top ten offenses in the country in 2019. This year, the Crimson Tide is third in the nation in points per game, and sixth in total offense. 

This will be a great audition for future head coaching positions for Sarkisian, and it will be on the most prominent of stages. He will lead the Crimson Tide against the Auburn Tigers in the Iron Bowl at 2:30 p.m. C.T. on CBS.