After rumors broke over the weekend that Steve Sarkisian would be joining Alabama’s staff, Nick Saban announced the move on Monday.
Nick Saban confirms former #USC coach Steve Sarkisian is joining #Alabama as an offensive analyst
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) September 5, 2016
Alabama hires former USC coach Steve Sarkisian as offensive analyst. Nick Saban: “We're glad to have him"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 5, 2016
The first person to report on this development was Clay Travis of Fox Sports, who said the former USC head coach would be a special offensive assistant.
Interestingly, Travis reported the news right in the middle of Alabama’s dominating performance over Sarkisian’s old school, leading many to wonder if it was just a joke.
Sarkisian left USC’s program after it was discovered he was deeply depressed and dealing with alcohol addiction.
In an interview with TMZ last month, when he confirmed he had an analyst gig with FOX, Sarkisian made it clear he still wanted to coach someday. He also said he was sober and had reevaluated his life.
“I love coaching. I love being around the game of football,” he said. “FOX gave me an opportunity to be around it and we’ll see where it goes from there. You never know.”
Given the way ‘Bama rolled over USC’s defense on Saturday, one wonders how much extra help the program needs offensively. But Saban has shown an eagerness to assemble as much coaching talent as he can.
Nick Saban now has 5 fmr FBS head coaches on #Alabama staff: Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, Mario Cristobal, Bobby Williams & Mike Locksley.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) September 5, 2016
It’s going to be interesting to see where this next step takes Sarkisian.