Steve Sarkisian, USC Football Show Signs of Something Wrong

Something is not right in Troy. Something is not right with head coach Steve Sarkisian.

On Saturday, August 22, a day that will live in infamy, the Trojans held a scrimmage for the first and second teams. The defense looked good. The offense looked bad.

The post scrimmage press conference saw an emotional Sarkisian exclaim that he wished he had more time. That statement could have been taken one of two ways.

Mar 3, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans coach Steve Sarkisian at spring practice at Cromwell Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Number one, Sark is simply trying to give his team a kick in the butt.

Number two, Sark realizes that this team isn’t ready for the season that is two weeks away, and there’s nothing he thinks he can do about it.

Given the events of the evening, it would appear that it’s the latter.

At the annual Salute To Troy event, an event where donors and officials get together to celebrate all things USC football, Steve Sarkisian got a little toasty. He stood in front of everyone, and gave a drunken slurred speech that ended with him saying “F*** Fight On!” and being pulled from the stage by athletic director Pat Haden.

Needless to say, this is not becoming of a university official let alone a head coach trying to appeal to donors, the same donors that probably were chanting “Fire Kiffin!” two short years ago.

Speaking of Kiffin, if there was any doubt that Sarkisian was just like him, now it’s obvious he’s not. Kiffin hardly ever showed any signs of emotion what so ever and was a classic overthinking introvert. Sarkisian appears to have his heart on his sleeve and was merely trying to medicate it.

Haden apparently let Sarkisian have it after the festivities.

“I met with Coach Sarkisian and I expressed my disappointment in the way he represented himself and the University at our Salute To Troy event. While the details of our conversation will remain between us, I am confident he heard my message loud and clear.”

On Friday, it was explained in my column that Sarkisian knew he was on the hot seat and expectations were very high. It’s obvious now that the pressure of this job is getting to Sarkisian and his second season hasn’t even begun.

“I sincerely apologize to my players and staff and to our fans for my behavior and my inappropriate language at our kickoff event Saturday night. I have a responsibility to all of them and I let them down. Pat Haden talked to me after the event about my actions and I assured him this will not happen again.”

Something is definitely not right in Troy.

The last thing USC needs is another head coach that creates distractions. For Sarkisian’s sake, the Trojans better win this season.

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