Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Moving into the "CEO role"

Steve Sarkisian was asked this week what he thought would be the toughest adjustment in moving from an assistant coach at USC to head coach at Washington:

"The biggest challenge, in my opinion, will be time management. I'm so used to just dealing with the offense and the quarterback. Now there are obviously head coach obligations I'll have to attend to, so it's going to be really important that the offensive staff I put together can work without me, but also keep me abreast of what is going on so when we have a game plan, we're ready for Saturday afternoons."

After speaking at length with Pete Carroll, Coach Sarkisian's boss at USC, UW president Mark Emmert was confident the 34-year-old Sarkisian was ready:

"When you're looking at someone who hasn't been a head coach, you've got to see that they understand the nuances of the game and the complexities of the operation. They haven't done the CEO role, the management role, the personnel side of it and those kind of issues.

"One of the really impressive things about Steve is that Pete Carroll really has done a wonderful job getting him ready for this. He's worked hard at giving Steve all those kinds of experiences and has actively mentored him to be ready to be a head coach."