As USC Moves On From Sarkisian, It Must Move Away From Itself

There are two sets of circumstances responsible for accelerating USC's descent from college football's most dominant program to the sport's most compelling grease fire.

One was a biting set of 2010 NCAA sanctions, delivered for a "lack of institutional control"–read: Reggie Bush got some money–from 2004 to 2009. The other is the three men–athletic director Pat Haden, and former head coaches Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian–tasked with cauterizing the resulting, program-hobbling wounds. None of the three were appointed on pure merit, but rather on the premise that they understood the school, and therefore would be uniquely qualified to nurse it back to full strength. There is no greater indication of their collective failure than the damage they unwittingly have inflicted on the program they hold dear, damage that arguably outweighs anything the NCAA managed.

The list of foibles over the past five years includes, but is not limited to:

Kiffin lying about voting his team preseason number one in 2012; Kiffin waging a one-man war against the media at the most press-friendly job in the sport; Kiffin disguising his backup quarterback as a kicker to attempt a superfluous two-point conversion in a 50-6 USC victory; Kiffin ignoring All-American receiver Robert Woods on offense to such a degree that Woods left early for the NFL Draft despite going out of his way before the season to mention following in Matt Barkley's footsteps and returning to get his degree; USC becoming the first team since 1964 to end a season unranked after checking in as preseason number one; Kiffin unnecessarily manufacturing a six-month long quarterback controversy in 2013; Haden infamously canning Kiffin on the LAX tarmac; Haden replacing Kiffin with Sarkisian, who was both woefully underqualified and apparently displayed serious alcohol-related warning signs at his previous job coaching Washington; Haden scurrying onto the sideline to confront officials in Sarkisian's second-ever game as USC coach; team captain Josh Shaw being suspended indefinitely for a non-criminal act, eventually getting reinstated only after forcing administration's hand by going to the media; Sarkisian being intoxicated at Salute To Troy, a preseason donor event; Haden permitting Sarkisian to coach instead of mandating he seek treatment; Haden finally ordering Sarkisian to take a leave of absence after Sarkisian again appeared intoxicated on Sunday; and, most recently, Haden summarily dismissing Sarkisian one day later while declaring that booting a sick man from his dream job, in a moment of peak public humiliation, will hopefully "give him the opportunity to focus on his personal well-being."

All this, before delving into the potpourri of underachievement, apathy and general overmatched-ness that defines the Trojans' play on a near-weekly basis. USC is college football's Fargo, a dark comedy with a seemingly bottomless reservoir of embarrassment to draw from and accomplished character actors gamely carrying out the increasingly implausible plots. That's mockable fodder for anyone who roots for a different school, but for the fan base that adores USC, it has taken a toll. One only has to tally the deflating attendance inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to see how.

The remaining loyalists are now in a weird place. On one hand, there is the rather public disintegration of Sarkisian's private life, which in addition to alcoholism also includes a divorce and the parenting of three young children. It's gutting: a native son with five separate stints at USC, a man who succeeded in becoming an amiable anti-Kiffin, now collapsing under the weight of his life-long ambition.

On the other hand, Sarkisian's personal struggles have cracked open a window of opportunity for the program that otherwise would remain sealed shut.

While college football minnows Kansas and Colorado recently fired coaches Turner Gill and Jon Embree after just two seasons, there is little precedent for a major power such as USC attempting doing the same, let alone doing so mid-season. It's possible that Sarkisian would have been let go at the end of the year regardless of his personal issues; the Chip Kelly tornado sirens went live less than ten minutes after the Trojans self-combusted against Washington last Thursday. But only a context this unusual and dire could–ironically–provide Haden with the cover to dump Sarkisian right now, maximizing the amount of time USC can devote to retaining its current players and incoming recruits while positioning the school in the coaching search pole position.

Since Kiffin and now Sarkisian have failed so thoroughly, USC will now be forced to do the very thing it should have done all along: Select someone with roots far, far removed from Pete Carroll's poisoned tree. No other school is so reluctant to look outside its walls, never mind that two of its three greatest coaches–Carroll and Howard Jones–had no previous ties to the university. This time, USC has no other choice, both for lack of alternatives–what other Carroll protégé could the program realistically appoint?–and because Haden probably would be terminated on the spot if he tried.

The athletic director cut a proud figure during a Tuesday press conference at USC, if a defensive one. He acknowledged the widespread questioning of his leadership, and used it to launch into a five-point defense of his tenure as athletic director, which of course included "successfully navigat[ing]" those NCAA sanctions. He outlined USC's vetting process of Sarkisian–search firm, background checks, "dozens" of interviews with known associates–and parried a line of questioning from a skeptical reporter with, "you can disagree with the vetting, but he was vetted." He volunteered that, after two hours of attempted contact on Monday, he was unable to reach Sarkisian to inform him of the firing, instead sending a termination letter to Sarkisian and his agent. He justified his decision to allow Sarkisian to continue coaching after the Salute to Troy debacle by saying that he felt Sarkisian deserve a second chance, and that "based on the input of trusted medical professionals and staff, it was determined that he could continue coaching while seeking treatment." At times, his tone bordered on terse. His speech was clipped. "I know who I am at the age of 62," he told his audience. "I know what I stand for… I think I've delivered some pretty good results."

Evidently, his boss agrees. USC president Max Nikias endorsed Haden just before he took the podium, issuing a statement indicating that "[he looks] forward to working with Pat Haden as our USC AD for years to come." At the very least, it appears Haden will get hiring power for his second head football coach. This time, he'll do well to remember that, hazy sentiment aside, there's nothing unique that anyone needs to "know" or "get" or "understand" about USC, beyond the fact that it possesses all the advantages needed to dominate college football, as well as the accompanying world-beating expectations. The program draws talented recruits year after year, and the media covering the Trojans–like any other media–can be mollified if a coach chooses to engage and charm them. There are specific cultural nuances that come with working at USC, for sure, but those can be learned on the job in a way that big-game coaching can't.

With the search parameters wider than they've been in years, the Trojans' next coach figures to fit the above criteria better than past selections. The single-best thing he'll have going for him, however, is a limited history with the school that's hiring him. That's the only way he'll be able to save USC from itself.