Steve Sarkisian And The NCAA Athletics Quagmire: A Call to Action for Accountability and Transparency

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The Steve Sarkisian saga continues to roll along as we head toward Christmas and New Years.  The latest chapter involves a lawsuit filed by Sarkisian and his legal team against USC asking for $30 million dollars in damages.  How much of that $30 million Sarkisian gets remains to be seen.  My guess is lawyers from both sides will get together and come to some sort of financial agreement that works out for both parties.  Oh and the last time I checked, having a problem with alcohol does not count as having a disability in my book.  This is coming from a person who has an actual disability, so give me a break please!



By now, we're probably all familiar with the speech from four months ago at a USC pep rally that caused trouble for Sarkisian.



The bigger issue I want to focus on here is that going forward, athletic departments at any academic institution, big or small need to do a better job at looking closer at the individuals they hire when conducting background checks.  I realize that having issues with acoholism isn't something that should not keep an individual from being hired for a certain job position, but common sense would probably tell us that it certainly wouldn't look good to prospective employers who no doubt want to hire the best candidates for any job openings.

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In USC's situation, I really have no idea what USC Athletic Director Pat Haden considered as essential job requirements when he ultimately hired Sarkisian for the USC head coaching position two years ago, especially since it's been well publicized by now that Sarkisian's issues with alcohol date back to his time as head coach for the Huskies at the University of Washington.



From Sarkisian's perspective, he will most likely be given a second chance to coach at some other university or possibly the NFL because we've seen coaches come and go in both the College and Professional ranks over the years.  All I know is that if I were in charge of the hiring process, Sark would have to get his personal life in order first before I would even consider gim him that second chance.



Tim Musick
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