Current Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian has certainly had a tumultuous career as a college football head coach after he lost his job with the USC Trojans due to alcoholism. And he credits Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban with giving him a second chance at a career.
Nick Saban decided to give Steve Sarkisian a job as an analyst on his Alabama staff in 2016, marking his first opportunity after he was fired in 2015. Sarkisian ultimately took over as the team’s offensive coordinator for the national title game against Clemson when current offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin left the team to become the next head coach at FAU.
“He believed in me at a time when I was having a hard time even getting an interview,” Sarkisian said of Saban according to ESPN.
Sarkisian expressed that sentiment to Saban personally after Texas beat Alabama this season.
“None of this would’ve been possible without you,” Sarkisian told Saban at midfield.
And Sarkisian explained what he meant by that to ESPN.
“As great as it was for us to go and get that win, that would never have been possible without Nick Saban, ironically,” Sarkisian said. “To think that was where I kind of resurrected my career, in that stadium with him, to have that moment — which was our biggest moment in three years here — was something I won’t forget. I’m forever grateful that he and Miss Terry were both there for me at a tough time in my life.”
As Saban retires, it’s clear that he left his mark on several current college football head coaches.
[ESPN]
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