Wayne gets even in Delco League championship
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. >> Steve Sarkisian keeps hitting the jackpot when it comes to quarterbacks and other offensive playmakers.
A former USC and Washington head coach, Sarkisian left the Crimson Tide after the national championship game in January 2017 to head to the NFL. He took over an offense led by reigning NFL MVP Matt Ryan and All-Pro receiver Julio Jones. Before that, he arrived at USC in 2005 with Matt Leinart returning after winning the Heisman.
Now, he’s back at Alabama with plenty of tools at his disposal — including another Heisman candidate in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
“This isn’t as foreign to me,” Sarkisian said at Alabama’s media day. “I think what it is, is you come in and you try to evaluate the whole thing. We say, ‘OK, how can I help this team continue to get better? How can I help these players improve and put them in the best position to have success, not only short term but long term?’ That’s our job as coaches.”
For starters, Alabama’s offense is definitely not broken so there’s little to fix.
Mike Locksley directed the nation’s No. 3 scoring offense last season before leaving to become Maryland’s head coach. Even with the departure of tailbacks Josh Jacobs and Damien Harris to the NFL, Sarkisian has a bountiful selection of offensive playmakers. The backfield still has former five-star prospects Najee Harris and freshman Trey Sanders and a bulldozing Brian Robinson Jr.
And Sarkisian said his offensive philosophy starts with running the ball.
Sarkisian brings a familiarity with Tide coach Nick Saban and his program — and with Tagovailoa. He recruited the quarterback when he was at USC and the lefthander from Hawaii was a 10th grader.
Following his firing at USC, Sarkisian worked as an offensive analyst at Alabama. He took over as coordinator when Lane Kiffin left for Florida Atlantic before the national championship game. Then Sarkisian left for the Falcons, where he and the defensive and special teams coordinators were dismissed following a disappointing 2018 season.
“It’s good to see coach Sark come back,” Tagovailoa said.