Sark where art thou? Was he fired today?

[RaidaDave]

Translation = Please don't let our loss to Wazzou be the worst loss for any PAC team.

Lol. A loss to a rebuilding Washington team at home is not much better. At least the Cougs have some semblance of an offense.

 

[CorpRebel]

... Does USC play Colorado? Mark that down as a win for the Bufs.

Why, Yes... Yes we do... Nov. 13th @ Colorado...

And THEN... we get your boys the following week for the first time in a couple years...

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Did Washington have ANY prior knowledge of Sark's current problem? Was Washington responsible for Sark's latest downfall? Who was with Sark from late Sat night thru Sunday morning. Is Barbara Hedges behind the this conspiracy and trying to get back into Huskies good graces again? Has anyone been inside Sark's home for photo's?


Lots of unanswered questions here...

 

[RaidaDave]

Why, Yes... Yes we do... Nov. 13th @ Colorado...

And THEN... we get your boys the following week for the first time in a couple years...

Can't wait.

 

[jdwills126]

Stop me if you heard this one before....

Sark, Gary Moeller, and Mike Price walk into a bar...

To soon?

 

[nddulac]

When USC hired Sarkisian, I remember thinking at the time that Pat Haden wasn't running the show. I figured that he had been told that Sarkisian would be the hire, but he wasn't solidly in favor of that choice. I didn't have any really solid evidence to support that view. It was mostly a gut feeling, I also predicted that Pat Haden would be leaving USC in fairly short order since he was no more than a figurehead and his ego/pride would cause him to find a graceful exit. Again - all speculation.

The reason I figured that Haden would have been anti-Sarkisian was that Haden's entire charge as AD was to clean up the shit-pile left by Mike Garrett. One aspect of that was to embrace a new atmosphere of compliance. The last message he really needed to send to the NCAA was that he was embracing Joe McKnight's old position coach, who certainly would have been involved in what was a demonstrably botched investigation of extra benefits received by Joe McKnight at the hands of one Scott Schenter. I assumed that Haden, being a man of some intelligence, would recognize that as a bad move, when he could have gotten a different Trojan (such as Jack Del Rio) who didn't have the same kinds of ties to the very scandals that got USC into trouble in the first place (well, the sixth place, actually.)

On the other hand, Haden really doubled down on Sarkisian last year when he came down to the sidelines to yell at the refs on Sarkisian's behalf. He (Haden) also demonstrated in that act a level of stupidity above which I thought he was. Live and learn. So - maybe Sarkisian was his guy all along?

Well now there is this shit-storm. Either Haden was forced to hire the guy, indicating that Haden is not in charge, and will be the fall guy for the insiders who actually dictated the hire . . . Or Haden DID choose the guy, failing to discover th issues that would prevent him (Sarkisian) from doing his job without embarrassing USC (or worse.)

Bottom line - I think Pat Haden will be gone as the USC athletic director in very short order. Perhaps it will be one last chance for him to pass the ball to JK McKay. But I think that USC would be well served by cleaning out the entire house and bringing in people who aren't complete fuckups.

Oh wait - they will still have the boosters . . .

Never mind.

 

[nddulac]

Did Washington have ANY prior knowledge of Sark's current problem? Was Washington responsible for Sark's latest downfall? Who was with Sark from late Sat night thru Sunday morning. Is Barbara Hedges behind the this conspiracy and trying to get back into Huskies good graces again? Has anyone been inside Sark's home for photo's? Lots of unanswered questions here...

You know that somewhere Art Briles is yelling, "See? It's Peterson's fault!"

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

If Sark's rehab goes well I think he will be a head coach one day, a smaller program will take a chance with him, he probably won't ever be hired by a major program again though.

 

[Texas Jefe]

Did Sark have TV shows he did every week? I'm watching 'Charlie Strong Rewind' where he goes over previous weeks game, and it's only one of 3 TV shows he does every week.

Wonder how Sark did his TV shows every week? I mean, you cant be drunk on TV.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

If Sark's rehab goes well I think he will be a head coach one day, a smaller program will take a chance with him, he probably won't ever be hired by a major program again though.

These Chip Kelly shenanigans will take some time to get used to, I read this post and thought "what USC fan said exactly what I was thinking?"

 

[nddulac]

Wonder how Sark did his TV shows every week? I mean, you cant be drunk on TV.

Really? Did you ever watch the Gong Show?

(or maybe that is your point . . )

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

@clarkson23devils I told you so. Fired. Obviously not for the reasons I expected, but I still was correct. Now where's my prize?

 

[jjc2009]

Did Sark have TV shows he did every week? I'm watching 'Charlie Strong Rewind' where he goes over previous weeks game, and it's only one of 3 TV shows he does every week.

Wonder how Sark did his TV shows every week? I mean, you cant be drunk on TV.

Sure. The shows were sponsored by Paron Tequilia. Wouldn't miss it.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

@clarkson23devils I told you so. Fired. Obviously not for the reasons I expected, but I still was correct. Now where's my prize?

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

View attachment 39756

Lazy gift. You didn't even take the time to remove the USC stripes.

 

[TheRobotDevil]

Lazy gift. You didn't even take the time to remove the USC stripes.

Lazy shop for your lazy post

 

[trojanfight]

 

[trojanfan12]

When USC hired Sarkisian, I remember thinking at the time that Pat Haden wasn't running the show. I figured that he had been told that Sarkisian would be the hire, but he wasn't solidly in favor of that choice. I didn't have any really solid evidence to support that view. It was mostly a gut feeling, I also predicted that Pat Haden would be leaving USC in fairly short order since he was no more than a figurehead and his ego/pride would cause him to find a graceful exit. Again - all speculation.

The reason I figured that Haden would have been anti-Sarkisian was that Haden's entire charge as AD was to clean up the shit-pile left by Mike Garrett. One aspect of that was to embrace a new atmosphere of compliance. The last message he really needed to send to the NCAA was that he was embracing Joe McKnight's old position coach, who certainly would have been involved in what was a demonstrably botched investigation of extra benefits received by Joe McKnight at the hands of one Scott Schenter. I assumed that Haden, being a man of some intelligence, would recognize that as a bad move, when he could have gotten a different Trojan (such as Jack Del Rio) who didn't have the same kinds of ties to the very scandals that got USC into trouble in the first place (well, the sixth place, actually.)

On the other hand, Haden really doubled down on Sarkisian last year when he came down to the sidelines to yell at the refs on Sarkisian's behalf. He (Haden) also demonstrated in that act a level of stupidity above which I thought he was. Live and learn. So - maybe Sarkisian was his guy all along?

Well now there is this shit-storm. Either Haden was forced to hire the guy, indicating that Haden is not in charge, and will be the fall guy for the insiders who actually dictated the hire . . . Or Haden DID choose the guy, failing to discover th issues that would prevent him (Sarkisian) from doing his job without embarrassing USC (or worse.)

Bottom line - I think Pat Haden will be gone as the USC athletic director in very short order. Perhaps it will be one last chance for him to pass the ball to JK McKay. But I think that USC would be well served by cleaning out the entire house and bringing in people who aren't complete fuckups.

Oh wait - they will still have the boosters . . .

Never mind.

A couple of things. One, USC was cleared in the Joe McKnight thing, so not sure what was botched.

From what I've heard, Sark was Haden's hire. Haden is and has been a pretty powerful figure around USC, even when he was doing color commentary for Notre Dame games. In fact, most reporters, etc. around USC know that for years, they could say pretty much what they wanted to about the program, except for anything negative about Haden.

Petros Papadakis is a former USC player and local radio guy. Between him and his Dad, John Papadakis, he is as connected in the upper echelons of USC as anyone. He says that Haden basically tied himself to Kiffin by not getting rid of him sooner and then hired Sark. He also says that he created a "county club atmosphere" where he and others could show up at practice, speak to the team whenever he wanted, etc.

He doesn't expect Haden to survive this, but says that he will have a much softer landing than Sark. He believes that it will be announced that Haden is accepting some high level job at some bank or something that is "just too good an opportunity to pass up."

Petros isn't always 100% on these things, but he's pretty consistently accurate, so we'll see what happens. One thing is certain, if he does stay, he can't fuck up on this next coaching hire and he can't worry about recruiting numbers (which is apparently part of the reason he went with Sark).

With the talent that's already at USC, if they bring in a coach who just wins and has a clear plan, the recruiting will take care of itself. There is always talent at USC. Heck, as bad as the years before Pete Carroll were, there was enough talent for USC to go 11-2 in his 2nd season.

 

[nddulac]

A couple of things. One, USC was cleared in the Joe McKnight thing, so not sure what was botched.

USC's investigation failed to uncover the deep connection between McKnight and Schenter, which included giving McKnight two cars (including the black SUV) and plane tickets. When you investigate a connection, and fail to find the connection, the investigation was botched. Now - in fairness - when you investigate a connection with the intent to NOT find any evidence, then I guess the investigation ends up successful when you fail to find the evidence.

We've been though this before. I think that we can agree that the NCAA did not pursue the Schenter/McKnight affair out of a sense that USC had been through enough. But concluding that there was nothing there that was nothing there that was actionable would be the height of absurdity. But I am also sure that we disagree on that point as well.

But, while not football related, I think we can agree that Scott Schenter is a scumbag and deserves to rot in jail along with his scumbag boss, John Noguez.

From what I've heard, Sark was Haden's hire. . . Petros Papadakis is a former USC player and local radio guy. Between him and his Dad, John Papadakis, he is as connected in the upper echelons of USC as anyone. He says that Haden basically tied himself to Kiffin by not getting rid of him sooner and then hired Sark. He also says that he created a "county club atmosphere" where he and others could show up at practice, speak to the team whenever he wanted, etc.

As much as I think of Petros Papadakis as a clown (although I'm sure he does too as it is all part of his shhtick) I do think he has a lot of insight into USC for the very reasons you state. He was dead-on-balls-accurate in his entire assessment of the lack of interest in hiring Ed Orgeron, for example. I would actually place a high level of credence in Papadakis' analysis.

So basically, if in fact Papadakis is correct and Sarkisian was Haden's guy (and I admit that the evidence seems to be more compelling to support that argument rather than my speculation) then Haden really needs to go. He is showing that when it comes to taking care of things the "right" way, he is inept. And that kind of ineptitude is bound to return USC to the way things were done under Mike Garrett, who in my mind, represents everything that can possibly be wrong with intercollegiate athletics.

 

[Inquisitor95]

Lazy gift. You didn't even take the time to remove the USC stripes.

Never look a gif horse in the mouth.