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SALT LAKE CITY — Washington head coach and former BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian is heading south to take over as head coach for USC, sources told the Associated Press.
The person familiar with the decision-making process spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made yet.
Sarkisian was recruited by BYU in 1994 after a stellar sophomore season at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif. He transferred to BYU as a junior to play for the 1995 season under coach LaVell Edwards and offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Sarkisian had 20 touchdowns and passed for 3,437 yards.
Sarkisan started his senior year in 1996 by winning the Pigskin Classic against Texas A&M, passing for 536 yards and six touchdowns. He had 33 touchdowns and threw for 4,027 yards. BYU finished the season 13-1.
After college, Sarkisian went on to play for the Canadian Football League for three years. After a particularly bad season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he decided to retire and try coaching.
He began coaching at his first alma mater, El Camino College. After the 2000 football season, he joined Norm Chow at USC and stayed there until the end of the 2008 season.
Sarkisian took the head football coach position at the University of Washington on Dec. 8, 2008, where he turned the 0-12 team to 5-7 during his first season. He was 34-29 over five seasons. The Huskies were 8-4 this season after winning the Apple Cup over Washington State last Friday.
"We're a better team today that we were a year ago, and a year ago we were a better team than a year before that," Sarkisian told the AP after the game. "Sometimes games go the way they go and you don't get the call or you don't get the catch or you make the one bad call as a coach. But that doesn't mean you're not a good football team or you aren't a better team than you were a year before."
Sarkisian is the first Washington coach to voluntarily leave the head coach position in almost 60 years, according to the AP.
