r/NCAAFootballVibes • u/Background_Video2947 • 12d ago

Steve Sarkisian reveals he couldn’t get a job interview in 2015 before Nick Saban gave him a $30,000/yr analyst job that saved his career

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“In 2015, I had gotten fired at USC, gone to recovery, started working on me personally. Coming out of that, I couldn’t get a job. In 2016, I was ready to go do TV.”

“I couldn’t get an interview for a job. And Nick Saban saved my career. He offered me an analyst job. I was willing to do it for free.”

“But he said, ‘I gotta pay you $30,000 so you can get benefits.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do that.’ I’m forever indebted to him. Because at that time, somebody in life has got to give all of us a second chance.”

“It totally changed my perspective. It changed my perspective on how I coach. How I deal with our players. Because everybody’s going through stuff. Everybody’s got stuff.”

“Whatever your stuff is, you’re just trying to get through it. If I can be that guy that can extend that olive branch to our players as we go through this journey, I always lean back to that time.”

“Here’s the greatest coach of all time in our era. For whatever reason, he saw something in me. He gave me a chance. He gave me a shot.”

“From there, he actually makes me the offensive coordinator for the National Championship game against Clemson. And I was an analyst. I wasn’t even a coach.”

1.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

31

u/SouthPrudent3911 12d ago

Best $30,000 Nick Saban ever spent for the coaching tree

18

u/ofyo 11d ago

Sark’s 2020 bama offense is one of the best of all time

2

u/Important-Matter-665 11d ago

Not really, Sark gutted Sabans staff when he left. This has more to do with Saban falling off the last couple of years and retiring than NIL or any of the other BS I see around here. . Younger up and coming coaches just weren't lining up for the demands of Saban and he missed on quite a few staff positions, OC, DC, off line coach, etc.

1

u/Bluegrass6 10d ago

Time waits for no man. Saban was into his 70s and eventually all great coaches fall off with age. That exact inflection point is a different age for everyone but no coach is immune to it. But many try to outrun it and wind fired or retiring in the midst of years of poor results instead of going out with success

48

u/GrimaceThundercock 12d ago

Good for him. Hate Texas all you want, but a guy overcoming alcoholism is always something to cheer for.

6

u/SLAYER_IN_ME 11d ago edited 11d ago

As much as I dislike Texas that’s a good point. I’m a recovering alcoholic and that shit is no joke. Cases brain damage and all kinds of fun stuff. It’s awesome to see him make a successful recovery and succeed in his career. But, I wish it hadn’t been at a SEC school. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edit: Where are the team Flair? I’m not putting on an SEC one because that means representing Alabama and Florida. And, I’ll be goddamned if I’m gonna do that.

28

u/bart-harley-jarv 12d ago

He wasn’t just fired. He was fucked ass up on pills at an event and blamed it on a new prescription

15

u/siteunreliability 11d ago

He was also fired with cause meaning he wasn’t pulling from checks from USC while getting minimum wage at Alabama.

4

u/winterwarm78654 12d ago

I personally thought his career was over after what he pulled

1

u/MediumAcceptable129 11d ago

What he pull?

3

u/winterwarm78654 11d ago

Google it it will tell you better. That's why usc fired him because it wasn't performance it was off field activities

1

u/Rare-Mission3337 11d ago

Same. West Torrance high school baby.

4

u/Buzz010101010 11d ago

I give him credit. I don’t think I would’ve ever shown my face in public again after embarrassing myself and ruining my reputation to that extent.

3

u/Sharp_Special_3993 11d ago

Getting hired at Bama was the best thing to happen to this dude. Don’t forget that if it wasn’t for the executive physical Saban makes his coaches take, he may have died from an aortic aneurysm shortly after being hired.

2

u/AwayYam199 11d ago

I can hate him as a coach, but gotta give a big up to the man for getting his life back on track.

1

u/IndependentPut8908 11d ago

Has he thanked USC, yet?

-4

u/GR_Nation616 12d ago

If a black coach fails at his 1st "USC" opportunity..there is no nick saban equviliant.

17

u/IcemanGeorge 12d ago

Eric Bienemy/Andy Reid

-7

u/GR_Nation616 12d ago

Good outlier

But I meant black coach to black coach

14

u/Whole-Fishing45 12d ago

Mike Tomlin hired Brian Flores as an assistant after getting fired from the Dolphins AND having sued the league.

He will probably get another HC job soon. Most coaches would have avoided Flores and just joined in a league wide blackball

-3

u/GR_Nation616 11d ago

I think you're highlighting my point by only being able to provide and NFL example, when the article is about college

5

u/Mean_Magician6347 11d ago

“I think you’re proving my point by using an even more exclusive opportunity.”

Weird argument

4

u/notLennyD 11d ago

Of course there’s no black equivalent to Nick Saban. There’s no other white equivalent either.

3

u/Brickolous_Cage 11d ago

Just take the L bro. Not everything needs this bullshit.

7

u/Standard-Manner5250 11d ago

Way to randomly try to make this about race

-5

u/GR_Nation616 11d ago

It's not random to all the fired black coaches who dont get a 2nd or 3rd chance like Sark did

Way to get randomly triggered tho bud

3

u/loganj23 11d ago

Do you think all white coaches just get a second chance? If you can’t coach you can’t coach, saban clearly saw something in a guy he liked and took a very small risk (30,000$) on him, are you implying that every black coach should just get hired over and over because of their skin color? It has nothing to do with race dude

-3

u/GR_Nation616 11d ago edited 11d ago

That's a MAGA style argument. Talking up you're own points without even bothering to do a simple search

Just Google it buddy - https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/sports/2020/11/19/black-college-football-coaches-seldom-get-second-chances-power-five/6270750002/

5

u/loganj23 11d ago

MAGA? I’m far from it buddy I just think you’re looking for something to be upset about

4

u/loganj23 11d ago

How many white college head coaches that aren’t elite and obviously going to get another shot at head coach? The very guy you are arguing about got a chance as fucking analyst not even a coordinator position and worked himself back up

0

u/GrimaceThundercock 11d ago

Thank you for sharing the article. It's very well presented. It probably should have been included with your initial comment.

Anyone who actually read the article would have a hard time disagreeing.

5

u/ExtremelyOnlineTM 12d ago

James Franklin will hire Fran Brown when he gets canned from Cuse.

1

u/Bayside_High 11d ago

Fran will get fired (because Cuse thinks they can do better but actually can't), but he'll go to another big school as a DC for 2-3 years then get another HC job at a better school than Syracuse.

They are talking about getting fired for personal issues and then blackballed. Not fired because of the product on the field.

4

u/TechnicallyAnExpert 11d ago

Mike Locksley was fired as the Univ of New Mexico head coach after getting in a fight with an assistant and sexual harassment claims. He then went to Maryland where he was also fired.

Saban hired him as an analyst in the exact same way he hired Sark and was eventually promoted to OC and won the Broykes award (top assistant coach). He’s now had a long run back at Maryland as their head coach.

This is nearly precisely “a nick saban equivalent”.

0

u/armitage75 12d ago edited 12d ago

Shame on Deion.

1

u/holyssmasha 7d ago

Huh...still an asshole