Sarkisian named new football coach at Washington

Dec 7, 2008 - 3:10 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Just hours after seeing the Tyrone Willingham era end with another embarrassing loss, Washington officially tabbed Steve Sarkisian as the new leader of its once-proud football program.

Sarkisian, the current offensive coordinator at Southern California, was named as the Huskies' new head coach Saturday night.

Washington announced the hiring on the same day that the Huskies dropped a 48-7 decision at California to conclude the first winless season in school history. The announcement had been speculated upon during the week but wasn't made public until after Southern California's 28-7 victory over UCLA.

Sarkisian, the 23rd head coach in the program's history, will replace the embattled Willingham, who posted an 11-36 record over four seasons in the Pacific Northwest.

"I am excited about the opportunity to become the head football coach at the University of Washington," said Sarkisian, who will be formally introduced at a news conference Monday. "I share the same expectations as the Husky fan base and I fully expect that we will return Washington to the top of the Pac-10 Conference and compete for national championships."

Sarkisian has spent the last two seasons serving under Pete Carroll for the Trojans, who have posted a 22-3 record over that span.

Washington, however, has not been nearly as prosperous: the Huskies went 0-12 this season and were the only winless team in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"After a very thorough search, I am convinced that Steve is the right man to lead the University of Washington football program," athletic director Scott Woodward said. "He exhibits the right combination of integrity, toughness and passion as well as an extremely strong desire to win.

"There are a number of characteristics that we were looking for in a head coach, and we were really excited that Steve possessed every one of them."

Willingham, who was notified in October that he would not return next season, expressed regret following the Huskies' lopsided loss to Cal.

"You hurt for your kids," he said. "You hate to see them have to deal with anything of this nature.

"I'm just disappointed that we didn't get done what we set out to do."