Pete Carroll's former assistants haven't tasted much post-USC glory -- yet
Tue 03 Nov 2009
Former USC assistant coaches Lane Kiffin, left, DeWayne Walker, center, and Steve Sarkisian are attempting to establish their own legacies as first-year college football coaches.
Two months into the season, Steve Sarkisian needs a thesaurus to describe his first try at being a head coach.
Amazing. Disappointing. Hard to explain.
"I feel like every game gets crazier and crazier," he said recently.
Hard to deny that Sarkisian has done a reasonable job of leading Washington back from last year's winless debacle. But with the 3-5 Huskies visiting the Rose Bowl to face UCLA on Saturday, he gets measured by another standard.
It's the same benchmark facing Lane Kiffin at Tennessee and DeWayne Walker at New Mexico State.
They are former USC assistants, offshoots of a program that has gone 65-8 since the start of the 2004 season. During that time, six teams ranging from the Idaho Vandals to the Oakland Raiders have hired Pete Carroll disciples.
And, as of this week, their combined record is 30-73.
"Yeah, we feel the pressure," said Ed Orgeron, who lasted three seasons at Mississippi. "We all want to represent."
They face a version of the scrutiny that New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick's former assistants endure in the NFL. Call it the Carroll family tree.
"We'd better start winning," said Kiffin, who is in his first season at Tennessee and on Saturday earned his first victory against a ranked opponent, 31-13 over South Carolina.
Amazing. Disappointing. Hard to explain.
"I feel like every game gets crazier and crazier," he said recently.
Hard to deny that Sarkisian has done a reasonable job of leading Washington back from last year's winless debacle. But with the 3-5 Huskies visiting the Rose Bowl to face UCLA on Saturday, he gets measured by another standard.
It's the same benchmark facing Lane Kiffin at Tennessee and DeWayne Walker at New Mexico State.
They are former USC assistants, offshoots of a program that has gone 65-8 since the start of the 2004 season. During that time, six teams ranging from the Idaho Vandals to the Oakland Raiders have hired Pete Carroll disciples.
And, as of this week, their combined record is 30-73.
"Yeah, we feel the pressure," said Ed Orgeron, who lasted three seasons at Mississippi. "We all want to represent."
They face a version of the scrutiny that New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick's former assistants endure in the NFL. Call it the Carroll family tree.
"We'd better start winning," said Kiffin, who is in his first season at Tennessee and on Saturday earned his first victory against a ranked opponent, 31-13 over South Carolina.
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