Reggie Bush is looking to join the growing list of former players who venture into head coaching without prior experience, and at least one program was willing to hear what the former USC star had to say.
In a wide-ranging interview with Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune that was published on Monday, Bush revealed that he spoke with Sacramento State about their head coach job before the team hired Brennan Marion last month. Bush said he has a strong desire to coach and that his ultimate goal is to become the head coach at USC.
“I actually spoke to some people over at Sacramento State for the head coaching job when that came up,” Bush said. “I spoke to some people over there about coaching and it’s definitely something that I want to do. The same way Kirby Smart, a former player from Georgia, came back to coach his team to a title, I would love to do that as well at USC. I think that’d be a tremendous story, a tremendous comeback story. I think I have what it takes. I got the passion. And a lot of these kids grew up watching our era and watching our teams.”
Bush added that coaching is “something I’ve been thinking about a lot and actually talking to people about.”
Michael Vick also spoke with Sacramento State before he landed a different head coach job, so it seems like the FCS school left no stone unturned in their search.
Bush had his 2005 Heisman Trophy reinstated last year after it was taken away due to the NCAA determining he received impermissible benefits while he was at USC. The Trojans also had to vacate 14 wins, including their 2005 BCS National Championship Game title. With the name, image and likeness era upon us, Bush said he is confident USC will get all of that back.
The 39-year-old Bush has been working as an analyst for FOX. He is still pursuing a lawsuit against the NCAA. If Bush is serious about becoming a head coach, there is no reason to think he can’t follow the path laid out by Vick, Deion Sanders and other former star players.
