The situation with Steve Sarkisian and the USC football team was apparently much uglier than anyone realized prior to him being asked to take a leave of absence on Sunday.
According to a report from Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News, some USC assistant coaches suspected Sarkisian may have been drunk during his team’s 42-14 win over Arizona State on Sept. 26. One anonymous assistant said Sarkisian’s eyes “didn’t look right” and that the head coach had to be pulled away from a player huddle on the sideline.
BREAKING: Some #USC assistant coaches believed Steve Sarkisian was drunk during the Arizona State game on Sept. 26.
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) October 11, 2015
"His eyes didn't look right, he was too animated,'' said one #USC coach
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) October 11, 2015
BREAKING: #USC assistants pulled Steve Sarkisian out of player huddle on sideline during Arizona State game. Believed he was not sober
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) October 11, 2015
As if that’s not enough, Wolf also reports that Sark passed out after drinking too much following a game against Washington State last year.
BREAKING: #USC players said Sarkisian drank and passed out on flight back from Washington State game in 2014. Some reportedly took photos
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) October 11, 2015
It’s clear that Sarkisian’s struggle with alcohol addiction has been going on for quite some time. He was reportedly asked to take a leave of absence on Sunday after players noticed he was not sober at a special teams meeting. A separate report said Sarkisian showed up “in no condition to work” at the USC facility.
Sarkisian’s sobriety became a public issue when he got into trouble for being drunk and acting unprofessionally at a team event before the season. Sark said then that he was going to seek treatment for alcohol, but he appeared to make light of his problems.
It will be awfully hard to make light of all the ugly new reports coming out.
