USC football coach Steve Sarkisian announced on Tuesday morning that he will enter an alcohol treatment program, though he does not believe he has a drinking problem.
Sarkisian labeled going for treatment a “part of the process,” noting that he will not be drinking for the remainder of the season and blaming Saturday’s embarrassing incident on combining alcohol with medication.
“The moral of the story is this: when you mix meds with alcohol, sometimes you say things or you do things you regret,” he said, per Paul Myerberg of USA Today Sports. “I took medication, mixed it with alcohol — not a lot, fortunately — and I responded in a way that was not acceptable.”
Sarkisian, who looked noticeably worn down, once again apologized for his actions and said he has addressed his team. Several players defended him when speaking to reporters.
Cody Kessler: "That's our head coach. He came to us as a man, looked us in the face & told us some things. That's hard to do."
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) August 25, 2015
Su'a Cravens: "Everybody makes mistakes. That's our coach. We're focused on the season ahead."
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) August 25, 2015
By saying he does not think he has a drinking problem, Sark is basically admitting that USC ordered him to enter treatment, which is likely a PR move. The video of him drunk on stage at USC’s Salute to Troy event was a bad look for the entire university.
As we mentioned earlier, there have been rumblings that boosters are concerned about Sarkisian’s off-field behavior and feel that Saturday night’s incident was not isolated. The 41-year-old also ordered a bunch of shots one time while he was still at Washington and requested reimbursement from the athletic department, though we doubt he is the only coach who has done that.
