Steve Sarkisian to Nick Saban: ‘I would not be standing here today without you’

Nick Saban hired Steve Sarkisian in 2016 after he was disgracefully fired from USC after a 3-2 start to the 2015 season.

The Alabama head coach picked Sarkisian up from rock bottom to become an offensive analyst, which led to him becoming the interim offensive coordinator in 2016. After spending two seasons as an OC in the NFL, he returned to Saban’s staff in 2019 to become his offensive coordinator.

The success Sarkisian enjoyed in Tuscaloosa led to him being hired at Texas in 2021.

“I want to talk briefly about Coach Saban,” Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days. “I know everybody has been coming up [and] talking about it, and you know you’ve impacted a lot of people who have been up on this stage.

“No one have you impacted more than me. I would not be standing here today without you and what you’ve meant to my career, to my life, and I can’t thank you enough, and the impact that you’ve had on our game has been second to none, and I just can’t thank you enough. I want to be able to publicly do that to you, Coach. Thank you very, very much.”

Nobody has pumped more talent into the NFL during their career than Nick Saban has. Getting to sit next to him as offensive coordinator for one of his seven national championship victories was an invaluable experience that has aided him in the years since. That includes leading Texas to a first-ever College Football Playoff berth in the final year of the four-team format.

Both Saban and Sarkisian finished their seasons in the CFP semifinal last season, meaning both coaches were one game away from meeting in the national championship game. Fate would not allow that to happen, and Saban retired after the Crimson Tide’s loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Of course, Saban’s retirement announcement a little over a week later took the football world by surprise. Sarkisian revealed that he had spoke to Saban the night of the announcement, which happened to coincide with the retirement of another instrumental character in his career, Pete Carroll.

Carroll gave Sarkisian his big break at USC, becoming the head coach of the program before becoming the head coach at both Washington and eventually USC before moving on to have his two stints at Alabama under Nick Saban.

As both of his mentors ride off into retirement, Sarkisian will continue to honor their coaching tree’s legacy by continuing to push Texas to the forefront of college football. Joining the SEC in 2024, the Longhorns have a lot to look forward to in the near future.

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