"Other schools and coaches were trying to use that against me": Steve Sarkisian admits alcohol issues led him to be "vulnerable" with recruits

In a conversation on "The Joel Klatt Show," Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian discussed an aspect of his life that has greatly influenced his coaching philosophy: His public battle with alcohol. Sarkisian's well-documented struggle with alcohol has been widely publicized (going back to his days in Washington), and he didn't try to hide from it.

“When all of my stuff occurred initially, it was national news, it was on the ticker, it was everywhere, it was on every Sports Talk Radio Show, so it really wasn't like something that I could hide from,” Sarkisian told Klatt. [Timestamp - 10:45]

“The reality was, okay, this is public knowledge, this is public information, I'm a public figure at this point, okay, so how are you going to address it? How are you going to deal with it?”

In the world of coaching, there's a practice known as 'negative recruiting,' where coaches use the personal issues of their rivals to influence recruits. Sarkisian tackled this by being honest with recruits and their families.

“Then as I navigated my way through it and, and being open and honest with those that I was close to, and I got back into the coaching ranks, I quickly realized, in coaching, there's this thing called ‘negative recruiting.’ I don't know if you've ever heard of this, Joel, but that some coaches love to talk about another school or another coach,” Sarkisian said.

“Naturally, it was not easy to figure out that other schools and other coaches were going to try to use that against me,” he added. [Timestamp - 11:30]

“So I really became open, honest, and vulnerable with the recruits first, and their families first, to talk through my story.”

By sharing his story, he hoped to create an environment where players felt comfortable opening up about their own challenges. Coach Sarkisian acknowledged that trust is not always high in 18 to 22-year-olds, and being vulnerable and open doesn't always seem like a good recruitment tactic.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian speaks to the team.

To address this, he openly shared his journey with his team each year. This annual storytelling session helps new players assimilate into the team's culture, according to the Texas coach, who has an overall coaching record of 71–49.

“Coach Sark is actually here to help you. He's not here to look for what's wrong with you so that he can cut you and move on to the next kid,” Sarkisian told Klatt in the interview.

Former Washington tight end tweets about Steve Sarkisian's alcohol issue

Longhorns Head coach Steve Sarkisian

Steve Sarkisian’s battle with alcoholism dates back to his time at the University of Washington. Reports from the Los Angeles Times suggest that his issues with alcohol were known during his tenure coaching the Washington Huskies from 2009 to 2013 and were even informally discussed among some players at USC.

“Coach Sark is still having fun at USC!” former Huskies tight end Michael Hartvigson wrote on Twitter in 2015.

Hartvigson added the hashtag “#ThingsHaventChanged.”

During a 2021 press conference, Sarkisian said:

"When you’ve gone through what I’ve gone through in the public eye, I don’t want to say you’re humbled but you are,” he said, via the Austin American-Statesman. “I’m proud of the work that I’ve done. But I will say when you battle what I battle, you have to work on it every day."

Before joining Texas, Sarkisian began as an assistant under Pete Carroll during the successful USC Trojans era and later became the offensive coordinator, gaining recognition for his strategic acumen. His first head coaching role was at Washington, where he inherited a winless team in 2009.

Including his dismissal from USC due to alcohol-related issues, Sarkisian continued to served as an offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL and had coaching stints with the University of Alabama, where he worked under Nick Saban.