Seattle Sportsnet

One thing we know for sure: Steve Sarkisian doesn’t waste any time. Within 24 hours of being introduced as head coach of the Huskies, Sarkisian (at left, photo courtesy gohuskies.com) has already hit the recruiting trail and begun to shape his coaching staff. Today alone, Sark traveled up and back to the Issaquah plateau to speak with Skyline head coach Mat Taylor (presumably about the status of two current Spartans and prospective recruits Jake Heaps and Gino Simone). Then, upon arriving back at Montlake, the new Husky head coach met with current UW assistant coaches to discuss their fate with the program. If it was me, I would have found some time to go to Dick’s and test out my Husky team on NCAA ’09, but I guess that’s for later.

The Skyline trip is intriguing. I don’t know how common it is for a football coach to take over a program and within the first few hours on the job, be on a high school campus ready to talk to prep recruits and coaches. That said, many of the Skyline players were quoted before and after Friday night’s 4A state championship game as saying they approved of Sark’s hiring and would be interested to talk to him. While quarterback Jake Heaps is the cream of the crop in the state of Washington, he is only a junior and Sarkisian’s focus right now must be on seniors who could help the Dawgs out next year. One of those seniors is Spartans receiver Gino Simone, a Washington State commit who essentially decommitted on Friday with quotes issued to local media. Simone has a keen interest in Sarkisian and his offense and, while not a blue-chip prospect in this state, is certainly worth talking to and probably pans out as a solid third receiver at the next level.

With regard to Heaps, Sarkisian should be able to strike a common ground with the Skyline quarterback. Sarkisian himself was a quarterback in college and, like Heaps, is of the Mormon faith. Sark’s pro-style offense and production of quarterbacks at the college level should be attractive to a player with NFL potential.

One other Skyline product who Sarkisian will ultimately want to keep an eye on is sophomore receiver Kasen Williams, a 6’3″ speedster who is already being compared to the likes of Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. With two years left to speak with Williams, Sarkisian should already have the inside track at getting the future blue-chipper into Husky Stadium.

Following his morning trip east, Sarkisian returned to the University of Washington campus to meet with the current Husky assistant coaching staff. Earlier in the day it was reported by KJR’s Dave “Softy” Mahler that defensive line coach Randy Hart and linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator Chris Tormey are expected to stay on as part of Sarkisian’s staff. Everyone else is expected to depart the program, with the only “for sure” departure at this point being that of offensive line coach Mike Denbrock, the longest tenured assistant under Ty Willingham.

One interesting departure is that of running backs coach Steve Gervais. Gervais joined Willingham’s staff prior to the ’08 season and in 2007 was the head coach of the aforementioned Skyline Spartans. Gervais would seemingly be the “in” guy right now with his connections to the storied prep program and the prospective recruits who may be considering the University of Washington, but apparently that is not the case. Without Gervais on board, it may be wise for Sarkisian to consider bringing in another coach with local prep ties to aid in recruiting the area, although right now it is too early to speculate a possible replacement.

No matter what Sarkisian does at this point, he’s already made it clear in the first two days that he is committed to doing a great job at the University of Washington. I honestly cannot remember hearing about a coach on a local or national level who so quickly dove into his job after being hired. And to make matters more interesting, Sarkisian is still contractually bound to USC at this point as well, meaning he’s putting in all this effort while still a member of Pete Carroll’s staff. I’m impressed, and the message Sark has sent to alumni, students, boosters, players, recruits, and fans alike is strong. The Huskies are back.

*Editor’s note: Sarkisian is not Mormon. It was originally printed by a number of more reputable news sources that he is Mormon, but later corrected and changed. He attended BYU but is not a practicing member of the LDS faith.

I don’t need to know much about Steve Sarkisian to know that I love him. I like our relationship the way it is right now. Ignorance is bliss. And after yesterday’s press conference introducing the former USC coordinator as the 23rd head coach of the Huskies, really, how can you not love the guy?

Sark (pictured left, photo courtesy of Greg Gilbert of The Seattle Times) showed up to his press conference in a suit with a purple button-down shirt and a purple-and-gold striped tie. Damn. If he were on What Not to Wear chances are those bastards would have been like, “Oh my God, what is up with all that purple…first of all that purple clashes with the other purple and the tie just isn’t working with the outfit and th–” at which point I would punch both the chick and the dude who thinks he’s a chick in the face. Sarkisian was dressed like a pimp yesterday and there’s really no getting around it. Let’s just say that if you’re a Husky fan, chances are you needed a new pair of undershorts after seeing Sark’s outfit. It was that good. He made me believe in Husky Football again using only his suit.

Combine the apparel with the fact that while Mark Emmert was bouncing up and down in his chair like a kid on Christmas next to him, Sark sat there calm, cool, and collected with a slight grin on his face the whole time. Like he knew something special was about to happen. Like he had it all under control. I never saw Emmert display such outward jubilation when Ty was around. And yet here he was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the prodigy, sensing the aura, being pulled in by the Sarkness in the same fashion that the Millenium Falcon was pulled in by the Death Star. It was great. I got a slight boner.

Sarkisian really didn’t have to say anything, because he had already won over the Husky fan base simply by not being Tyrone Willingham. But being the fantastic human being that he is, Sark spoke anyways, just for the hell of it. “It’s the year 2008, it’s about time to get back to the Rose Bowl, to Pac-10 championships, competing for a national championship, that’s our goal, no question,” Sark said. Notice how he didn’t make mention of all the positives that an 0-12 team had shown this year. You know, like his predecessor loved to do. He simply outlined his one and only goal: win. The Huskies will win again. Soon. And this man will take us there.

Steve Sarkisian is not Moses. Let me make this clear. In fact he has yet to win a game as a head coach at any level of football. But there are certain people who have It, who can win you over with optimism, who can make you believe just by being in front of you, who say all the right things and then go out and do all the right things as well. Sark has It. He just does. There’s no explaining It, when you have It you have It, when you don’t you don’t. Sark has It and if you couldn’t tell yesterday, then believe me you will. He may not walk on water or part the Red Sea anytime soon, but Sark is The One, he is Neo, and he will become the next great Husky head coach. Live it. Love it.

So far this year, Seattle has been chronicled by sports columnists nationwide who previously knew nothing about our fair city besides the fact that it rained a lot and coffee made its home here. Now writers around the country are filling empty space by writing about how crappy our situation has become.

The latest in a line of national columns is written by the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy and appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Globe. You can read the article here.

Shaughnessy does an ok job summing up the state of Seattle sports for his Boston audience, but probably could have read a little Bill Simmons, another Boston sportswriter, to get full disclosure on the whole Sonics situation. Otherwise nice work, and thanks for rubbing it, jackass.