Washington's Steve Sarkisian accepts USC head coaching job

In five years at Washington, Steve Sarkisian went 34-29, and led the team to four straight bowls. (Tom Hauck/AP) Washington coach Steve Sarkisian has accepted

In five years at Washington, Steve Sarkisian went 34-29, and led the team to four straight bowls. (Tom Hauck/AP)

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian has accepted the coaching job at USC, RealDawg.com reports. ESPN's Joe Schad confirmed the report.

Sarkisian replaces Trojans interim coach Ed Orgeron, who took over in September after athletic director Pat Haden fired Lane Kiffin following USC's 3-2 start.

ESPN’s Brett McMurphy reported Monday that Sarkisian had interviewed for the Trojans job. But Sarkisian denied that an official interview took place.

https://twitter.com/InsideUSC/status/407560441611550720

Sarkisian spent six seasons as an assistant with USC, first from 2001 to '03, and later from '05 to '08. When he took the job in Seattle after the '08 season, the Huskies were coming off the first 0-12 campaign in Pac-10 history. Former Washington coach Tyrone Willingham went 11-37 in four seasons. Sarkisian, on the other hand, went 34-29 (24-21 in the Pac-12) in five seasons. The Huskies are headed to their fourth straight bowl game.

Orgeron led the Trojans to a 9-4 record, including an upset of No. 4 Stanford on Nov. 16. Haden said last month that fans had expressed a huge amount of support for Orgeron to become USC’s next head coach.

CBSSports.com's Bruce Feldman reports that Sarkisian had a lot of support from people close to Haden.

https://twitter.com/BFeldmanCBS/status/407589679173623808

Sarkisian beat out a number of other coaches, including Vanderbilt's James Franklin, Boise State's Chris Petersen and Denver Broncos' interim coach Jack Del Rio, who was an All-America linebacker for the Trojans in 1984. Vanderbilt denied that Franklin had ever been contacted about the job, while Petersen reportedly withdrew his name from consideration earlier this week. Reports surfaced last month that Del Rio had interviewed with USC during the Broncos' bye week.

Sources told Chris Huston of NBCSports.com that Sarkisian was on Haden's radar all along.

https://twitter.com/HeismanPundit/status/407594587151028224

Sarkisian has a history with USC, but many question whether he is a championship-caliber coach. He has never won more than eight games in a season at Washington, and the Huskies have lost four conference games in each of the last four years. Sarkisian did a remarkable job rebuilding the program, but the expectations for the Trojans go beyond rebuilding.