Steve Sarkisian: A True Coach of the Year Candidate for 2009

Steve Sarkisian and the Washington Huskies college football program are off to a great start in the 2009 college football season. The former assistant coach at USC used all of his and his players' skills in defeating the mighty USC Trojans. Sarkisian is a likely Coach of the Year candidate.

The Coach of the Year in college football is often given to the head coach who exceeds expectations spectacularly well. Often the award goes to a coach who wins the national championship, but it can also go to the college football head coach who brings back a program that is in disarray. Steve Sarkisian, head coach of the Washington Huskies college football program, has an excellent shot at being named Coach of the Year.

2008 Season and Steve Sarkisian

The 2008 college football season for the Washington Huskies literally could not have been worse for the team. After all, they did not win a single game. Yes, they lost every single game of the year, according to Wikipedia. That is as low as you can go.

The Washington Huskies needed someone with experience and skill at the highest level so they turned to Steve Sarkisian who was employed as assistant coach with the USC Trojans, the best Pac-10 college football team of the last 10 years.

LSU Game and Loss

The first game of the year for the 2009 college football season was against the highly-regarded LSU Tigers. The Huskies lost the game but not without putting up a fight and scoring 23 points and losing by just eight points in the score of 31-23. This kind of loss is what people call a good loss.

Win against USC Trojans

On September 19, Washington pulled off a stunner and beat the USC Trojans by a score of 16-13, mostly by forcing multiple turnovers and capitalizing on those turnovers. The USC Trojans seemed ill-prepared against Sarkisian and the Huskies. With the loss, USC may be out of any chance at playing in the national championship game

California Bears Game on December 5

According to their schedule, the Huskies have some difficult games ahead but the most difficult one looks to be against the California Bears on December 5 in what could be the game that determines the Pac-10 conference's champion.

The California Bears are currently ranked #6 in the country and are scoring an average of almost 50 points a game behind their star running back Jahvid Best.

If Steve Sarkisian and the Huskies can win at least half their games in the 2009 college football season, which they are likely to do, and they win against the Bears, then Sarkisian must be considered for Coach of the Year for bringing back the Washington Huskies from their worst season ever in 2008.

Sources

Washington Huskies, ESPN.com

Washington Huskies, Wikipedia

Steve Sarkisian, Wikipedia