Steve Sarkisian owes Nick Saban a lot.
In fact, he holds Alabama’s head coach as the man responsible for saving his career.
Saban was willing to give Sarkisian a second chance after his career had hit rock bottom. The USC Trojans fired Sarkisian after he reportedly showed signs of being intoxicated during a game and at a team meeting. He was initially placed on a leave of absence, but the university elected to terminate his contract.
“In 2015, as I came out of that and had gotten fired at USC,” Sarkisian said during a recent appearance on The Pivot Podcast. “Gone to recovery, starting working on me, personally. And then coming out of that, not being able to get a job. Somewhere in there, someone has got to extend an olive branch to you. In 2016, I was ready to go do TV. I couldn’t get an interview for a job. And Nick Saban saved my career and he offered me an analyst job… I’m forever indebted to him.”
"Nick Saban saved my career."
Steve Sarkisian again gives Nick Saban props for resurrecting his career after a fall from grace.
(🎥 via @thepivot) pic.twitter.com/0FMOvUknyD
— Touchdown Alabama (@TDAlabamaMag) April 11, 2023
Sarkisian turned to Saban and was willing to work for free.
According to Sarkisian, Saban told him that he had to give him a salary of $30,000, so he could receive benefits. He spent the 2016 season as an offensive analyst for the Crimson Tide and then served as the interim offensive coordinator for the National Championship game against Clemson after Lane Kiffin left to take the head job at Florida Atlantic.
“Somebody has gotta give all of us a second chance, right? “It totally changed my perspective,” Sarkisian said. “It changed my perspective how I coach, how I deal with our players. Because everyone is going through stuff, everybody’s got stuff. Whatever your stuff is, you just try to get through it. If I can be that guy who can extend that olive branch to our players are we go through this journey… I always lean back to that time.”
