Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian to ESPN: Nick Saban 'Saved My Career'

According to Steve Sarkisian in a recent ESPN interview, he owes his position at the University of Texas to Nick Saban.

Steve Sarkisian had no shortage of difficulty on his path to landing one of the most high-profile positions in American sports - the head coach of the Texas Longhorns.

Despite being on what at the time seemed like a meteoric rise in the profession, Sarkisian's plan was thrown off course after problems with alcohol led to his dismissal from USC in 2015.

However, just when all seemed lost, Sarkisian was given a second chance in 2016 by Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

And as Sark admitted to ESPN, Saban not only gave him that opportunity, but he also saved his career.

"I've said this numerous times, but I would not be the head coach at Texas if it weren't for Nick Saban," Sarkisian told Chris Low in a recent interview. "He gave me a chance when I had a hard time getting an interview, never mind a job. There were days that I thought, 'Man, I'm never going to be a head coach again. I'm never going to be an offensive coordinator again. I'm never going to get another job.' But Coach Saban took a chance on me when I needed somebody to believe in me again."

Unsurprisingly, Sarkisian was in a low place following his dismissal. 

However, Saban was eventually able to convince him to come aboard, and the rest is history.

"I went back and forth and back and forth and agreed to take the job at Alabama, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made," Sarkisian said in the interview.

Sarkisian took advantage of that chance quickly and is now firmly back on the right path and rising.

However, Saban does not believe that he himself is solely responsible for Sarkisian's turnaround. 

Instead, he credits Sark for putting in the work himself and earning his way back both personally and professionally. 

"Sark is the one who did the work," Saban told ESPN. "We supported him and made sure there were the right resources and people in place to help him, as we have with many others. But, listen, he saved his own career by doing a great job for us and rehabbing himself professionally, and I'm not just talking about personally, but professionally in a really, really positive way that impacted our program greatly and helped us be successful here."

Either way, the arrangement certainly worked out for both coaches, with Sarkisian helping Saban and the Tide reach the national title game in 2016, where they narrowly lost to the Clemson Tigers.

And then after a short stint with the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL, Sark returned to Tuscaloosa, where he helped the Tide to a national title win in 2020 -- something he felt he owed to Saban for helping to resurrect his career.

"In my mind, I was staying in the NFL, but had to take a step back and look at myself and say, 'You know what? Here's a man that offered me a job when no one even wanted to interview me,'" Sarkisian said. "'Here's a man that entrusted me to call a national championship game when I had been an analyst all year long. Here's a man that hired me as offensive coordinator and I left a few months later ... and he's still calling me to come back?' I felt like at that time I owed him. He extended me an olive branch, and I don't know how much I really appreciated that and how much I acknowledged that."

Now, Sarkisian and his Longhorns team face his former boss in the national spotlight on Saturday when they welcome Saban's Crimson Tide to Austin.

However, despite the game being at the friendly confines of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, the Tide currently sits as a 20.5-point favorite over the Horns.

But, rather a than take the massive odds differential as a slight, Sarkisian understands.

As the most dominant program in the country over the last 15 years, Alabama has earned that respect and the benefit of the doubt. 

And it's the exact kind of respect that Sarkisian wants to cultivate for the Longhorns.

"It's been Alabama for the last decade and a half," Sarkisian said to Low. "And at the end of day, we should also be one of those teams at the pinnacle, and that's what we're striving to do."

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You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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