Sarkisian

LOS ANGELES — Steve Sarkisian’s strange behavior in the days surrounding high-pressure, high-profile college football games is not unique to his time at Southern California.

Some regarded the coach’s conduct, specifically the use of alcohol, as an issue during his five seasons leading Washington’s program.

USC fired Sarkisian on Monday, one day after being placed on indefinite leave by athletic director Pat Haden.

Sarkisian’s lone court record in Washington state is a speeding ticket and there is no record of his being disciplined by the university. But his actions raised concern among some of his players and others closely associated with Washington’s program.

One former Huskies player said he smelled alcohol on Sarkisian at team meetings, an allegation that bears some resemblance to reports by USC players that their coach “didn’t seem right” during a meeting Sunday morning, and statements by others close to the Trojans football program that he seemed unstable during a recent game at Arizona State.

After Sarkisian’s outburst in August at USC’s “Salute to Troy” event where he slurred his words, insulted opponents and added an expletive to the university’s “Fight on!” rallying cry, the Los Angeles Times interviewed more than two dozen people knowledgeable about Sarkisian’s time at Washington and reviewed hundreds of pages of receipts, hotel folios and expense reports obtained through a public records request.

What emerged is a portrait of a man who favored Patron Silver tequila or Coors Light and frequented a handful of Seattle-area bars, typically accompanied by staff members, and did not hesitate to drink — early — while traveling.

During a stop at a rib joint in Nashville, Tennessee, in January 2013, for example, Sarkisian and three assistants ordered four shots of Patron Silver, four shots of an unspecified liquor and five beers, according to records provided by Washington. The coach paid his bill at 11:53 a.m.

Some associated with Washington’s football program remain unabashed supporters. But Sarkisian’s use of alcohol became a running joke among some Washington players, some of whom spoke about the topic on the condition they not be identified because of the personal nature of the issue.

One ex-player said that in 2009, Sarkisian’s first season with the Huskies, the coach sometimes arrived at morning team meetings “smelling like booze and (with) eyes all red, like he’s been on a bender.”

Another former player said he smelled alcohol on Sarkisian during team meetings on “one or two” occasions and, other times, noted that the coach’s eyes appeared to be bloodshot and glazed while he seemed unusually confrontational.

Two other former players said Sarkisian and other coaches regularly consumed alcohol in offices — one said the coach typically kept an 18-pack of Coors Light near his desk — and that he appeared uncharacteristically loud and unsteady on some team flights.

After the August incident at USC, which Sarkisian blamed on inadvertently mixing alcohol and unspecified medication, some former Washington players did not sound surprised.

“Coach Sark is still having fun at USC! #ThingsHaventChanged” former Huskies tight end Michael Hartvigson wrote on Twitter at the time.

Two of Sarkisian’s highest-profile players at Washington, defensive lineman Danny Shelton and linebacker Shaq Thompson, both high NFL draft picks this year, joined in the social media quips.

“I would’ve made him run the stadium carrying a 6 pack since he wanna drink so much lol,” Shelton tweeted.

The former players did not respond to messages seeking further comment.

Despite several requests in September, Sarkisian declined to be interviewed about his alcohol use at Washington. Athletic director Pat Haden said the university vetted Sarkisian extensively before hiring him as coach in December 2013.

Seattle sports radio host Dave Mahler, whose involvement in Washington’s football program included hosting recruiting banquets and pregame and postgame shows, saw the August incident as part of a pattern.

“The idea that this was the first time that something like this happened for Steve Sarkisian … it’s not,” Mahler said in August during his show on 950 KJR. “It’s not the first time.”

However, the host did not specifically say what he was referring to on air and declined to elaborate on the record to a reporter.

At least one incident during Sarkisian’s time at Washington bore some similarity to what happened in August at USC.

At the Duchess Tavern in Seattle, Sarkisian jumped up on the bar, drink in hand, for a speech to dozens of former players at their annual alumni gathering the night before Washington’s spring football game in 2012.

“(He) looked adrenalized, hollering what football coaches do to get their guys going,” said Bill Resler, a longtime university business professor who witnessed the event.

The gesture seemed to fit the moment at the neighborhood bar less than a mile from campus, but some people in the room wondered whether something more than the coach’s usual enthusiasm fueled the display.

“You could tell he was in the moment, but he wouldn’t have done that if he wasn’t drinking,” said a former player in attendance.

One of the event’s organizers said Sarkisian did not appear to be under the influence, but Resler was not so sure.

“When he got off the bar, he was unsteady, looked like he had been overserved, and sat down, looked a little embarrassed that he was in that state,” Resler said.

More than 800 pages of receipts and expense reports obtained in a public records request by the Times show alcohol was a constant presence during Sarkisian’s tenure at Washington.

In 2011, for example, Sarkisian picked up a bill at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington, that included 83 beers and 12 shots of Grey Goose vodka. Twenty Washington coaches and their spouses are listed as attending.

Even some routine trips resulted in steep bar tabs, like a one-night recruiting visit by Sarkisian to Long Beach, California, in 2010 that included $125.01 worth of unspecified beverages in one visit to the lobby bar and $104.01 in beverages at the same establishment a few months later. Another stay, this one at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel in July 2011, resulted in a one-day beverage tab of $170.47.

Others around the Washington program say they saw Sarkisian drink, but never in excess or in a setting they considered inappropriate.

Erik Wilson, a former reserve quarterback, described a father-son relationship with a coach he viewed as a role model.

“He was always in complete control,” Wilson said, “and I have never seen nor heard him getting out of control.”

A former director of Washington’s club for letter winners, John Otness, traveled to public appearances and events with Sarkisian and never noticed any concerning conduct.

“We all knew he was a Trojan at heart, but he became a Husky and made our program tick when we didn’t have a lot going on,” Otness said. “I never felt he was doing something another coach wouldn’t do.”