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Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts during the second half of the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers at Raymond James Stadium on Jan. 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. Sarkisian left Alabama for the NFL, but has reportedly agreed to return. (Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)

Report: Sarkisian Turns Down NFL Gig To Return to Alabama

By Dave Kovaleski January 13, 2019 at 9:57am

Steve Sarkisian had a choice between working at the most successful college football program in recent history or the worst team in the NFL.

He reportedly chose the college program.

The former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator turned down an offer to become the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals and will instead join the coaching staff at Alabama, according to ESPN.

Sarkisian will reportedly run the offense for the Crimson Tide.

While the Arizona Cardinals offered Steve Sarkisian the offensive coordinator position, sources say he will headed back to coach with Nick Saban at Alabama.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 13, 2019

The Crimson Tide’s co-offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis, left Alabama last week to take the offensive coordinator job at Michigan.

Then, former quarterbacks coach and associate head coach Dan Enos departed for the University of Miami, where he’ll be the offensive coordinator. Enos had been considered the heir apparent to take over the OC job.

Enter Sarkisian.

Sarkisian was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons for the past two years before being fired at the end of this past season.

Sarkisian has been the head coach at USC and Washington. He also served as offensive coordinator under Pete Carroll during his time at USC.

In an effort to beat Clemson, Nick Saban is turning over control of Alabama’s offense to Steve Sarkisian.

Maybe second time will be the charm…

— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) January 13, 2019

In 2016, Sarkisian was hired to be an analyst for Alabama. When offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin left at the end of that season to become head coach at Florida Atlantic, Sarkisian was promoted to offensive coordinator for one contest, the 2017 national championship game against Clemson, which the Tide lost 35-31.

Sarkisian left Alabama the next season to take the Falcons job.

Should Sarkisian have taken the Cardinals job?

He has built a reputation as a quarterback whisperer, having mentored six 3,000-yard passers in his college coaching career, including Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Mark Sanchez and Cody Kessler.

But he didn’t carry over that success to the Falcons, who went 7-9 in 2018.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, recently hired Kliff Kingsbury as their head coach. Kingsbury is also known for his success developing quarterbacks at Texas Tech, including Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes.

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Tags:

Alabama Crimson Tide, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, NCAA, NFL

Dave Kovaleski

Contributor, Sports

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Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.

Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.

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Massachusetts

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English

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Sports