Eight potential candidates to replace Steve Sarkisian at USC

By Patrick Schmidt | Oct 12, 2015

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Sep 26, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Tom Herman watches from the sideline during the first quarter against the Texas State Bobcats at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Potential candidates to replace Steve Sarkisian as the head coach of the USC Trojans.

Steve Sarkisian was terminated one day after USC athletic director Pat Haden forced the Trojans head coach to take a leave of absence and seek treatment for his problems with alcohol. Sarkisian checked himself into rehab to address his problems but he won’t be returning to USC after Haden was forced to fire him after his off-field behavior.

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“After careful consideration of what is in the best interest of the university and our student-athletes, I have made the decision to terminate Steve Sarkisian, effective immediately, Haden said in a statement via the school’s website.

“I want to thank Clay Helton for stepping into the interim head coach role, and I want to add how proud I am of our coaching staff and players and the way they are responding to this difficult situation.

“Through all of this we remain concerned for Steve and hope that it will give him the opportunity to focus on his personal well being.”

Sarkisian was 12-6 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-12 in parts of two seasons and made Lane Kiffin look like a great hire by comparison, so where does Haden look now for his third head coach since Kiffin was fired in 2013?

There will be plenty of names bandied about as possible candidates for one of the best jobs in college football, so let’s take a look at some of those candidates and how likely or unlikely they are to be roaming the sidelines at USC next year.

Next: What about the NFL guys?

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