The Making Of Steve Sarkisian

Thanksgiving was set, though Steve Sarkisian was nowhere to be found.

The in-laws and old coaches were there, another gathering of the Sarkisian's and Peterson's on a holiday.

See, the guy credited with turning Steve Sarkisian into a quarterback who threw such accurate passes they may as well be handoffs, is Fred Peterson. Peterson was Sarkisian's offensive coordinator at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif. He's also an in-law, coach Peterson's son, David, married Steve's sister, Amy.

Fred Peterson understands the demands of coaching. So, he didn't fret about Sarkisian's unexplained absence, just assumed the coach was being a coach.

"We thought he was still working at (U)SC," Fred Peterson said. "I've been a coach all my life, they never want to leave anything unturned. Thought he may be up there working Thanksgiving Day."

The turkey was served, Sarkisian's wife, Stephanie, remained silent. Fred Peterson enjoyed the holiday, then moved on to traditional post-Thanksgiving duties: planning for Christmas.

His son David came over the next day to help put the Christmas lights up on the house.

"Dad, I think Sark's going to take the Washington job," Fred Peterson recalled his son saying. "I said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' He said, 'No, I think he's going.'

"That's how we found out."

The rest of the world found out Steve Sarkisian would be Washington's new head coach in a much more modern manner. A blurb moved across the bottom of a television screen, setting off a frenzy. After weeks of logic being blinded by wistful thoughts; candidates being added and dropped; and SeaTac becoming a coaching news pipeline, the Huskies had their new coach.

Washington introduced Sarkisian to the Huskies faithful Monday morning. So what is the school getting?

"They crucified the only guy who's perfect, but Steve is so close to perfect, it's scary," Fred Peterson said.

Read the rest here:

http://seattlesportsonline.com/Huskies/footballarchive/sarkisianprofile.html