Alabama Football: Steve Sarkisian deserving winner of Broyles Award

Alabama Football: Crimson Tide Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback coach, Steve Sarkisian is the 2020 winner of the ‘Frank Broyles Award.’

Steve Sarkisian is not the first Alabama Football assistant coach to win the Frank Broyles Award. Kirby Smart won the award in 2009 and Mike Locksley won it in 2018. A strong argument can be made the Alabama Crimson Tide has never had a more deserving winner.

Sarkisian’s path to the award is uncommon. The winners are usually, coaches moving up in their careers to later head coaching positions. Counter to that pattern are Alabama football award winners, Mike Locksley and Sarkisian. Locksley was a failed head coach before Nick Saban rescued him and helped him rebuild his career. With his Crimson Tide success, Locksley became a head coach again at Maryland.

Steve Sarkisian was also a failed head coach, though in Sark’s case his demise had nothing to do with football. Due to alcohol abuse, Southern Cal fired Sarkisian in October 2015. Lane Kiffin was instrumental in Nick Saban hiring Sarkisian as an analyst in 2016. Sark suddenly became the interim Crimson Tide Offensive Coordinator when Kiffin and Saban parted ways before the National Championship game.

Instead of staying in Tuscaloosa, Sarkisian opted to become the Offensive Coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. After two seasons in the NFL, Saban brought Sarkisian back to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Many Falcons’ fans blamed Sarkisian for the frequent failures of their team. Fortunately for Alabama Football, the Falcons and Sarkisian were not a good pairing.

What Sarkisian has done in two Alabama football seasons is sensational. Lane Kiffin and Mike Locksley have often been given credit for re-designing the Crimson Tide offense. Both deserve recognition. When the Tide offense needed an overhaul,  Kiffin gained Nick Saban’s trust. Though the professional relationship became rocky at the end, Saban and the Crimson Tide benefitted from Kiffin’s influence.

The Alabama football offensive Steve Sarkisian has engineered surpasses the systems used by Kiffin and Locksley. It is arguably the most potent Crimson Tide offensive scheme ever. Though the roster resources are vastly different, what Sark has designed can be best compared to the Crimson Tide offense of Homer Smith in the late 1980s. Among football coaches, Smith was widely considered an offensive genius. Comparing Sarkisian to Smith is the highest praise.

Crimson Tide Head Coach, Nick Saban commented on the award.

"Sark’s done an outstanding job in terms of system and scheme, how he teaches the players. He’s contributed as much as anybody that we’ve ever had here in terms of his knowledge and experience."

Auburn recently tried to trick the Crimson Tide by hiring Sarkisian. It didn’t happen because the Crimson Tide was not about to let him go.