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USC's Sarkisian sorry, blames drunken speech on mixing alcohol, meds
LOS ANGELES — Southern California coach Steve Sarkisian has publicly apologized for his drunken appearance at a team rally last weekend, attributing his slurred, profane speech to a combination of alcohol and medication.
Before the eighth-ranked Trojans practiced Tuesday morning, Sarkisian made his first public comments about his embarrassing performance at the Salute to Troy last Saturday.
Sarkisian says he doesn't think he has a drinking problem, but will undergo unspecified treatment to find out. He says he's banning alcohol from campus and the Coliseum for the coaching staff.
Sarkisian declined to specify what medication he is taking, but says he was impaired after combining it with "not very much" alcohol.
Two players made available to reporters say the team supports Sarkisian, the second-year USC coach who went 9-4 last season.
Sarkisian on taking meds says he's met with the #USC team and opened up and "disclosed everything" with them.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 25, 2015
“The way I acted was irresponsible,” Sarkisian said. “There are things we’re going to work on for me.”
Sarkisian said he subjected himself to the same punishment players face in similar situations: a series of up-downs, laps and other conditioning exercises the team calls “hard lessons."
#USC QB Cody Kessler on Sark: "Hecame to us as a man and looked us in the face & apologized and I think this brought us closer together."
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 25, 2015
Kessler said Sarkasked the #USC team leadership committee what he should do as punishment in their eyes. They had him do 'up-downs' Monday
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 25, 2015
You can watch Sarkisian’s full comments below:
