LOS ANGELES -- Some things were the same for USC head coach Steve Sarkisian on Tuesday as the Trojans kicked off spring practice.
"Just being here and smelling the caramel corn from Dedeaux Field was pretty cool," Sarkisian said. "That felt like home again."
Yet, they were also different.
"It's a lot shorter walk (to the practice field) than before, quite honestly." Sarkisian said. "I was down in the players locker room and came up All-American walk and you make a right turn and you're crossing the street."
In all, there were a lot more things different about Sarkisian as he ran his first practice as the head coach at USC than they were in the past during his days as an assistant.
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You can call it the evolution of Sarkisian.
After a five year run as the head coach at the University of Washington Sarkisian stepped onto Howard Jones Field as a new coach with new ideas and a new way of doing things than had been done in previous years.
"It felt different to me," Sarkisian said. "Obviously, different schemes on both sides of the ball, so that was one of the biggest telling things. The way in which we practice is different."
The pace at which practice was run was much swifter than in the past.
Instruction wasn't offered following every single rep. Players participated in a number of reps at a time before stepping off to get instruction while another group took their place.
The goal was to get as much done as possible in the time allotted.
"We ran 120 plays in, I think, an hour and 45 minutes," quarterback Cody Kessler said. "We did, really, nothing the same."
Sarkisian said Tuesday didn't "feel" like a first practice and with the exception of one period the quota for number of plays ran was met.
"The guys showed a great deal of energy and enthusiasm and want to in practice and we got a lot of great work done," Sarkisian said."It was, by no means, perfect ... But all in all it was awesome coming through Marv Goux Gate as the first time as head coach and coaching these guys. I had an absolute blast."
