It's official: Sarkisian hired to coach Huskies

BERKELEY, Calif. — The University of Washington officially announced the hiring of Steve Sarkisian as its new football coach Saturday night, confirming reports that first surfaced Thursday night.

The 34-year-old USC offensive coordinator will reportedly sign a five-year contract worth $1.85 million per year.

Sarkisian, a former quarterback at Brigham Young, will be introduced at a news conference at UW on Monday at 9:30 a.m.

"I'm thrilled to have Steve heading up our football program," said UW president Mark Emmert in a news release. "He's a very talented, energetic coach with a great work ethic and values that match the UW. His challenge is very clear — we believe he's entirely up to it, and we look forward to a return of the glory years for Husky football."

Athletic director Scott Woodward was also enthusiastic about his hire.

"After a very thorough search, I am convinced that Steve is the right man to lead the University of Washington football program," Woodward said in the release. "He exhibits the right combination of integrity, toughness and passion as well as an extremely strong desire to win. There are a number of characteristics that we were looking for in a head coach and we were really excited that Steve possessed every one of them."

Sarkisian, who will trying to turn around a program that finished 0-12 for the first time UW history, said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"I am excited about the opportunity to become the head football coach at the University of Washington," he said. "I share the same expectations as the Husky fan base and I fully expect that we will return Washington to the top of the Pac-10 Conference and compete for national championships. I want to thank Mark Emmert and Scott Woodward for this opportunity and I am ready to get to work on behalf of this great institution."

Sarkisian replaces Tyrone Willingham, who was told during the season he would not be retained but finished the winless campaign.