USC hires Steve Sarkisian to replace Lane Kiffin (and Ed Orgeron)

Justin Wilcox will leave Washington and join Steve Sarkisian at USC as the Trojans’ defensive coordinator, CBS’s Bruce Feldman is reporting.

Wilcox was a defensive back at Oregon in the late 1990s, and started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Boise State in 2001 under head coach Dan Hawkins. In 2003 he was hired by Cal as the school’s linebackers coach, and returned to Boise State in 2006 under Chris Petersen as the school’s defensive coordinator.

USC head coach Steve Sarkisian replaced popular interim head coach Ed Orgeron, and now he’s trying to bring the former defensive line coach back to his staff, Sarkisian told ESPN.

Orgeron resigned from the school after reportedly being “outraged” at the decision to hire Sarkisian over him. He was tabbed to replace Lane Kiffin after a disappointing start to the season, and posted a 6-2 record as the Trojans’ interim head coach, with six straight wins in conference play.

Helton is reportedly a top target for Florida’s open job, as Will Muschamp looks to replace dismissed offensive coordinator Brent Pease. The Gators job could be the only barrier preventing the Trojans from keeping Helton around in Los Angeles.

He has been the Trojans’ quarterbacks coach since 2010, and was promoted to offensive coordinator this season.

While Steve Sarkisian isn’t excellent at everything (his player development and game decisions are often criticized), he is a very good recruiter. He did not win big at Washington, but he did a very good job of bringing the talent level back to an acceptable level. And that was no easy task after what Tyrone Willingham left Sarkisian.

There is every reason to believe that Sarkisian will be a top recruiter at USC. That is true of every coach USC could have reasonably hired, but Sarkisian might recruit a bit better there than most.

We don’t know if Steve Sarkisian will be a good coach at USC. This is football, and you can’t predict it. Things you think are solid evaporate, and Duke, Auburn and Mizzou end up in conference championship games. And Sarkisian’s taken a Washington program that was in dire, dire straits -- 0-12 the year before he got there -- and made them relevant, with three straight seven-win seasons.

However, we’ll say this: we can’t recall seeing a coaching hire met with such unabashed glee by fans of the teams it should hypothetically rile up and so little positive reaction from those around the team itself. Normally a hiring is met with excitement for a new era, but there doesn’t seem to be any joy trickling out from Troy today (there was certainly joy, however, on the internet -- at least among non-USC fans).

UPDATE to the original story: We now have conflicting reports on the FAU news.

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USC made their head coaching hire today, shocking (most of) the world by picking former offensive coordinator and Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian to replace Lane Kiffin and run the program.

The news was apparently good for fierce rival UCLA, who feared perhaps a bigger splash for the Trojans.

USC has hired Steve Sarkisian as their new head coach, prying their former offensive coordinator away from Washington to lead the Trojans back to previous heights, according to reports by 247 Sports and ESPN.

Earlier Monday, it was reported Sarkisian interviewed for the job -- a claim he denied. Vanderbilt’s James Franklin, the Broncos’ Jack Del Rio, and USC interim head coach Ed Orgeron were thought to be the leading candidates. The team reportedly has an unscheduled meeting at 2 p.m.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen is out of the running for the USC job, a job he was never in the running for because he is Chris Petersen and will be staying at Boise until the end of his career. This happens every year: without fail, someone decides to call Chris Petersen to see if he would even think about leaving Boise, and he has to politely decline.

It has to get old. However, we are here to help. We have written an updated form letter Petersen can use for just this purpose.

Boise State head coach Chris Petersen has withdrawn his name from the USC coaching search despite mutual interest from both parties, ESPN’s Joe Schad is reporting.

Originally from California, Petersen played college ball at UC Davis, beginning his coaching career there before eventually ending up as the Broncos’ head coach in 2006. After seven straight double-digit win seasons to start out his coaching career, Petersen is in the midst of the worst season of his tenure -- his Boise State team finished 8-4 this year, with a 6-2 conference record good for second place in the Mountain division of the Mountain West.

Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian has interviewed with former employer USC about the Trojans’ head coaching position, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy is reporting.

The head coach denied the rumors, saying he had a phone conversation with USC athletic director Pat Haden.

The USC Trojans have reportedly tabbed James Franklin and Chris Petersen as their top two candidates to become their next head coach. The coaching search could be completed by the middle of the week, according to ESPN’s Joe Schad.

Franklin, 41, has done quite the job revitalizing Vanderbilt in just three seasons. He’s led the Commodores to an 8-4 record in 2013 after they won nine games in 2012. Following years of Vanderbilt struggling to bring in talent on the recruiting trail, Franklin and his staff have brought in top-40 classes nationally since taking over the program. He has no real coaching ties to the west coast, other than spending a year as the tight ends coach at Washington State in 1998.

Lane Kiffin went on ESPN 710 AM in Los Angeles on Thursday to discuss several different topics, including the future of the USC football program. Kiffin said he thinks current interim head coach Ed Orgeron should have that interim label removed.

Kiffin hired Orgeron as an assistant when he got the head coaching gig at USC in 2010. The Trojans are expected to make an outside hire -- and they reportedly have a whole lot of cash to throw at potential candidates -- but Orgeron hasn’t been ruled out by athletic director Pat Haden.

USC is in the midst of a head coaching search, with high-profile candidates such as Jack Del Rio, Kevin Sumlin and Lovie Smith among the names linked to the position.

One name that should not be dismissed so quickly is current interim head coach Ed Orgeron, and athletic director Pat Haden made it clear Wednesday that Coach O is certainly a possibility for the Trojans:

On Orgeron changing the culture: “He’s really made it a fun experience, bringing back the fun in the program, and just really emphasizing us enjoying our time here in the program because he knows that college only lasts for so long so he really wants us to enjoy everything.”

On player inclusion: “We have a leadership committee on our team. [Orgeron] sat us down, he really emphasized that this time around being a head coach he wants to do it the right way, he really learned a lot from his time at Ole Miss, he asked us our input about a lot of things on the team, and he really inputted our input into the schedules and event-planning, things like that. He’s always looking out for what’s better for us, what makes us comfortable, taking care of our bodies. That really made us appreciate him, and from then on, guys have been behind Coach O and would run through a brick wall for him.”

Reports emerged Sunday that former Jaguars head coach and current Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio had interviewed for USC’s head coaching job, and Del Rio has responded -- with what can safely be called a favorable comment for the Trojans.

Del Rio spent his college days with the Trojans, as an All-American linebacker named MVP of the 1985 Rose Bowl. He has spent his entire coaching career in the NFL, but a move to college could be in the works if his alma mater comes knocking.

USC has reportedly made an additional step in its search for a head coach, as FOX’s Jay Glazer is reporting the Trojans have interviewed Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for the position. The report was made on FOX NFL Sunday.

Del Rio has long been considered one of the front-runners for the job. He spent his college days at USC where he was an All-American linebacker before a lengthy playing career in the NFL.

In the market to replace head football coach Lane Kiffin, USC is willing to spare no expense, according to ESPN’s Travis Haney. The Trojans could pay their new man upward of $6 million per season, which would be tops among college coaches.

Alabama’s Nick Saban is currently the highest-paid coach on an annual basis, bringing in $5.395 million in 2013. Texas’ Mack Brown is a close second with $5.392 million coming from the Longhorns this season. If USC really is interested in setting a new gold standard, it would be a big increase over the $2.594 million that the fired Lane Kiffin is set to make.

USC could go after Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin for their vacant head coaching position, as Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that the young offensive guru is the Trojans’ top choice to replace Lane Kiffin.

Wolf cites anonymous sources in the report, and also says USC has reached out to former Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ head coach Jon Gruden, though that was denied earlier in the week.

Update: Lovie Smith has denied Jason La Canfora’s report, according to Jay Glazer.The last time Smith was reported to have interviewed with USC, his agent denied.

USC has interviewed Love Smith for its head coaching vacancy and are also considering Jon Gruden and Steve Sarkisian for the position, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora is reporting.

USC is interested in former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden, says The Dan Patrick Show. But the Trojans have not reached out, according to CBS Sports’ Jeremy Fowler.

Gruden has been out of coaching since being fired by the Bucs after the 2008 season. He was hired by ESPN as a Monday Night Football analyst in 2009 and has been working from the booth ever since. Despite repeatedly showing little interest in leaving his job as a broadcaster, he’s often rumored as a top candidate any time a major school is looking for a coach.

Update: Lovie Smith’s agent shoots down the report.

USC has reportedly interviewed former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith for their open position, according to Mike Mulligan of WSCR, a radio station in Chicago.

According to USC, individuals posing as representatives of the school have been reaching out to potential head coaching candidates to gauge their interest in the job. In one case, multiple calls were made to the Denver Broncos, almost certainly with the aim of speaking to Jack Del Rio. In another, Tony Dungy was contacted. In its release, USC says it has identified the individuals in both cases and that it is taking “appropriate action.”

Dungy went on Dan Patrick’s radio show Monday and discussed the contact, and by every indication, he believed it came from a genuine representative of the Trojans. The discussion begins around the 14-minute mark. Dungy, for the record, says he isn’t interested.

In their ongoing effort to replace Lane Kiffin, USC has reportedly contacted former NFL head coach Tony Dungy to see if he was interested in a return to coaching.

Perhaps most interesting is the way the Trojans got in touch with Dungy.

No:

Tedford, who is focused on finding his next full-time position, declined [USC’s offensive consultant job] offer, but would still be interested in replacing Kiffin on a permanent basis.