College recruiting, especially for the most prized recruits, is a notoriously dirty business. However, Alabama may have taken things a bit too far.
In the lead-up to the frenzied battle to see who would land Arch Manning, the next generation in the Manning dynasty of quarterbacks, Pete Golding, then-defensive coordinator, brought up Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s alcoholic past in an attempt to swerve Manning away from Texas and bring him to Tuscaloosa.
The revelation comes in a new book by ESPN writer Seth Wickersham, called American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.
“Competition was so fierce that everything was fair game,” Wickersham wrote. “It was public record that Steve Sarkisian had battled alcoholism, a disease that nearly cost him his career. Sark had rebuilt his life and work in recovery. But during one Zoom call with Arch, Golding was discussing Alabama’s schematics and culture, and then he went there.
“‘I love Sark,’” Golding said. ‘He’s my best friend.’ He paused. ‘I hope he can stay sober.’”
Following the Zoom session with Manning, Isidore Newman School (La.) coach Nelson Stewart called Golding to scold him for bringing up Sarkisian’s past.
“Pete, that’s f–ked up!” he said, according to the excerpt of the book.
In his defense, Golding said that he was feeling pressure from “Daddy,” a code word for then-Alabama coach Nick Saban.
“Daddy’s on me,” Golding said to Stewart.
In 2015, while serving as the head coach at USC, reports circulated that players and coaches had smelled alcohol on Sarkisian. He took a leave of absence amid the firestorm before being officially fired on October 2, 2015.
Sarkisian completed a rehab program and mounted his coaching comeback in college football as an analyst at, of all places, Alabama. From there, Sarkisian had a brief stint in the NFL with the Falcons before returning to Bama as their offensive coordinator and eventually building up a record of enough success and trust that he was offered one of the best jobs in college football, head coach at the University of Texas in 2021.
“(Manning) liked Sark,” Wickersham wrote. “He especially liked that Sark was the head coach and the play-caller, increasing the odds that he’d be there for the duration of Arch’s time. Texas was a good school, in case he were to suffer a career-ending injury.
“He liked that Texas was joining the Southeastern Conference. Texas had just finished an 8-5 season when he committed; he wanted to be part of an upswing, of bringing something back.”
Golding – who now serves as the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss – was apoplectic when told of Arch’s decision to go to Texas. He immediately texted Stewart, asking for an explanation. Stewart told Golding the above reasons, in addition to the fact that, given Austin’s size, it was felt that Arch wouldn’t attract as much attention as he would in a place like Tuscaloosa.
“Stop,” Golding replied, per the excerpt. “No motherf*cking way.”
Texas, the #1 team in the country, is set to face the third-ranked defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on August 30.
