Atlanta Falcons Name Steve Sarkisian as New Offensive Coordinator

ATLANTA — Super Bowl finalists Atlanta Falcons announced Tuesday morning they have hired former UW head coach Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator.

Sarkisian joins Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn, who worked for the Seattle Seahawks for three years when Sarkisian was head coach at UW. Prior to that, Sarkisian spent seven seasons as an assistant at USC under Pete Carroll. In 2013 he was appointed head coach, but was fired by the Trojans during the 2015 season when officials said he showed up in no condition to lead practice following an embarrassing public display at a pep rally where he appeared to be intoxicated. He later sought treatment for alcoholism.

Sarkisian has just one season of experience in the NFL, working as the quarterbacks coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2004.

Born in Torrance, California, Sarkisian is the youngest of seven children, the only one in the family born in California; the older six siblings were born in Massachusetts. Sarkisian is of Armenian and Irish ancestry. His father is an Armenian born and raised in Tehran, Iran before immigrating to the United States at the age of 18 to attend college. Sarkisian’s mother is an Irish-American from Massachusetts. He attended Brigham Young University.