Kessler on Sark: "No one else in the country we want as head coach"
Video by Connor McGlynn
USC football team captains quarterback Cody Kessler and linebacker Su'a Cravens spoke Tuesday morning following head coach Steve Sarkisian's apology for his actions during the annual Salute to Troy Saturday night. The veterans stood behind their leader and mentioned the team's full commitment to wanting Sarkisian as their coach.
"There's no one else in the country we want as our head coach," Kessler said. "No matter what happened or what's been said, at the end of the day we're going to support him 100 percent."
Sarkisian spoke with his team's leadership council that consists of players from both sides of the ball as well as addressing the team as a whole about the incident and Kessler noted that his honesty made it easier for the team to rally behind him.
"He didn't try to hide it or deny it, he came up to us and especially for the young freshmen that saw it and didn't really understand what was going on, to hear there coach come out and apologize and be so sincere in his apology really did a lot for them as well as some of the other leaders on the team."
The two team leaders also talked about how the team has been able to come closer together as a result of this and their drive to get back onto the field and did not see this issue as another run through the off-field controversy ladder, joining the likes of the 2014 Josh Shaw fabricated story of the defensive back injuring his ankles try to save his drowning relative.
"I don't think that it was us saying 'oh no, here we go again.' We've dealt with much worse" Cravens said. "This is just one of those things you got to deal with. We've moved on. He's still our head coach at the end of the day. We love him."
While no suspension has been handed down, the team did put Sarkisian through punishment of their own, making the coach do up-downs and run sprints on Monday's off day.
The No. 8 Trojans will open up the season as they take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves Saturday, September 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
