Looking back on each Year 2 for Steve Sarkisian as a coach

Washington Head Coach (2009-2013)

To this day, the longest-tenured head coaching position that Sark has held came with the Washington Huskies in the late 2009s and early 2010s. Sark was Washington’s head coach from 2009-2013, where he helped to make the Huskies at least competitive again in the PAC-12 North.

The first year at the helm for Sark as Washington’s head coach came during the 2009 season, where he finished up with a record of 5-7 (4-5 PAC-12).

Does that overall record look familiar?

Moreover, Sark would go on to at least improve the success in the win column markedly for the Huskies during the 2010 season, his second year at the helm in Seattle. Washington would barely reach their first winning season as a program since the 2002 season with a win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl to round out the 2010 campaign.

And that’s really the standard that Sark set for the Huskies for the remainder of his tenure as their head coach. Washington went 7-6 (5-4 PAC-12) in 2010. And Washington would go on to win seven games under Sark in each of the next two seasons.

Washington was very up and down in 2010 against quality opponents, as Jake Locker and Co. struggled to maintain any sort of consistency when it mattered. That was highlighted by losses during the regular season of more than 35 points against the No. 1 Oregon Ducks, No. 13 Stanford Cardinal, and No. 8 Nebraska.

Yet, Washington did have some highs in 2010 with wins over the No. 18 USC Trojans, No. 24 Oregon State Beavers, and a bowl game where they exacted revenge with a double-digit win over Nebraska.

Washington reached a peak under Sark when they were able to win nine games in 2013. But Sark was only around for eight of those wins as he took another head coaching job before bowl season.