The USC Trojans announced on Sunday that head coach Steve Sarkisian will take a leave of absence for an "undisclosed condition" and offensive coordinator Clay Helton will take over as interim coach. Pat Haden and the school announced the news after Sarkisian was not at the Trojans practice on Sunday and reports later came out that Sarkisian was dealing with issues related to alcohol.
Sarkisian previously had an incident earlier in the summer when he was reportedly drunk and made some inappropriate comments at a USC function. USC came into the season with high expectations and the team has lost two of the past three games and now Sarkisian is taking a leave of absence. Helton previously took over as head coach when Ed Orgeron quit as head coach in 2013 for the Las Vegas Bowl. UPDATE: Sarkisian has been fired.
ESPN reports that one player texted reporter Shelley Smith and said that Sarkisian was "lit up at meetings again today." Brett McMurphy later reported that "they wouldn't let him come to practice" regarding Sarkisian and later on the news came out about the leave of absence. ESPN's Joe Schad reports that Sarkisian was "very emotional" before missing the practice and the website also reports that Sarkisian was dealing with a "family issue" on Saturday night. Sarkisian is reportedly going through a divorce.
"I was at a basketball event earlier today when I got a call to say Sarkisian was not at practice," Pat Haden said, according to ESPN. "I called Steve and he made it clear to me that he was not healthy, and I asked him to take an indefinite leave of absence. I think this is the right thing for our team.