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Steve Sarkisian compares leaving Washington for USC to breaking up with a girlfriend

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

After five seasons as the head coach for the Washington Huskies, Steve Sarkisian made the decision to jump to in-conference rival USC and replace Lane Kiffin in December. Changing schools is never easy, and Sarkisian made the task even more difficult with a radio interview the morning of the decision.

Speaking during Pac-12 Media Days on Wednesday, Sarkisian admitted that his biggest regret when leaving Washington was the interview from that morning when he told host Mitch Levy he would not be leaving the Huskies.

"You know, it's unfortunate. I did that Monday morning radio show with Mitch every Monday morning after a game. And honestly, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done that interview that morning," Sarkisian said, via Yahoo Sports. "But I had committed to the interview. And I did the interview.

"There was nothing done, I hadn't accepted the job at USC yet. Hindsight's 20/20 in those moments. I probably should have stayed out of interviews and stayed away from cameras. But I did it. I tried to handle it to the best of my ability. So looking back, probably the biggest mistake was just going on-air."

Just a few hours after the interview, Sarkisian informed his players at Washington that he had taken the job at USC. 

Sarkisian served as an assistant coach and eventual offensive coordinator for the Trojans from 2005 until 2008 and left to take over the Huskies. While the return to USC was his dream job, Sarkisian compared leaving Washington to breaking up with a girlfriend:

I don't think it's ever easy. I don't know if you guys have ever had girlfriends, but when you break up with your girlfriend it's never easy. It's always hard and you do it the best way you know how and you just try to be up-front and honest. You try not to disrespect one school or another school or some kids or another kid. In a perfect world I wish I would have gotten to our players sooner so they didn't have to hear it from anybody else.

But at the end of the day I got that opportunity to get up in front of them and address them so they knew exactly where I was coming from. That's all you can ask for as a coach.

Sarkisian's analogy seems fitting, although the media in attendance may not appreciate him wondering if they have ever had girlfriends.

Unfortunately for fans of both schools, they are not scheduled to play this season. They could however meet in the Pac-12 championship game, but that appears to be a long shot.

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