Former players recount Steve Sarkisian's alcohol abuse well before USC

The smell of alcohol that sticks to Steve Sarkisian has reeked long before he took over at USC.

And for Sarkisian, it isn't new to hear his players say they smell alcohol on his breath, mainly because it brings back memories to his five-year tenure as the head coach at Washington.

Related: USC puts Steve Sarkisian on temporary leave; names Clay Helton interim head coach

A Los Angeles Times report by Nathan Fenno and Lindsey Thiry outlines the tale of a man who drank excessively in the wee hours of the morning, who kept an 18-pack of Coors Light by his desk, and repeatedly appeared loaded on some of his team flights.

Yet just prior to the 2015 season, Sarkisian was visibly inebriated at USC's "Salute to Troy" event on campus, in what everyone believed to be a one-off lack of judgment. He made headlines for what was then considered abnormal behavior for any staffer, let alone the Trojan leading the football team.

Sarkisian vowed not to drink again for the remainder of the season and to go into rehab to right himself.

But for some former players at Washington, such as Michael Hartvigson, it was nothing he hadn't seen before.

Another one of his former high-profile players with the Huskies, Danny Shelton, tweeted out a couple days later what his punishment would have been for Sarkisian.

The comments outline a string of incidents at Washington, such as showing up to meetings drunk and boozing heavily before noon, and a common theme in the Huskies' locker room - Sarkisian likes to drink, and likes to do it a lot.

Seattle sports radio host Dave Mahler, host of recruiting banquets for the Washington football program, saw the August incident as part of a pattern.

"The idea that this was the first time that something like this happened for Steve Sarkisian … it's not," Mahler said in August during one of his shows. "It's not the first time."

As a result, USC athletic director Pat Haden has put Sarkisian on a leave of absence. It appears he's trying to make sure it's the last time.