Say hello to Sarkisian's staff

They have been courted, hired and announced via press release. They have recruited and helped sign their first class as a coaching staff. They have crossed paths a few times on the road and on campus, and finally sat down for their first full staff meeting a week ago.

About the only thing the five new assistant football coaches for the University of Washington haven’t done since being hired was to be formally introduced to the local media.

That changed on Wednesday when UW coach Steve Sarkisian introduced defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Eric Kiesau, defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi, linebackers coach Peter Sirmon and secondary coach Keith Heyward during a press conference in the Founders Club at Alaska Airlines Arena.

“Obviously some big changes to the staff,” Sarkisian said. “I couldn’t be more excited to have these guys on board. Having them now – some for a month and some for a couple weeks – they’ve already left an impression on me and other people around the university about the type of people they are, the type of recruiters they are and the type of football coaches they are.”

Wilcox was the first and probably most important hire for Sarkisian, who was able to persuade the Oregon native and one-time Boise State defensive coordinator to leave a similar job at Tennessee and return to the Northwest.

“I had never met him,” Wilcox said. “I just knew of him and knew of his reputation. Not only as football coach, but the type of person he is. That to me (this) is huge. You guys see … the culture of the team and the way the kids act and the way the kids are. That’s important to me, and that made the decision easier for me to come here.”

Wilcox said he got the first call from Sarkisian on Dec. 31, and spent the next day making calls around the college coaching fraternity, including coaches within the Pacific-12 Conference. After making those calls, he was in Seattle on Jan. 2.

“I did my homework, and it was a very easy choice,” Wilcox said.

He will look to rebuild a defensive unit that was maligned much of last season and was embarrassed in the Alamo Bowl by Baylor, which scored 67 points and piled up 777 yards of total offense.

“In terms of what they’ve done in the past, we want to give them a fresh slate,” Wilcox said. “With new coaches here, there’s automatically a fresh slate.”

To Wilcox, there is no secret to success. The best defenses all operate under similar principles and consistently adhere to them.

“We have to be physically and mentally tough, and you have to play with great effort,” he said. “But the one thing we have to do in order to be good is execute, because toughness and effort (alone) won’t win you games. We can sit in the room and talk about all the defense we want and know everything, but what needs to happen is our kids do what we say they are going to do. That’s execution.”

If Wilcox was the most important hire for Sarkisian, Lupoi might have been the most controversial.

The former defensive line coach and ace recruiter for Cal was one of the most sought-after young coaches on the West Coast. It was a coup for Sarkisian that he was able to hire Lupoi away from the college program Lupoi had worshipped growing up, then played for and coached for.

“Tosh, quite honestly, has been a thorn in my side for the last five years on the recruiting front,” Sarkisian said. “It was the old adage of, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, get them to join you.’ It took a little longer than I would have liked, but we finally got Tosh on board.”

Indeed, while Lupoi’s hiring seemed to stun college football circles in a quick two-day span, Lupoi said the entire courting process was closer to two weeks. He had said no to Sarkisian’s initial offers.

“It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever gone through,” Lupoi said. “Kind of like the (other offers), I had never taken an interview anywhere, I don’t have an agent; it was something that just felt like (Cal) was going to be the place that I remained and that’s where I played and I had a lot of great opportunities and days there. So it was natural for me to say no. And then just talking to (Sarkisian) throughout those weeks you realize what a great recruiter he is, and a lot of great points he expressed kind of wore on me.’’

Lupoi faced quite a backlash from fans at his alma mater.

“I tried to do my best never to go on the blogs and get into all of that,” he said. “That had a major impact on seeing what … stories were told, but you move on and see who your real friends are. And like I said, I’ve got nothing but great things to say about that staff and the university and the opportunity that I was offered there. I’ll never forget those times.”

It was a similar situation for Heyward, who left Oregon State – the place where he played and became a coach, all under head coach Mike Riley. He dreaded having to tell Riley that he was leaving.

“It was hard,” Heyward said. “I couldn’t sleep. The whole thing was tough. But in life sometimes you have to make tough decisions and things that aren’t easy.”

Sirmon also moved to UW from Tennessee, where he was the linebackers coach under Wilcox. The two were roommates at Oregon during their playing days. Sirmon went on to play for seven years with the Tennessee Titans. Making the move to Seattle was an easy choice for the Walla Walla native.

“I had my own separate discussions with Sark,” Sirmon said. “I think we (Sirmon and Wilcox) kind of knew what we were going to do. I won’t say it was a situation where it was one without the other.”

Wilcox thinks even though he’s the defensive coordinator, Sirmon still is the right person for the job.

“Obviously, Pete and I have a long history together,” Wilcox said. “But it’s not because we have a long history together that he is here. Pete is a phenomenal football coach; hard working, a great communicator, and really that’s what coaching is about.”

Kiesau is ecstatic at the opportunity to work with starting quarterback Keith Price this season. The two met during a chance encounter in the film room.

“He had this huge smile, he was like, ‘What’s up, Coach Kees, how you are doing?’ and gave me a big hug like we’ve known each other for 20 years,” Kiesau said. “I’m like, ‘This is the guy I’m coaching?’ It was unbelievable.”

Kiesau watched every one of Price’s games on film.

“Every game I watched, I was more and more impressed,” he said. “He’s a pinpoint accurate passer and a great natural leader.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports