DeWayne Walker was an assistant coach for the BYU Cougars who recruited Sarkisian to transfer to Brigham Young University in 1995.
Norm Chow was the offensive coordinator at BYU who coached Sarkisian in 1995 and 1996 and at USC who hired Sarkisian as an offensive assistant in 2001.
LaVell Edwards was the head coach at BYU who led the Cougars to a 14–1 record and a No. 5 ranking in 1996 with Sarkisian as the starting quarterback.
Pete Carroll was the head coach at USC who hired Sarkisian as the quarterbacks coach in 2002 and the offensive coordinator in 2007 and who left USC to coach the Seattle Seahawks in 2010, making Sarkisian a potential replacement.
Lane Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC who succeeded Sarkisian in 2007 and the head coach at USC who was replaced by Sarkisian in 2013 and at Alabama who was succeeded by Sarkisian in 2017.