Sarkis "Sark" Arslanian (February 4, 1924 – December 11, 2016) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Weber State College—now known as

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

—from 1965 to 1972 and

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

from 1973 to 1981, compiling a career college football head coaching record of . Arslanian was also the head football coach at Dixie Junior College—now known as

Utah Tech University Utah Tech University (UT), formerly named Dixie State University (DSU), is a polytechnic four-year public university in St. George, Utah, in southwest Utah (also known by the longtime nickname of " Utah's Dixie" region). UT offers doctoral degre ...

—from 1955 to 1964.

Early life, military service, and playing career

Arslanian was born on February 4, 1924, in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, to Kevork and Freida (Aposhian) Arslanian, immigrants from Armenia. He graduated in 1941 from Granite High School in

South Salt Lake, Utah South Salt Lake is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah and a core inner suburb of Salt Lake City proper, and thus part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The population was 26,777 at the 2020 census. History Jesse Fox Jr. developed the are ...

. Arslanian served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in the South Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he attended Dixie Junior College, where received all-conference honors in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

before graduating in 1949.

Coaching career

Arslanian began his coaching career in 1952 at Central Junior High School in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. In 1954, he was the head football coach at Union High School in

Roosevelt, Utah Roosevelt is a city in Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 6,747 at the 2020 census, an increase of 701 (11.6%) from the 6,046 counted in the 2010 census. The proper pronunciation of the city's name is based on how Pre ...

, leading his team to a record of 9–1–1 in his lone season there. Beginning in 1955, Arslanian spent ten seasons as the head football coach at Dixie Junior College. His 1963 Dixie team went undefeated, and his 1964 team had a record of 9–1. Arslanian also served as the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Dixie. In 1965, he was hired as the head football coach the at Weber State College in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

, where he coached through 1972 and was the winningest coach in school history. He left Weber State in 1973 for Colorado State University of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC). His 1977 Colorado State Rams football team was one of the most successful in school history, finishing 9–2–1 and receiving votes in the final AP poll. Arslanian was fired six games into the 1981 season. The team

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

, Chester Caddas, was appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the season. After a long and successful career as a football coach at the collegiate and professional levels, he helped establish a winning tradition at Pine View High School in St. George, Utah. After a bypass surgery, he resigned as head coach of Pine View and began coaching eighth graders at Pine View Middle School. As of 2007, Arslanian was the oldest active football coach in the United States. An Armenian-American, Arslanian once traveled to Armenia to establish an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

league in his ancestral country.

Family, honors, and death

Arslanian's son, Dave Arslanian, was the head footoball coach at Weber State from 1989 to 1997, assisted by his brother, Paul Arslanian. On September 14, 2013, the field at Hansen Stadium on the campus of Dixie State University was named Sark Arslanian Field. Arslanian died on December 11, 2016, at the age of 92.

Head coaching record

College

Junior college

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arslanian, Sark 1924 births 2016 deaths Colorado State Rams football coaches Dixie State Rebels football coaches Dixie State Rebels football players Dixie State Rebels men's basketball players Weber State Wildcats football coaches High school basketball coaches in Utah High school football coaches in Utah Junior college athletic directors in the United States Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States University of Utah alumni Utah State University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Fresno, California Sportspeople from Salt Lake County, Utah Coaches of American football from Utah Players of American football from Utah Basketball coaches from Utah Basketball players from Utah Track and field athletes from Utah Military personnel from Utah American people of Armenian descent