BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

Thanksgiving was set, though Steve Sarkisian was nowhere to be found.

The in-laws and old coaches were there, another gathering of the Sarkisian's and Peterson's on a holiday.

See, the guy credited with turning Steve Sarkisian into a quarterback who threw such accurate passes they may as well be handoffs, is Fred Peterson. Peterson was Sarkisian's offensive coordinator at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif. He's also an in-law, coach Peterson's son, David, married Steve's sister, Amy.

Fred Peterson understands the demands of coaching. So, he didn't fret about Sarkisian's unexplained absence, just assumed the coach was being a coach.

"We thought he was still working at (U)SC," Fred Peterson said. "I've been a coach all my life, they never want to leave anything unturned. Thought he may be up there working Thanksgiving Day."

The turkey was served, Sarkisian's wife, Stephanie, remained silent. Fred Peterson enjoyed the holiday, then moved on to traditional post-Thanksgiving duties: planning for Christmas.

His son David came over the next day to help put the Christmas lights up on the house.

"Dad, I think Sark's going to take the Washington job," Fred Peterson recalled his son saying. "I said, 'You've got to be kidding me.' He said, 'No, I think he's going.'

"That's how we found out."

The rest of the world found out Steve Sarkisian would be Washington's new head coach in a much more modern manner. A blurb moved across the bottom of a television screen, setting off a frenzy. After weeks of logic being blinded by wistful thoughts; candidates being added and dropped; and SeaTac becoming a coaching news pipeline, the Huskies had their new coach.

Washington introduced Sarkisian to the Huskies faithful Monday morning. So what is the school getting?

"They crucified the only guy who's perfect, but Steve is so close to perfect, it's scary," Fred Peterson said.

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Sarkisian wanted to play baseball in college, not football. He was 10-0, hit more than .400 his senior year at West High School in Torrance, Calif., where Peterson was the director of athletics.

The numbers were enough evidence to make Sarkisian think he could play in college. He tried to walk-on at USC and was cut after the fall semester, being told he would not make the team in spring.

That sent Sarkisian to El Camino in Torrance. The school is small enough that it needs coaches to teach classes, which is what football coach John Featherstone was doing.

Featherstone is kind of a health nut. He's getting older now, but still heads out to the surf and goes running when the sun comes up.

At El Camino, he naturally teaches a health class. In 1993, Sarkisian filled one of the classroom seats and received an earful from Featherstone. There wasn't an issue with grades, Featherstone was hounding Sarkisian to come out to the football field.

"In my health class, it goes for 16 weeks, so I knew I had plenty of time to convince him to come out and play football," Featherstone said with a laugh. "I did it really in kind of a fun way with Steve. I kept saying 'Stevie, I want you to come out!' 'OK coach, I'll think about it.' "

Sarkisian eventually made his way out there in the spring, walking on in the fall. He was third string. Then he moved up the El Camino depth chart as a result of the stunning shooting and death of the first-string quarterback.

That left two quarterbacks. It was clear to the coaches Sarkisian was more skilled than his competition.

"He was so talented, it took you about two minutes to figure out he was going to be a player," Peterson said.

Sarkisian was the El Camino starter for two seasons, 1993 and '94. In one of many fateful Seattle-related twists to Sarkisian's story, Featherstone was an alum of the "Air Coryell" school. Featherstone was part of the San Diego State staff when Seattle native and former University of Washington cornerback Don Coryell was making innovations to the passing game. The single back, play-action approach was installed by Featherstone at El Camino. Now Sarkisian ran it.

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Sarkisian's first season as the quarterback El Camino? Not so good.

The Warriors were 2-8. "Our worst season ever," Featherstone said.

Year two? Sarkisian used his accuracy and acumen to lead the Warriors to a 10-1 record. He threw for 635 yards in a season-ending bowl game. After big-time colleges ignored him because he was too thin and too slow, Sarkisian eventually had Kansas State, Washington State, Fresno State and BYU in a lather.

To Peterson, Sarkisian's rapid ascent, something that would become a trend in his coaching life, was no coincidence.

"I'd be watching film in my office, and I'd look over and he'd be sitting beside me," Peterson said. "He wasn't out fooling around with the rest of the guys, even as a 19-year-old kid, he was in my office watching film.

"He wanted to be a good player. There's a difference between coming out to practice and practicing, and coming out to practicing and practicing. That's the way he was. He coaches the same way."

The same qualities that made Sarkisian such a success at El Camino had BYU coach LaVell Edwards watching film and sending out staff members to recruit.

Norm Chow, then offensive coordinator at BYU, and Barry Lamb, a BYU assistant, plopped down in the El Camino football offices and had a long talk with Sarkisian. Though many credit DeWayne Walker with recruiting Sarkisian, Peterson said that is "a falsehood."

Edwards, himself an offensive innovator who is credited with the development of the spread offense, thought Sarkisian would be a perfect fit.

"You could tell right away that it'd just be a matter of time with him catching on to the system," Edwards said. "He picked it up quickly. That was the thing that always impressed me."

Sarkisian's time at BYU was a repeat of the El Camino scenario in many ways. He came to the program after others had been there, yet surpassed them. His first season was solid, his second historical.

"His senior year we just had one of those magic years," Edwards said.

The Cougars finished 14-1 and ranked fifth in the nation. The lone loss came at Washington in the third week of the season. Edwards recalled the Cougars having trouble with Corey Dillon. Sarkisian was also sacked eight times.

"I remember thinking man, that's a game I would like to play again," Edwards said. "I can't remember for what reason other than the fact we got beat."

Sarkisian threw for 4,027 yards and 33 touchdowns during the regular season, winning the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's best passer. He even was on the cover of TV Guide.

But the NFL didn't care. Sarkisian went undrafted, then had a rough ride in the CFL with Saskatchewan.

He was back home in 1999, out of sports and selling software. Peterson called him up and told him to come help him out at El Camino. Suddenly, a coach was born.

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Sarkisian joined Peterson in the booth. Technically, Sarkisian was the quarterbacks coach.

"He could see things way faster than I did," Peterson said.

After a dalliance with San Diego State, Sarkisian joined the USC staff as a graduate assistant after Chow came calling and convinced Pete Carroll to bring Sarkisian aboard.

He was an offensive assistant, then quarterbacks coach for two seasons. In 2004, he made the leap to the NFL, hired by the Oakland Raiders as quarterbacks coach. He was there for one year before returning to USC where he became the assistant head coach following the departure of Lane Kiffin, and his longtime mentor, Chow.

The change in positions is said to be the base of a rift between Chow and Sarkisian. Last Saturday, when USC faced UCLA, Sarkisian denied any issues between him and Chow existed. Chow chose not to answer questions on the topic.

"When he came back from Oakland, he and Norm had a little uprising," Peterson said. "I said 'Stevie, if you ever had anything I didn't like, this would be it. You got to make a phone call and tell Norm, whatever it is, let's seal the deal. Forget about it.' He never did. That's the only thing I can ever say that I'm unhappy with him about."

Sarkisian repeatedly thanked Carroll at Monday's introductory press conference. There was no mention of Chow.

In 2007, Sarkisian turned down the head job in Oakland, returning to USC, saying at the time he hoped to become a college head coach. Now he is.

Not surprisingly, Peterson, Featherstone and Edwards think he will be good at the job.

"Steve has done a remarkable job ... which is not surprising to me, but it always is when a guy so young comes along like that and gets a premier job like this one," Edwards said.

His former coaches say Sarkisian's style is a mix of Carroll's energized approach and Edwards' more subtle demeanor. Featherstone believes he can recruit well because of that.

"He'll make recruits feel comfortable," Featherstone said. "He's a down-to-earth guy, I don't think there's a lot of BS about him."

Featherstone also feels Sarkisian will make recruiting quarterbacks a focus.

"What I can guarantee is that's going to be his No. 1 priority," Featherstone said. "He's a quarterbacks guy. Steve has been in three systems where we're running pro-style offenses. We're going to be able to run the football well enough; we're going to play action out of our base runs; we're going to spread people out, and we're going to throw a lot to our receivers and our running backs."

A variety of fateful twists have allowed Sarkisian to be elevated to the top of a Pac-10 program at age 34. Being coaxed onto the field by Featherstone, BYU's dream season, Peterson telling him to stop selling software and come into the booth.

"If he hadn't coached with me in 2000, I don't know if he would have ever gone that way," Peterson, 76, said. "Or if Norm wouldn't have left North Carolina State to go to SC. Everything works out for a reason I think in life. He was with me, had a great experience, enjoyed that part of coaching. He enjoyed helping call plays. Norm coached SC and needed somebody. I said, 'Norm, Steve's right here ready to go and I think he's got the bug.'

"Everything else just took off."

Todd Dybas is the editor of Seattlesportsonline.com. He can be reached via e-mail at tdybas@seattlesportsonline.com