Steve Sarkisian's Final Thoughts On The 2014 USC Football Season

After this most recent nine-win campaign featuring victories over No. 10 Arizona, No. 13  Stanford, Notre Dame and Nebraska, the USC Trojans head into the offseason in the crux of being very good, but yet lacking a few big wins from becoming one of the elite teams in the nation.

When asked about his program, first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian preached confidence over what has taken place over the past 12 months and loves what will transpire from now until next season.

While the best way to define success is wins, losses and the growth of players, now is a great time to sit back and evaluate everything we've seen in the 2014 season. We start by laying out some key thoughts from Coach Sarkisian, breaking down what went right, wrong and needs to be improved upon in the near future.

Steve Sarkisian on the totality of the season

"First of all, it was a total success. We won nine games, we were Holiday Bowl champions. I don't change. Every day I wake up and I drive down the 110 freeway to come to work I embrace the opportunity you have to be the head football coach at USC...Whether it's John McKay, Pete Carroll, John Robinson, I'm extremely fortunate to be the head football coach at USC. I embrace it every day, and I come with an attitude that we're going to get better as a program the moment I step into that building every single day."

Steve Sarkisian on the future of the program

"For me, whatever it looked like on TV, I really don't know or what people think about us, I don't know, what I know is we have a locker room that is excited, that came into the game humble, focused, and happy to be champions, you know? That's was there more out there for us this year? Maybe. That's part of the process. That's part of laying the foundation of getting better as a program, and, you know, all these guys had a role in helping us lay that foundation, but then moving forward in the future."

Steve Sarkisian on the brand of USC Football

"I think our brand is very unique. We are SC. We will never waiver from that. We understand that. We're proud that we get to wear what we get to wear every time we take the field, whether it's in practice or on game day, or just going to class. We're a unique place, and we're fortunate to be part of an amazing tradition, and every time we take the field, there is a legacy that we're part of. It's very humbling, quite honestly. Our brand is one that is tough, that's hard, that's extraordinary, quite honestly. In my opinion, it's unrivaled by any other university in the country when it comes to college football."