Weber State University Athletics
Former WSU head coach Sark Arslanian passes away
12/12/2016 5:46:00 PM | Football
Legendary Weber State football Hall of Fame head coach Sark Arslanian passed away Sunday in St. George at the age of 92.Â
"Weber State University mourns the passing of coach Arslanian and offers our condolences to the entire family," Weber State director of athletics Jerry Bovee said. "Sark was truly a coaching legend and was an incredibly important part of building Weber State into prominence. His "Sark's Boy's" players will continue his legacy at Weber State. He was a great coach and leader and will always be an important part of Wildcat football."
Arslanian was the head coach at Weber State College from 1965-72 and is still WSU's career leader in winning percentage at .641. He led the Wildcats to Big Sky titles in 1965 and 1968 and is the only Weber State head coach to win two Big Sky titles. In his first season at Weber State, he guided the Wildcat to an 8-1 overall record and a Big Sky title.Â
The Wildcats were also ranked as high as fifth in the country in his first season in 1965 and his teams were nationally ranked several other times, including a ranking of third in 1967, Weber State's highest-ever nationally ranking.tate, he guided the Wildcat to an 8-1 overall record and a Big Sky title.
He never had a losing season in his eight years at Weber State, and ended his Wildcat career with a 50-26-2 overall record and was 21-16-1 in Big Sky games. In 1969, he was named the national coach of the year by Armenian Weekly.
Sarkis "Sark" Arslanian was born Feb. 4, 1924, in Fresno, California. He graduated from Granite High School in Salt Lake City in 1941 before enlisting with the U.S. Naval Air Corps, for which he served as an officer in the South Pacific until the end of World War II.
He graduated from Dixie College in 1949, where he played football and basketball, ran track and served as class president. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and a master's degree from Utah State University.
He began his coaching career at Central Junior High School in Salt Lake City and also coached at Union High School in Roosevelt. He then returned to St. George to become athletic director and the head coach for football, baseball and track at Dixie College. He won 64 games over nine seasons at Dixie and led the Rebels to an 18-1 record in his final two seasons.
After his eight years at Weber State, Arslanian went on to become head coach at Colorado State, where he coached for nine years. He won 158 games in his 26-year coaching career at Dixie, Weber State and Colorado State.
He later became a scout for the CFL and USFL and coached professional teams in Italy and Japan. He also introduced the game of football to youth in Armenia.
Arslanian was inducted into the Weber State Hall of Fame in 1991. He is also a member of the Pop Warner National Hall of Fame, the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and the All-American Football Foundation honor roll.
He was preceded in death by his wife Verlyn. The couple had six children. His sons Dave and Paul both played and later coached at Weber State. Dave was the head coach at Weber State from 1989-97 and is also a member of the Weber State Athletics Hall of Fame.
