Steve Sarkisian adds QB coach; UW staff nearly complete

Steve Sarkisian took another step toward completing his football coaching staff at Washington this week, adding Doug Nussmeier as quarterbacks coach.

A source confirmed the hire of Nussmeier, which was also reported by The Fresno Bee.

Nussmeier was the offensive coordinator at Fresno State last season.

He is the latest addition to the staff with ties to the University of Idaho — Nussmeier played quarterback for the Vandals from 1990 to 1993, winning the Walter Payton Award as the best player in Division I-AA as a senior. New UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt was an assistant for the Vandals during that time.

Besides Holt, four other members of Sarkisian's new staff also had stints as assistants at Idaho.

Nussmeier spent parts of five seasons in the NFL before turning to coaching. Among his stops were three years as QB coach at Michigan State, and another two as QB coach for the St. Louis Rams before moving to Fresno State.

UW has not officially announced the hiring of Nussmeier. But assuming he is in the fold means UW has just one open position remaining on its nine-member staff, for a receivers/tight ends coach. Several other coaches have also yet to be officially announced but have been confirmed as hired.

As QB coach, Nussmeier will be responsible for the development of Jake Locker, who will be entering his junior season.

However, Nussmeier will be assisted by Sarkisian, who was QB coach at USC as well as offensive coordinator before coming to UW.

Sarkisian said on the day he was hired that he would help coach the quarterbacks but would also bring in someone to fill that role.

"We will have a quarterback coach title because it takes a lot of work to mentor a quarterback, takes a lot of offseason work, in-season work," he said. "So we will basically have two of us heading this thing up. But I will work hand-in-hand closely with Jake and Ronnie [Fouch] and the guys we bring in. They will play well."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com