[Vision2020] Vandal football (grinch news)

[Saundra Lund]

According to today's Daily News, there may yet be hope:

"NEWS ALERT UPDATE: UI says ASU hasn't talked with Erickson 

Staff report 
Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - Page Updated at 11:33:23 AM 

Officials in the University of Idaho athletic department denied reports that
football coach Dennis Erickson was in contact with Arizona State regarding
that school's head coaching vacancy. 

Idaho Assistant Athletic Director Becky Paul said neither Athletic Director
Rob Spear nor Erickson have been contacted by Arizona State regarding the
school's football coaching vacancy. 

It is customary for program's wishing to talk with coaches to contact the
school before doing so. 

Arizona State Associated Athletic Director Mark Brand would not comment on
Erickson or any potential coaches the school has contacted, saying the
school does not "comment on coaching searches." 

The Oregonian is reporting that Idaho football coach Dennis Erickson is in
talks with Arizona State about that program's vacant head coach position. 

Erickson, who came back to Moscow this season after first coaching the
Vandals from 1982-85, led Idaho to a 4-8 overall record and a 3-5 mark in
the WAC. The four wins were the Vandals' most since the 2000 season. 

ASU is looking for a coach after former Boise State coach Dirk Koetter was
fired at the conclusion of the Sun Devils' 7-5, 4-5 2006 season. Koetter
will coach ASU when it plays Hawaii in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas
Eve. 

The East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Ariz., listed several potential candidates
for the job, including former Washington State and current UTEP coach Mike
Price, but did not mention Erickson's name. 

Other potential coaches include former Arizona Cardinal coach and current
Tennessee Titan assistant Dave McGinnis, Boston College coach Tom O'Brien,
Tulsa coach Gary Patterson and Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English.
The East Valley Tribune Web site also reported that Fresno State coach Pat
Hill "has expressed interest" in the ASU job. 

Erickson has compiled a 149-64-1 record in 18 seasons as a collegiate coach.
He won two national championships with the University of Miami in 1989 and
1991, and is credited for reviving a struggling Oregon State program during
a four-year stint in Corvallis. 

Erickson has coached the Beavers, Hurricanes, Vandals, Washington State and
at Wyoming during his career, and also spent time in the NFL with the
Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers."

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Dan Carscallen
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 10:08 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Vandal football (grinch news)

Say it ain't so!

But, as the article says, Dennis is as Dennis does . . .

I, too, sigh

DC

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Carl Westberg
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 9:15 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Vandal football (grinch news)


Sigh....Carl Westberg Jr.
Here's a shock, Erickson talks begin at ASU Tuesday, December 05, 2006 M
aybe they'll light candles. And skip class to pray that their football

coach will stay. The hand-wringing officially will begin in Moscow, Idaho,
today because Dennis Erickson is talking with Arizona State regarding their
job opening, according to a source close to the process.

If we're being authentic here, the combination of ASU and Erickson would be
frightening for the rest of the Pacific-10 Conference. One slumping, but

potentially cool, college football program with unbelievable upside hooks up
with two-time national champion coach? Yeah. So maybe the Mikes -- Bellotti
and Riley -- should catch a shuttle to Moscow to light a candle themselves.

Look. We'd expect some disappointment from boosters at Washington State
today, and maybe, too, Oregon State. Erickson dumped them both, but some at
those places always will hold out hope he'll take them back someday.
Maybe,
Miami feels the same way about the coach who brought them two national
titles. The Hurricanes probably are dialing Erickson as you read this
column.

He deserves all of that, too. Because even if you're among those who view
Erickson as a guy prone to taking shortcuts, or questionable characters, you
can't ignore that he's a winner, and capable of taking the Sun Devils across
town to a Bowl Championship Series game within five years.

Now, come on, Idaho.

Dust yourself off, and tell me you saw days like this one coming after
Erickson accepted the job at a program that lost 47 games in the five
previous seasons. Tell me you were just joshing when you raised a glass and
toasted to such things as, "Dennis will stay here as long as the
administration supports him."

Because in the end, Forrest Gump could have got this one right -- Dennis is
as Dennis does -- and I mean that in the most flattering way.

When the coach arrived in Moscow, people kept walking around talking about
the "Erickson Magic" as if there was some kind of wizard-like secret to his
success. Really, it's a simple thing. Erickson loves to coach. And he
understands what it takes to win -- fast. Playmakers love to play for a guy
who can get them to the NFL.

What we really have here is a case of ASU, and maybe, too, Miami, deciding
for themselves if they're malleable enough to hand themselves to Erickson
for a few seasons, knowing he's probably going to re-shape them, turn heads,
win games, and then, dump them.

It's not the worst trade for a football program.

T he best predictor of future behavior, psychologists tell us, is past
behavior. And this isn't a knock on Erickson, because at the very least, his
resume comes at face value. He wins. He moves on. Even Idaho, which saw
season-ticket sales jump 35 percent in the weeks preceeding a mediocre first
season, knows that there's something in hiring Erickson for just about
everyone.

Even as he went 4-8 this season, all year, I thought about Erickson and his
assistants as if they were a pack of gunslingers in some Western. You know,
hiding out in Moscow, waiting for Erickson to saddle his horse, shout, "We
ride!" causing his entire gang to mount up and bolt out of town toward a

better opportunity.

ASU should stop talking to Erickson and just hire him already. It makes
perfect sense to hitch Erickson to a program that is an after-thought in a
market dominated by professional sports. Erickson is as big-league as the
Sun Devils could ever hope for, and if they saw what he did for Oregon State
in helping build a stadium and success, they'd understand that the Erickson
growth curve is steep.

Whether he gets the job at ASU or ends up back in Moscow for another season
before jumping somewhere else, don't feel sorry for Idaho.

They got hope, didn't they?

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