Dennis Erickson

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Dennis Erickson bigraphy, stories - American football player and coach

Dennis Erickson : biography

March 24, 1947 –

Dennis Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach, current the co-offensive coordinator at the University of Utah. Previously, Erickson was the head coach at the University of Idaho (1982–1985, 2006), the University of Wyoming (1986), Washington State University (1987–1988), the University of Miami (1989–1994), Oregon State University (1999–2002), and Arizona State University (2007–2011).http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/arizona-state-official-dennis-erickson-out-as-coach-after-5-seasons-in-the-desert/2011/11/27/gIQA5EPw2N_story.html Erickson also was the head coach of two teams in the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks (1995–1998) and the San Francisco 49ers (2003–2004), where he tallied a mark of 40–56. During his career at Miami, Erickson’s team won two national championships, in 1989 and 1991.

Head coaching

College

Idaho

Erickson’s head coaching career began at age 34 at the University of Idaho. He was hired on December 11, 1981, to succeed Jerry Davitch, who had been fired nine days prior to his final game (a one-point home loss against rival Boise State). A pre-season playoff pick, Idaho finished the disappointing 1981 season with six consecutive losses, and were winless in seven games in the Big Sky. Erickson was hired by UI athletic director Bill Belknap and accepted a one-year contract at $38,001. – Regents OK Erickson salary – 1982-01-15 p.3C – Erickson’s ‘bowling’ Date Comes Before Vandals – 1981-12-12 – p.12

Building on his reputation as an offensive innovator, Erickson became Idaho’s all-time winningest head coach in just four seasons with the Vandals (1982–85), taking them to the I-AA playoffs in his first and fourth seasons. In his first season of 1982, Erickson took an underachieving (and injured) 3–8 team in 1981 and immediately turned it into a 8–3 playoff team, led by decathlete quarterback Ken Hobart. Erickson’s overall record with the Vandals was 32–15 (.680), 31–13 (.704) in the regular season and 1–2 in post season. He went 4–0 in the rivalry game with Boise State, a team which had dominated the series by winning the previous five games. – Idaho opponents – Boise St. (The winning streak against the Broncos reached 12 games; it was broken in 1994 when BSU advanced to the I-AA finals.)

His most notable recruits at Idaho were his quarterbacks – future NFL head coach Scott Linehan, who had future Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable blocking for him, and future College Football Hall of Famer John Friesz, who had Mark Schlereth blocking for him. Erickson revived Vandal football and quickly turned it into a top I-AA program, whose success was continued for another decade by former assistants Keith Gilbertson (1986–88) and John L. Smith (1989–94).

Before 1982, the Vandals had posted only four winning seasons in over four decades, and had not had consecutive winning seasons since 1938. Idaho had three consecutive winning seasons only once (1903–05), and never had four. With Erickson’s arrival as head coach, the program embarked on 15 consecutive winning seasons (1982–96), and 11 trips to the Division I-AA playoffs in 14 seasons.

Erickson’s compensation for his fourth and final year at Idaho was $47,940. – Erickson leaves Idaho for Wyoming – 1985-12-02 – p.C1

Wyoming

Erickson was introduced as the head coach of the Division I-A Wyoming Cowboys on December 2, 1985. His four-year contract included a base annual salary of $60,000 plus $20,000 from radio and television, and the rent-free use of a home in Laramie. The Cowboys had just concluded 3-8 season in 1985, tied for seventh in the nine-team WAC. He installed his "Air Express" form of the spread offense and led the Cowboys to 3–1 start in September, with road wins at Air Force and Wisconsin. Wyoming finished at 6–6 season in 1986, tied for fourth in the WAC with a 4–4 record. He left Wyoming without notice after accepting the head coaching job at Washington State in early January.