The University of Idaho Argonaut

After one season as the University of Idaho football coach, Dennis Erickson skipped town to take the reigns at Arizona State University

Rumors swirled around the University of Idaho about Dennis Erickson’s departure for almost a week, but it took until Saturday night for official word to come out that he will not return next year as the UI football coach.  Instead, Erickson has accepted the head coaching position at Arizona State University. 

Rather than fulfilling the five-year contract he signed with the Vandals, Erickson left the administration, the team and the community in shock.

“People are angry and they are irritated because we went into this with the expectation that he would be here longer than 10 months,” Athletic Director Rob Spear said. “He left early and we can’t do anything about it other than move forward.  And that is exactly what we are going to do.”

The timing of Erickson’s departure hurt the team, as recruiting season is in full swing and the Vandals are left with no one at the helm.

But Spear said he plans to have a list of candidates narrowed to two or three by the end of Monday night, and hiring Erickson’s replacement in a timely fashion is of utmost importance.

“Student-athletes commit to their university, no question they commit to the head coach, but we are going to stay active,” Spear said. “As far having a new head coach here, we need to do it fairly quickly. I would certainly like to have this coaching position filled as early as we can so we can start fresh and get out there and really stay active in the recruiting process.”

 As for the potential candidates, Spear would not give specifics other than he was very pleased with the potential options that are available.

However, rumors have already began to surface as to who will become the next head coach at the University of Idaho, with names such as John L. Smith and Mike Kramer topping the list.

Smith, who went 53-21 as Idaho’s coach from 1989-94, was recently fired from Michigan State, and he has confirmed that he has spoken with Idaho about the open position.

Kramer, a former lineman for the Vandals, has spent the past decade reviving programs at Eastern Washington and Montana State. The Montana State Athletic Director has granted Idaho permission to speak with Kramer.

And while he would not comment on potential candidates, Spear did speak about the current Vandal team, whom he said he met with yesterday, and he believes everyone is focused and ready to move forward.

“I have already met with the players. … One of the things I told them was they have a right to be angry, but I want them to channel that in the right way,” Spear said. “With their studies, their academics and to finish finals week strong. I want them to channel it in the weight room and channel it directly, and have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder so when we get the new guy, they are hungrier.”

Prior to Spear’s comments at Monday’s press conference, Arizona State held a press conference of its own, introducing Erickson, 59, who commented on his reasoning for leaving Idaho.

“When I was at the University of Idaho, I wasn’t planning on leaving,” Erickson said. “Sometimes in this business, opportunities come at different times and that happened. To have the opportunity to come here, whether I was there for a year or five years, and build this program was something I wanted to do. And that is why I made this decision.”

Erickson also told reporters what he said to Vandal players before he departed for Arizona State.

“What I told the players when I left the University of Idaho was that it was an opportunity I felt I had to take advantage of,” Erickson said. “It was an opportunity at this time in my career to go to a great program and have an opportunity to have great success and an opportunity to win a national championship. That’s exactly what I told them and I would tell the fans the same thing.”

In 18 seasons, Erickson amassed a 149-64-1 record and he currently ranks 12th for most career victories for active NCAA coaches. His coaching stops have included Idaho (twice), Wyoming, Washington State, Miami, Oregon State and he also coached six years in the NFL — four with the Seattle Seahawks and two with the San Francisco ’49ers.

Still, that coaching resume didn’t stop Spear from throwing one last barb at Erickson after being asked about the coach’s legacy.

“You can ask Dennis about his legacy.”