Erickson hopes to have better luck with the 49ers than he did during his four years with the Seahawks

By Cam Inman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Dennis Erickson finished his introductory remarks Wednesday as the 49ers' new coach, peered out at the swanky banquet room filled with skeptical reporters and his career flashed before his eyes.

"This is quite different than my first job, press-conference wise, when I got the head coaching job at Billings (Mont.) Central High School," Erickson quipped. "I had two school newspaper people there, but it was a lot of fun. Nothing changes."

Erickson, 55, has changed jobs 11 times in 33 years since that one season in the high school ranks in Billings. Through it all, from working sidelines coast to coast, one thing hasn't changed -- his competitive drive to succeed.

Former Cal coach Keith Gilbertson testified to that, having known Erickson since their junior high school days in and around Everett, Wash.

"I remember my dad saying at the dinner table, 'Dennis Erickson is the most competitive kid in Snohomish County,'" said Gilbertson, now offensive coordinator at the University of Washington.

After leaving Cal, Gilbertson joined Erickson's staff with the Seattle Seahawks, who gave Erickson his first NFL head coaching job in 1995. Erickson had a mediocre 31-33 record in four years and no playoff appearances. Mediocre for most teams, at least.

The Seahawks were 2-14, 6-10 and 6-10 the three seasons prior to Erickson's arrival. In his final season, they went 8-8 and finished a win shy of a playoff berth.

"He didn't inherit what we have here when he went to the Seahawks," 49ers consultant Bill Walsh said.

That initial NFL foray, coupled with his storied success in 17 years as a collegiate head coach, helped Erickson win the 49ers' job over three NFL defensive coordinators, none of whom had ever been a head coach.

Sandwiched between that Seahawks stint were success stories in the college ranks, winning two national championships at Miami from 1989-94 and turning around perennial doormat Oregon State from 1999-2002.

But still, his memories with the Seahawks made him crave redemption on the pro circuit.

"That (Seahawks) job was left unfinished, basically," said Gregg Smith, an assistant under Erickson since 1982, when Erickson made his debut as a collegiate head coach at Idaho.

Said Erickson: "I look forward to helping us go to a world championship. ... That is why I am here. That is why I took the job."

In April 2001, Erickson vowed he'd only return to the NFL if he had "total control and answer to the owner," according to an interview with The Spokesman Review in Spokane, Wash. He echoed that stance six months ago, telling The Columbian in Vancouver, Wash., "Unless you have total control and you've got the ear of the owner, you've got a real problem."

Erickson, known as a no-nonsense talker, said those comments stemmed from his frustrating days with the Seahawks, who went through an ownership change in his tenure there and became the only team to ever fire him.

"I don't want the power to make every decision personnel-wise. I don't want that," Erickson said. "I want to coach football. That's what I was hired to do."

The primary reason 49ers owner representative John York cited in firing Steve Mariucci as coach on Jan. 15 was "philosophical differences," or, specifically, Mariucci's insistence to have more of a say in personnel.

Erickson won't have anywhere near "total control," but general manager Terry Donahue said he will share in personnel decisions. He also will have the ear of York, who said he plans to speak with the coach before and after games without being too overbearing.

"He's a coach," Gilbertson said. "He's not a players' coach. Not a management's coach. Not alumni's coach. He's a coach."

"He really understands the pulse of what is going on with his team, and whether they need to have a bone thrown at them or if they need to have the reigns tightened a little bit and I like that about him," said former Seahawks quarterback Warren Moon.

Football has long consumed Erickson. His father, Robert "Pink" Erickson, was a longtime high school coach in Everett, and his only son was always at his side. "He started watching football when other kids were watching cartoons," said Erickson's mother, Mary. "He used to go with his dad and watch film instead of cartoons."

Once his career as a quarterback ended at Montana State, Erickson ventured into coaching. At 35, he became a collegiate head coach, bringing to Idaho a spread offense that he learned at San Jose State under Jack Elway from 1979-81.

As Erickson worked his way up the ladder, he picked up valuable lessons, such as the way he left Wyoming after a one-year stint in 1986.

Soon after pledging his allegiance to return for a second season, he accepted the head coaching job at Washington State, doing so at a coaches convention in San Diego. He didn't return to Laramie, Wyo., where his home promptly received a rock through a window as well as telephone death threats.

Lesson learned, he confronted his Oregon State players Monday night and explained why he was leaving, less than a week after recruits signed letters of intent. Still, players and media publicly flogged him.

"He's pretty resilient," Smith said. "When you've been in the spotlight as much as he has, those things are like rubber darts that hit you and bounce right off."

Erickson's reputation was hit right in the bull's-eye at Miami, despite a sterling 63-9 record. Not only was he reportedly accused by school officials of hiding a drug test to keep Warren Sapp eligible, Erickson became the scapegoat for NCAA sanctions that were imposed in late 1995, with Miami being docked 31 scholarships and a bowl appearance.

Gino Torretta, a Pinole Valley High School product, defended Erickson, under whom he won the Heisman Trophy in 1992 as Miami's quarterback.

"He's been treated unfairly since he left Miami," Torretta said. "When it comes right down to it, the University of Miami went on probation because of a lack of institutional control. It had nothing to do with the football program or what coach Erickson did. It was the person in administration issuing Pell Grants illegally.

"I don't blame Dennis for that. ... The guy was 63-9 when he was here. That in itself is enough said. The guy knows how to win football games. He knows how to push buttons with certain players."

Erickson's documented drinking problems surfaced after joining the Seahawks. He was arrested in April 1995 for drunken driving, reportedly with a .23 blood-alcohol level that is nearly three times the legal limit of .08.

"It's not a concern for us," Donahue said of Erickson's past incidents. "We're very confident about our selection of Dennis as a person and as a coach."

Added York: "Those (past incidents) were all discussed and he learned from those mistakes. I don't think we'll see any problems there."

Erickson now gets a chance to see what he learned from his first NFL experience.

"I'm excited for him in that he gets a second chance, and a lot of people don't get that. I'm living proof," said Gilbertson, Cal's coach from 1992-95. "A lot of people don't get to wipe the slate clean. He gets to do so with the 49ers."

NOTES: Former 49ers fullback Tom Rathman, the team's running backs coach since 1996, reportedly has accepted a three-year deal to serve in a similar role under Mariucci with the Detroit Lions. ... Erickson's coaching staff will include four more holdovers: secondary coach Brett Maxie, offensive assistant Chris Beake, defensive assistant Dan Quinn and offensive quality control coach Jason Tarver.

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