Ira Miller

In selecting Dennis Erickson as their coach, the 49ers appear to be breaking with their offensive tradition and gambling that Erickson can do for them what he couldn't for the Seattle Seahawks -- translate his success as a college coach to the NFL.

Erickson's offensive style should appeal to Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens. Erickson believes in attacking aggressively, spreading the field with three or four wide receivers. When he coached at Seattle, he deployed formations with just one running back, or even no running backs, more often than two. He used the same approach with his college teams.

That style is the antithesis of Bill Walsh's original West Coast offense, which depended on a two-back formation almost all the time.

In essence, Erickson's hiring could mean the death of the West Coast offense in the city where it began. Of course, it's not a slam dunk that Erickson can make his offense work with the 49ers, because he likes to throw down the field, and that is not Garcia's strength.

With Warren Moon -- then 41 -- the quarterback in 1997, the Seahawks led the NFL in passing. The 49ers ranked 14th in passing each of the past two years.

"The thing I liked about (Erickson) was his wide-open offense," Moon said Tuesday. "What surprised me about him coaching (in San Francisco) was that they have been such a West Coast, horizontal passing game for the last 20 years, and he comes in with the vertical passing game.

"Maybe that's something they want to change and become more explosive, because the last couple of years, they haven't been explosive. He brings an offense that's going to get the ball down the field."

Even more important than style is whether Erickson is the right coach for the 49ers.

Some successful college coaches, such as Walsh and Jimmy Johnson, became big winners in the NFL. Others, such as Lou Holtz and, many years ago, Bud Wilkinson, failed miserably.

Is Erickson just another college coach who failed to make it in the NFL, or can he prove to be that rare NFL coach who simply needed a second chance (see: Mike Shanahan and Bill Belichick)? Mike Holmgren, who succeeded Erickson in Seattle, believes he is in the latter category.

In four years with the Seahawks, Erickson's teams failed to reach the playoffs, but his 31-33 regular-season record was identical to Holmgren's record in the four years since Erickson was fired.

In Seattle, Erickson's problem mostly was the lack of a quarterback, aside from the one good year with Moon. In Erickson's other years, with John Friesz, Rick Mirer and Jon Kitna at quarterback, the Seahawks ranked among the league's bottom 10 teams in passing.

Howard Mudd, a former 49ers player who served on Erickson's Seattle staff and now is the well-regarded offensive line coach of the Indianapolis Colts, said one of Erickson's strengths was evaluating personnel and how those players would fit into his team.

"He knows what he wants offensively, and it works," Mudd said.

Critics of Erickson's style, which led to discipline problems at the University of Miami and his own well-documented off-field issues involving alcohol, say he was too easygoing. Moon said Erickson got tougher near the end in Seattle and "learned a lot about being a head coach on the pro level as he went along."

Bob Bratkowski, offensive coordinator at Seattle under Erickson and now with the Cincinnati Bengals, described Erickson as "highly organized" and a "very strict disciplinarian -- within his own personality." Rich Olson, who was Erickson's quarterbacks coach with the Seahawks and might rejoin him in San Francisco, said Erickson was a "player's coach," but also a "disciplinarian."

That's a weird combination. Bratkowski said Erickson was well-organized and kept to a tight schedule. "If you weren't there (on time), you were going to hear about it, and you were going to get fined," Bratkowski said.

Erickson has had some experiences that should help him with the 49ers. He coached Owens in the Senior Bowl following the 1995 season and, according to Bratkowski, the Seahawks were just a couple of picks away from drafting Owens when the 49ers snatched him in the third round. Bratkowski said Owens was no problem for the coaches.

Then there's the matter of a dysfunctional front office. Erickson had that, too.

After his first season in Seattle, the former owner, Ken Behring, announced a move to Los Angeles. The move never happened, but offseason conditioning workouts were held in Anaheim, and, for a time, Erickson and general manager Randy Mueller had to work out of a Seattle hotel because their offices were closed.

All of that should have helped to prepare Erickson for the 49ers.

The first clue will be how he bends the offense to fit his playbook. To have any chance of success, Erickson must make the 49ers adapt to what he teaches, not the other way around because, otherwise, what was the point of changing coaches?

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