ERIC GILMORE: TIMES COLUMNIST

THE YEAR WAS 1965, and Jim Sweeney recruited Dennis Erickson, a short, skinny son of a high school football coach, to play quarterback for him at Montana State University.

Erickson stood only 5-foot-10 and weighed just 150 pounds when he moved into the starting lineup in his sophomore season. Yet when he ran the option offense, taking hit after hit from much larger players, Erickson was as fearless as he was brilliant, Sweeney said earlier this week.

"Every time I think of Dennis, I think of his playing career because he was such a courageous and smart guy," said Sweeney, a former Montana State, Washington State and Fresno State coach.

"Dennis called his own plays. He was a leader among the players. He was leather tough. He grew up, like all sons of coaches, with a love and understanding of the game that goes beyond most kids."

Nearly 40 years later, that tough, heady quarterback, who played with a broken wrist one season at Montana State, is the 49ers' new coach.

Not everyone celebrated this week when the 49ers hired Erickson. He has plenty of critics, who point to his 31-33 record in four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

Sweeney, understandably, has a different take about a person he not only coached for three seasons but also hired as his offensive coordinator at Fresno State in 1976.

"I think he's got a chance to be renewed or born again," Sweeney said during a telephone interview from his home in Maui. "I'm sure he'll take advantage of the opportunity.

"I talk to him quite often. He's elated and feels like he's very fortunate, and he's anxious to prove he can do the job. ... He's got experience. He had a chance to make his mistakes, if you will, and to see what he'll do different after leaving the Seattle Seahawks."

Sweeney knew Erickson long before he coached Miami to two national championships, long before he led Oregon State back from the college football dead.

Sweeney knew him when he was a first-year offensive coordinator at Fresno State, learning his craft.

Sweeney couldn't stop laughing as he recalled one tough coaching lesson Erickson learned that year.

After one practice, Sweeney pulled Erickson aside and ripped his coaching performance.

Sweeney said he told Erickson, "'You know Dennis, you're the greatest competitor I ever coached, but as a coach, you're just running a popularity contest.

"'You're either going to coach those kids harder, or I'm going to come do it for you.'

Sweeney said Erickson had "big old tears" running down his face.

"I crushed him," he said. "He wasn't used to getting his butt chewed. ... I never had to tell him again to tighten it up. I did have to tell him to back off a little bit."

The image of Erickson as a "no-nonsense guy on the field" seems to contradict his reputation as a so-called player's coach.

Sweeney, though, said Erickson demands discipline and attention to detail during practice but allows his players to express themselves.

"Dennis doesn't put them all in the same boat and say, 'This is the way we're going to act.' He lets them act as individuals," Sweeney said.

"Players like that. His Miami team and his Oregon State team had a certain flamboyance."

Sounds like the perfect coach for wide receiver Terrell Owens, the most flamboyant 49er.

What's more, Sweeney said Erickson will be "the answer to (quarterback Jeff) Garcia's prayers" because he's aggressive and loves to throw the ball on first down.

"I think Dennis will throw away the manuscript as far as playing it by the book is concerned," he said.

The question, however is this: Which playbook will Erickson use? Erickson said he'll run the 49ers' West Coast offense and keep the same terminology but add a few of his own wrinkles.

Sweeney said he'll believe that when he sees it. He expects Erickson to use primarily a version of the one-back spread offense Erickson first learned as offensive coordinator under the late Jack Elway at San Jose State from 1979-81. He said he expects Erickson to attack defenses deep, using three- and four-receiver sets.

"He's not going to run the West Coast offense," Sweeney predicted. "The vertical passing game has been more of a (staple) with Dennis than the controlled passing game of the West Coast.

"I think there's going to be a meld and a blending. ... I would think Dennis would make a mistake if he deviated from that which got him the job."

Those who underestimate this fearless son of a high school football coach might be making a mistake, too.

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