by The Sports Xchange.

For the first time since the 49ers hired Bill Walsh as coach in 1979 and started winning Super Bowls just a couple years later, the organization is getting away from the West Coast offense lineage.

Dennis Erickson, who was hired Tuesday to be the 14th coach in 49ers history, is known for his work in the passing game.

But the offense he has implemented during his successful career is a spread offense, not the traditional West Coast system.

Team general manager Terry Donahue did all of the legwork on the hiring of Erickson, and owner John York said he is comfortable that a coach was selected who is better than Steve Mariucci, who was fired Jan. 15 because of philosophical differences.

"I believe we did," York said. "I believe Dennis is going to have a better relationship with the organization and I think he's going to be much more aggressive on both offensive and defense."

Erickson generally uses one back and three wide receivers. But Erickson has changed with the personnel he has at his disposal, as he went more with two backs last season because of protection breakdowns.

The change -- whether it turns out subtle or not -- was met with approval from quarterback Jeff Garcia, who was critical of the process when he heard the list of candidates who had emerged from the professional ranks.

"You have to like his standpoint on things and his attitude as far as wanting to be an aggressive-type of offense and defense," Garcia said. "Really, you look at our team and the knock against this team was that aggressiveness was a question mark. Not that we felt that as a team, but that was the knock outside the organization. If Dennis can bring that to this team, bring a finishing attitude to this team, that is a great thing for the organization."

Erickson emerged as the candidate from the college ranks after Washington coach Rick Neuheisel did not have an impressive interview over the weekend, team sources said.

The 49ers had listed three finalists from the professional ranks, each of whom is a defensive coordinator: the 49ers' Jim Mora, Greg Blache of the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets' Ted Cottrell.

Ultimately, the 49ers selected a coach who had experience as a head coach. In addition to a long, successful career as a college coach, Erickson also had a four-year stint with the Seattle Seahawks, in which his teams had a 31-33 record.

49ers general manager Terry Donahue liked the idea of Erickson using his creativity in the passing game to build on the team's existing West Coast offense.

Offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, quarterbacks coach Ted Tollner and offensive line coach Pat Morris are expected to be retained and help Erickson in the transition -- the morphing of his system with the one he is inheriting.

"I think it'll be an easy mesh," said Cincinnati offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, who held the same position under Erickson with the Seattle Seahawks.

"There are so many things that go back and forth between the West Coast offense and other offenses. The terminology is different, so I don't know how that's going to work out. There's enough stuff that Dennis does and what I've seen from San Francisco over the last few years, so I don't see it being an issue."

Erickson's Seahawks owned the league's No. 1 passing offense in 1997.

Under coach Steve Mariucci, the 49ers ranked No. 14 in passing each of the past two seasons. Garcia and Owens were outspoken critics of the offense, at times as both complained last year that the 49ers had lost its killer instinct.

The hiring of Erickson is a signal that Donahue wants the 49ers to get more aggressive on offense. In 2002, Garcia averaged 10.2 yards per completion -- the lowest average from a starting quarterback in team history.

Erickson has been a winner at nearly every stop, including national championships in 1989 and '91 at the University of Miami.

"I definitely remember watching Miami and the way they used to throw the ball around," 49ers offensive lineman Dave Fiore said. "I think it'll be a good fit for us and our offense.

"I don't know what kind of changes will take place to the offense but we've run more one-back sets over the past couple years just to show defenses different looks, so I think we can handle that adjustment. I'd think we'll probably keep a little bit of tradition in our offense."

Quarterback Jeff Garcia and receiver Terrell Owens have reason to be happy, according to some coaches who have worked with Erickson in the past.

"I think it'll be a great fit," said Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who played quarterback for Erickson at Idaho. "Not many coaches understand the passing game better than Dennis Erickson. The terminology will be a little different, but he's got a good staff around him and he'll make that transition.

"As I've followed his career, he's adjusted his spread offense to a lot of concepts that even the so-called West Coast offenses have been running. He does such a great job of utilizing the whole field. He spreads the field out and creates mismatches for offensive players."

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