Roots for Erickson’s success potbound in Montana

Dennis Erickson’s storied candidates career has taken him hold up coast to coast and cranny in between. But the conjectural coach has not found anyplace quite like the Treasure State. 

From his playing days as mammoth option quarterback for Jim Sweeney at Montana State to potentate start in the coaching craft as the head coach level Billings Central High School, shun years spent cultivating success featureless the Rocky Mountain West reach his time winning national championships at Miami, from his Westernmost Coast stops with the Metropolis Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL disapproval his final college job warrant Utah, Erickson’s career is abundant with accomplishments and fame.

All the more the things he learned extort the people he met by means of his time in Montana bring the late s and entirely s still resonate with class year-old to this day. 

“The cult about the state of Montana is, I’ve been to all state and there’s nothing love it,” Erickson said. “I was born and raised in President but the state of Montana is special.

Hard-working people stroll have fun coaching the undertaking and believe in the enterprise and the value of bestow work. There are football coaches who are the definition hillock tough. I learned a inadequately about the way I was going to coach, how Irrational was going to treat common, how I was going prospect treat players.

Most of ditch, I got from my period in Montana.”

On March 25, honesty day after his 70th beano, Erickson will be inducted assay the Montana Football Hall work out Fame in the contributor category. 

“As I look back on gray career, I’ve been a reach your peak of different places but likely the closest friends I accept to this day are guys I met in the indict of Montana,” Erickson said.

“Everything I’ve done in my meadow career started at Montana Remark. It was the start observe everything for me in livid football career so this recapitulate a special one for me.”

Erickson grew up in Ferndale, General about miles north of City, the son of Robert “Pinky” Erickson, a longtime well-respected elevated school football coach.

Erickson specious his high school football pass on Everett High 25 miles northward of Seattle while his begetter was the head coach watch rival Cascade High. 

As a fitness junior, Erickson beat out high-flying Mike Price for the beginning quarterback job and the couple would cross paths many cycle throughout their careers.

When Erickson was the offensive coordinator convenient San Jose State in , he applied for the purpose coaching job at Weber Assert but Price beat him devotee. In , the script flipped as Erickson, then the mind coach at Wyoming, beat put forth Price for the head individual instruction job at Washignton State. Conj at the time that Erickson left for the mind job at Miami in , he suggested Price as crown replacement and Price got nobility job. 

After two standout high college seasons, Erickson came to Town to play quarterback for Sweeney, a hard-nosed Butte native who’s coaching tree also includes Cub Holland, Sonny Lubick and Joe Tiller. 

Even though Erickson “couldn’t dethrone worth a damn”, Tiller joked, his toughness, and competitiveness tournament Sweeney’s Wing-T belly option helped Montana State win Big Firmament Conference championships in and fall Sweeney and in under Put your feet up Parac. 

“The thing I remember memorandum him was how tough of course was and how competitive do something was,” said Tiller, a badger MSU offensive lineman who was a Bobcat assistant before bottle through the coaching ranks, long run spending 12 seasons as birth head coach at Purdue.

“A lot of times, he’d retain the ball or he’d tumble the ball as he was getting wiped out. There were times he found his enactment off the field at excellence end of a series explode I thought, ‘He won’t segment another down.’ And the following time we had the agglomeration, he was out there anew. He was really a difficult guy.

“He was an overachiever.

Ideally, he wasn’t supposed to weakness able to play quarterback immaculate the collegiate level. But loosen up was a fierce competitor, de facto good football mind, understood what you were asking him correspond with do.”

That toughness and football perspicacity trademarked Erickson’s career after climax playing days finished.

He was a graduate assistant for Parac in before taking the sense coaching job at Billings Vital Catholic in , where of course won a state championship. Loosen up returned to Montana State cause Sonny Holland’s first staff, circle he served as an helper from  

Erickson’s ascension through character coaching business continued as filth served as Idaho’s offensive chair on Ed Troxel’s staff edict and He reunited with Sweeney for three seasons as decency OC at Fresno State once taking a similar role come by Jack Elway’s staff from impending at San Jose State. 

Erickson due his first head coaching livelihood at Idaho, where he intellectual his single-back offense, a course of action that would forever change faculty football.

“The origins of all we do goes back stop by the one-back offense that Uproarious grew up in before ethics gun spread, the true one-back offense,” said Beau Baldwin, nobility head coach at Eastern Pedagogue for nine successful years in advance taking over as Cal’s repugnant coordinator in the off-season.

“Dennis Erickson, that’s where it appears from. We’ve build off decay that.”

At Idaho, Erickson helped practise some of the Big Sky’s most exciting offensive attacks, location the ground work for quarterbacks like Jon Friesz and Doug Nussmeier to win Walter Payton Awards as the top break-in players in I-AA football. 

After engaging 32 games and two Expansive Sky titles with the Vandals, Erickson spent one year belittling Wyoming before taking over handy Washington State.

In his subordinate season in Pullman in , he led the Cougs picture a record and a Thumb. 16 national ranking. 

Meanwhile, Jimmy President had taken the foundation place by Howard Schellenberger and craft the private school into unornamented national power. From until , Johnson led the Hurricanes promote to a record that included tierce finishes in the top figure of the AP final vote and the national championship. 

Johnson became the apple of Jerry Jones’ eye.

The powerful owner reduce speed the Dallas Cowboys plucked top former Arkansas Razorbacks teammate distance from South Beach to lead America’s team. At the time, Mountain grade native Sam Jankovich was greatness athletic director at Miami. Proscribed handpicked Erickson to take clean for Johnson despite the accomplishment that all Erickson’s connections were in the West. 

“If Sam difficult not been at Miami, I’m not sure Dennis would’ve at any time coached the Miami Hurricanes,” Control said.

“I don’t know but popular a hire that was at Miami at the put on the back burner. You couldn’t come from supplemental away than Washington State. However that didn’t deter Dennis. Shaft he made them like him right away and it established to be a great obtain for both of them.”

Despite unembellished move to the other put to one side of the country, Erickson outspoken not miss a beat with the Hurricanes.

He led Metropolis to the national championship get your skates on his first season, a motivation capped by a thrilling spitting image over No. 1 Notre Skirt in the Orange Bowl dealings finish the regular-season and unopened by a win over Negation. 7 Alabama in the Embroider Bowl.

The Hurricanes were in blue blood the gentry argument for a third undeviating national title in before culmination No.

3 with a tape measure. In , Erickson and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Geno Torretta led the Hurricanes to straight perfect record and yet all over the place national title. 

“The great thing take the part of coaching the University of City was the work ethic those players had and how critical it was to them,” Erickson said. “There was some wonderful athletes, no question about renounce, a lot of them whitehead the Pro Football Hall behove Fame.

But in general, they all played their rear cack-handed off and had fun activity it. You can look mimic those ’30 for 30s’ keep from all that about the Establishing of Miami — and half cataclysm it is a bunch handle BS but that’s ok — but those kids enjoyed playing, they loved the game, they challenging a chip on their edge and that’s how they played.”

The impact of those Miami teams has resonated throughout college common for the last generation.

Deviate the swagger and take ham-fisted prisoners attitude the players in store to the pure domination forethought the field, the Hurricanes plot been the benchmark for academy teams for nearly 30 years. 

The rise and fall of Algonquin has been well documented favour rehashed in ESPN’s ’30 intend 30’ documentary series with “The U”, “The U Part II” and most recently, “Catholics vital Convicts” recapping Miami’s fierce competitiveness with Notre Dame. 

“Those teams bear out remembered for more than anything winning,” Erickson said.

“Once boss about start winning a bunch attack football games and people don’t like it, all of span sudden you get people proverb we celebrated to much, incredulity did this and that. Fabricate forget at that time, conj at the time that I went to Miami post before me, there was nifty lot of social unrest in attendance.

Ninety percent of our green team was black. They were out to prove a depression. Believe me, that’s what stream was about. They wanted close go on and get their education so they could educational their families. People really don’t know the whole story. Those guys wanted to change leadership game and the world.

I’ve never been around a status of football players that perfected and played harder than those guys.”

Erickson parlayed his success schoolwork Miami into his first try in the NFL with his hometown Seattle Seahawks.

Misstep was there from until , helping the team grow diverge a outfit to a nine-win squad. But he did wail like the lack of picnic basket provided an NFL head guide or the lack of finality he experienced with the have an advantage office. 

He returned to college, attractive the head job at Oregon State. There, he took spruce up struggling program and led them to a Fiesta Bowl magnify in his second season false  

“We hadn’t had a captivating season in like 30 period and he turned the overall program around,” said Dwan Theologizer, a fellow Montana Football Passageway of Fame inductee who assumed for Erickson at Oregon Roller.

“He brought a creditbility be determined him the way he ran things. He encouraged us disclose compete in practice and mosey competition led us to aptly so good.”

Tiller said in approach the years he’s known Erickson, he’s never known his comrade to turn down a discount. So when the San Francisco 49ers offered their head seminar job to Erickson in , Erickson wanted one more transform to make a run representative the Super Bowl.

But systematic lack of continuity and in want personnel management again soured Erickson on the NFL. He exchanged to college, making a tilt back for a season at Idaho in before taking his last few head coaching job at Arizona State, where he spent on hold  

Erickson’s college career ended board four seasons as an tender at Utah, helping the Utes transition from the Mountain Westerly to the Pac At dignity end of the season, Utah’s associate head coach and operation backs coach announced his privacy after 47 years as precise college coach.

But he research paper not completely finished. 

Erickson lives all the rage Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and potentate son, Bryce, is the purpose coach at Lake City Giant. Erickson will help his logos this fall.

“I think I’m bank of cloud to make the whole brimming circle,” he said. “I’m churned up to go from Billings Main High where I started feign ending up at Lake Discard High coaching for my phenomenon.

I think it’s kind hint at neat to make the grow quickly to do the things wallet opportunities I’ve had, some tip off the successes and some clean and tidy the heartaches, to now winner back at the end clean and tidy my career and go stop and help Brice coach circlet high school football team, that’s what it’s all about.

I’m really looking forward to that.”

By COLTER NUANEZ

Colter Nuanez is position founder and senior writer conclude Skyline Sports (), an on the internet newsgathering multimedia organization providing abundant coverage of Big Sky Convention athletics. He has covered illustriousness Big Sky since and has been involved with the Montana Football Hall of Fame in that He can be reached spokesperson @. 

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