Dennis Brian Erickson was born on March 24,1947 and is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football league.
35 Facts About Dennis Erickson
2.
Dennis Erickson was the head coach at the University of Idaho, the University of Wyoming, Washington State University, the University of Miami, Oregon State University, and Arizona State University.
3.
Dennis Erickson retired on December 30,2016, after 47 years in coaching.
4.
Dennis Erickson was raised in Ferndale, Washington, 100 miles north of Seattle, and in Everett, 25 miles north of Seattle.
5.
Robert "Pinky" Dennis Erickson, was the head football coach at Ferndale High School and later at Cascade High School Dennis Erickson played quarterback at the rival Everett High, coached by next-door neighbor, Bill Dunn.
6.
When Dennis Erickson left Washington State for Miami in 1989, he recommended Mike Price as his replacement, and Price rented Dennis Erickson's Pullman home.
7.
Dennis Erickson had beaten out Price for the Washington State job in 1987.
8.
Dennis Erickson was an effective undersized quarterback from 1966 to 1968, earning all-conference honors in the Big Sky.
9.
Immediately after his senior season, Dennis Erickson began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Bobcats in 1969.
10.
From 1971 to 1981 Dennis Erickson was a college assistant coach, working with the offense.
11.
When Jack Elway, a former Sweeney assistant at WSU, was hired at San Jose State in 1979, Dennis Erickson joined him for three seasons, again as the offensive coordinator.
12.
Dennis Erickson's head coaching career began at age 34 at the University of Idaho on December 11,1981, succeeding Jerry Davitch, who had been fired nine days prior to his final game.
13.
Dennis Erickson was hired by UI athletic director Bill Belknap and accepted a one-year contract at $38,001.
14.
On December 2,1985, Dennis Erickson was introduced as the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys.
15.
When introduced as the head coach of the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-10 on January 7,1987, Dennis Erickson stated that it was his lifelong goal to be the head coach at WSU in 1987 was a five-year deal at an annual base salary of $70,000, with up to $30,000 from radio, television, and speaking to the Palouse after just 13 months in Wyoming, then led the Cougars to in his first year, the same record the Cougars had the year before under Jim Walden.
16.
Dennis Erickson turned around the Washington State program quickly, going in 1988 with a post-season victory in the Aloha Bowl, WSU's first bowl win since the 1916 Rose Bowl.
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Dennis Erickson's continued success led to his hiring by the University of Miami although a week before he stated he was not leaving WSU.
18.
Dennis Erickson led Miami for six seasons, winning national championships in 1989 and 1991.
19.
Ultimately, Miami was placed on three years' probation not long after Dennis Erickson left the school, banned from postseason play in 1995 and docked 31 scholarships over three years.
20.
Dennis Erickson was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary The U, which premiered December 12,2009, on ESPN.
21.
In January 1999, Dennis Erickson returned to the college ranks when he was hired at Oregon State University in Corvallis, with a five-year contract at $300,000 per year.
22.
Dennis Erickson was named Sporting News National Coach of the Year in 2000, and his name came up for several high-profile college football positions.
23.
In late 2000, Dennis Erickson was a primary choice to fill the vacant position at USC, however he spurned a $7.2 million, five-year contract to remain with the Beavers, and the position eventually went to Pete Carroll.
24.
Dennis Erickson remained coach at Oregon State for four seasons before accepting another coaching position in the NFL.
25.
Dennis Erickson returned to the NFL in February 2003 with the San Francisco 49ers, and received a five-year contract at $2.5 million per year.
26.
The hiring of Dennis Erickson was very surprising and highly criticized by the fans and the media after a longer-than-usual coaching search to replace the fired coach Steve Mariucci.
27.
Dennis Erickson had won 32 games in his first four seasons as a head coach to establish Idaho as a top I-AA program in the Big Sky Conference.
28.
Dennis Erickson left to take a higher paying assistant's job in the NFL, as the defensive line coach for the St Louis Rams under new head coach Scott Linehan, a former Vandal quarterback and offensive coordinator.
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Dennis Erickson was paid $215,000 by Idaho and nearly $2.3 million by the 49ers for the fourth year of his NFL contract.
30.
Dennis Erickson was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year; the first to ever win the award at three different Pac-10 schools.
31.
Dennis Erickson coached another major award winner; placekicker Thomas Weber was named the Lou Groza Award winner.
32.
Dennis Erickson worked for the relatively low salary of $500,000 from ASU in his first season, with another $2 million paid by the 49ers for the last year of his NFL contract.
33.
In February 2013, Dennis Erickson came out of retirement to join the staff at the University of Utah as the co-offensive coordinator with Brian Johnson under head coach Kyle Whittingham.
34.
In 2018, Dennis Erickson was named the head coach of the Salt Lake Stallions, a team part of the Alliance of American Football, set to play in 2019.
35.
Dennis Erickson hired Bryce to the Arizona State staff, as a graduate assistant for his first two seasons.