Sweeney Happy To See Erickson Flee Hurricane New Seahawks Coach Made Right Choice, Says Mentor

Jim Sweeney, who recruited Dennis Erickson out of high school and later gave him his first football coaching job, says he’s happy to see his former protege reach the pinnacle of his career with the Seattle Seahawks.

But just as important, he’s relieved to see Erickson leave the University of Miami in his rearview mirror.

“Miami was a dream job, but also you could say that dream was a nightmare,” Sweeney said. “That was an EXTREMELY difficult thing. He’d been under the gun since the day he got there.

“By no means will it be easy for him in Seattle, but at least he’s going in with a swell of support as sort of the favorite son up there.”

That’s the kind of support Erickson never received in his six seasons at Miami, when his teams went 63-9, with two national championships.

Sweeney, 65, is in his 43rd year of a coaching career that has stretched from Butte, Mont., to the Oakland Raiders, with an eight-year stint as Washington State head coach and 17 seasons and running at Fresno State.

“I don’t think there’s any pressure anywhere in football worse than Miami,” he said. “There is pressure everywhere, but it’s ridiculous at Miami.

“The people there say, ‘Let’s see you prove you can win a national championship.’

“And the day after he does that, they say, ‘OK, let’s see you prove you can win another one.’

“And the day after he does THAT, they say, ‘OK, let’s see you prove you can win ANOTHER one.’

“At Miami, Dennis was asked to do the impossible, and he’s done it.”

Erickson’s Hurricanes won two national championships (1989 and 1991) and came within a bowlgame victory of winning two others (1990 and 1992), and in a fifth season (1994), his team was within striking distance of the title on New Year’s Day.

Since Hurricane fans had become accustomed to championships after Howard Schnellenberger (1983) and Jimmy Johnson (1985 and 1987) had delivered, the pressure was heaped upon Erickson, just as it will be heaped upon whoever will follow his act.

“I know Jimmy Johnson very well, and I think Dennis is a lot like Jimmy,” Sweeney said of the coach who guided the Dallas Cowboys to the past two Super Bowl championships. “He is a very intense, and I mean FIERCE competitor.”

Johnson left Miami after five seasons and then stepped aside as a victim of coaching burnout (and a volatile relationship with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones) after five more seasons.

“Dennis has probably had more to do with the shaping of college football offensively than anybody in the past 10 years, with his singleback offense,” Sweeney said. “He’ll become more diversified in the NFL, I’m sure, but I think more important - the qualities he has of intensity, inspiration, and the ability to get the most out of his players - are a big part of his makeup.

“They’re a lot like Jimmy. I see a lot of parallels.”

One parallel that does not exist: In Seattle, expectations have bottomed out after four consecutive losing seasons and a decade since a playoff-game victory.