Erickson Eager To Sate Seattle Fans’ Appetite Even With Victory-Starved Seahawks, Pressure Should Be Less Than In Miami
Dennis Erickson couldn’t do enough for the fans in Miami. So he decided it was time to move on to the Seattle Seahawks and do something for their victory-starved fans.
After coaching the Hurricanes to two national championships and a 63-9 record in six seasons, Erickson left the high pressure of Miami’s job to take on the high pressure as an NFL head coach.
Were the fans mad at him back in Miami? Or were they happy to see him leave?
“I’ll call and see if the house (in Miami) is still standing and then I’ll let you know,” Erickson said Monday.
In order for a coach to keep the critics off his back in Miami, he has to go 12-0 and win a national title, Erickson said. Anything less isn’t acceptable.
Erickson’s last two Miami teams went 19-5, leaving a lot of Hurricanes fans unhappy.
Erickson, 47, wasn’t happy, either.
“Probably the last two years at Miami have been the toughest,” he told a news conference. “Going 9 and 3 and going 10 and 2 and losing the national championship. Those are tough years in that town for me, to be very honest with you. It wore on me.”
Erickson was hired by Seahawks majority owner Ken Behring last week, but couldn’t get to Seattle until this week because he coached in Saturday’s East-West Shrine AllStar game in Palo Alto, Calif.
Erickson said he decided to go after the Seahawks’ job after his Hurricanes lost to national champ Nebraska 24-17 in the Orange Bowl. If Miami had beaten Nebraska and if Oregon had beaten Penn State in the Rose Bowl, the Hurricanes could have won their third national title under Erickson.
“I sort of saw the attitude of the town,” he said. “I just felt it was time for me to leave. It was time for me to take on another challenge.”
How much pressure is there on the coach in Miami?
“You just don’t lose at all and it’s OK,” he said.
Erickson has recommended Colorado State’s Sonny Lubick, his defensive coordinator in Miami from 1989 through 1992, to succeed him in Miami. Lubick interviewed for the Hurricanes’ job Sunday night.
Erickson said he’s not sure if he’s doing Lubick a favor.
“I feel sorry for the next guy going in there, to be very honest with you, because the expectations are very high,” he said.
Erickson arrived in Miami in 1989 from Washington State to succeed the popular Jimmy Johnson. Johnson went on to coach two Super Bowl winners in Dallas.
“Jimmy struggled and then when he left (Miami) he became a hero,” Erickson said. “I went in there and I struggled. I don’t know if I’m going to be a hero.”
Erickson was constantly being compared with Johnson. The comparison grew too old.
“It’s unbelievable how it works,” he said. “Every time we won a game, it was with Jimmy’s guys. Every time we lost a game, it was Dennis’ guys.”
Erickson left college football with a 113-40-1 record in 13 seasons as the head coach at Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State and Miami. He said there’s too much pressure on coaches to win the national championship today.
“Fifteen years ago, it was just a matter of going to a bowl game,” he said. “If you went to the Rose Bowl, it was a great season regardless of what happened. Now, with this national championship thing in the polls, it’s become a completely different game.”
Erickson, a native of Everett, was welcomed by his parents, still residents of Everett, and a sister at the news conference. It was a wonderful homecoming.
He said all the right things about turning the Seahawks (14-34 in three seasons under Tom Flores) from losers into Super Bowl contenders. Although Behring expects him to win here, Erickson knows the pressure initially will be a lot less in Seattle than it was in Miami.
He remembered being a hero for coaching Washington State to a 24-22 victory over Houston in the 1988 Aloha Bowl, a season when the Cougars went 9-3. It was Washington State’s first bowl victory since 1916.
“I had more fun in the Aloha Bowl than I had in all those other bowls,” he said. “We just went and played and there wasn’t anything on the line. It was fun.”