San Francisco fires Erickson
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Coach Dennis Erickson and general manager Terry Donahue presided over some of the darkest days in the proud history of the San Francisco 49ers, who lost games, good players and incalculable respect in recent years.
They insisted they had a plan to restore the franchise to glory, but owner John York decided it’s time for a whole new plan.
York fired Erickson and Donahue on Wednesday, three days after the 49ers finished with the NFL’s worst record. York made a rare public appearance to announce the dramatic changes to his team, which went 2-14 to match the worst season in San Francisco history.
Erickson went 9-23 in two seasons as Steve Mariucci’s successor, never reaching the postseason. He won two national championships at the University of Miami during a successful college coaching career, including stints at Idaho and Washington State, but is 40-56 in six seasons as an NFL coach in San Francisco and Seattle.
Erickson got the news in a meeting with York on Wednesday morning.
“There really wasn’t much more than that, other than I thanked him for the opportunity,” Erickson said. “They wanted to go their direction; I’ve got to go my direction. It’s a divorce. It’s final now.”
Erickson had three years and $7.5 million remaining on the contract he signed in 2003.
The hefty financial package was thought to be the biggest obstacle to York’s desire to make changes, but the owner decided to shoulder the expense – in total, paying Erickson about $1.39 million for every victory with the 49ers.
The new coach and general manager will get to use the first overall pick in the draft, but the 49ers’ reputation has declined steadily since York and his wife took over in 1999.
York said he plans to hire a winning head coach with NFL experience before replacing his general manager, although he doesn’t expect one man to hold both jobs. He has a list of fewer than 10 candidates, including a few coaches still working for playoff teams.
York didn’t deny an interest in speaking to former Patriots and Jets coach Pete Carroll, who wrapped up his second straight national championship with Southern California on Tuesday night.
“I think we all watched the game last night. That was a tremendous game,” York said. “They were very dominant, and he’s a great coach.”
Donahue, the longtime UCLA coach, was the hand-picked successor to Bill Walsh, who led the team’s rebuilding from a similar salary cap-induced funk five years ago. Just four months after Donahue signed a four-year contract extension reportedly worth about $5 million, he reached a financial settlement with York.
“I am very disappointed that I do not have the opportunity to remain with the 49ers,” Donahue said in a statement. “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind with the improvement in the salary cap situation, the return of a lot of injured players along with a good draft, that we would have experienced a great deal of success in the future.”
Since 2001, Donahue has been criticized for mediocre drafts and unorthodox strategies, from his difficult salary cap relief plan to his reliance on unusual player evaluation methods.
Erickson, the 14th coach in San Francisco history, is 144-57-1 as a head coach at five universities, but never had a winning season in six years in the NFL.
Erickson said he doesn’t want to get out of coaching. Syracuse has the only remaining Division I-A vacancy.