Upset Vandals try to move forward
It was business as usual at the University of Idaho athletic department Sunday. They held the staff Christmas party. Players showed up for a team meeting to hear another football coach explain why he was leaving them for another job.
Fairly routine stuff.
“We’ve all been through it before,” rising junior running back Jayson Bird said. “So we just stood there and it was kind of dull when he (Erickson) talked. He said, ‘it’s all about you guys, not who is coaching you.’ Damn right, I guess. Nobody really got fired up until after he left.”
After Erickson spoke and left the room, senior-to-be linebacker David Vobora addressed his teammates.
“He got up and said, ‘it is about us, not them,’ so it’s kind of the theme,” Bird said. “It doesn’t really matter who the coaches are – well, it does – but we’re the reason they have jobs. If they’re going to do that and play the politics game, it’s going to be hard for us to trust our next coach because we’ve been (messed with) a couple of times so it’s hard to deal with.”
Erickson exited to board a private jet that flew him to Phoenix where he’ll officially be named Arizona State’s head coach today at noon (local time). Idaho began severing ties Saturday night and issued a six-paragraph release Sunday acknowledging Erickson’s departure after one year.
“There was some tension in the air (at the meeting),” said quarterback Brian Nooy, one of the few Vandals brought to Moscow by Erickson, who came in after last year’s signing date. “There was a lot of disappointment throughout the team because everybody was excited about what we have next year and what we could do. It’s one of those deals where we have to put it behind us and look forward.”
That seems to be athletic director Rob Spear’s approach, though he said the reaction he’s hearing is “very angry (about Erickson leaving after one year) and very supportive of the program. I don’t know if you could say it will galvanize us, but I do think we have a chance to turn a negative into a positive.”
Spear is conducting his third search for a football coach in four years.
“I’m going to find somebody that not only understands Idaho but appreciates the university and what a fine institution we have,” he said. He wouldn’t give a timetable, adding, “It’s going to be done when it’s done.”
Among the names that could surface are ex-Vandal coach John L. Smith, Montana State coach Mike Kramer, Montana coach Bobby Hauck and San Diego coach Jim Harbaugh.
Smith’s name is intriguing, but Idaho will be understandably wary about pursuing a popular ex-Vandal coach without assurances of a long-term commitment after Erickson’s 10-month stint. Kramer is a former Vandal player who has openly coveted the UI job. Hauck has kept Montana’s program among the tops in I-AA and Harbaugh guided the I-AA Toreros to an 11-1 record in 2006.
Whoever takes the job will have to mend some wounds with the players.
“It was kind of weird with Erickson talking and telling us he thinks he can win a national championship at Arizona State. It makes us realize the doubt he had in us,” Bird said. “I guess he has to do what he has to do. We just didn’t expect it, but it’s certainly something we can get over.
“Hopefully they can get a guy in here that genuinely cares about us and wants to build a program. The hardest thing is to find a guy that isn’t going to use us and not use the school as a stepping stone.”