Wulff, Erickson cross paths again

PULLMAN – If there’s one thing Paul Wulff remembers about Dennis Erickson, it was the fire.

Erickson, Wulff’s former Washington State coach, burned to win. That’s how Wulff, WSU’s current coach, remembers the guy he first met more than 20 years ago.

“The competitiveness,” answered Wulff this week when asked what he recalled about the two years he played for Erickson, who will be across the field Saturday when the Cougars travel to Tempe and face Arizona State.

“I keep saying that word – how competitive he is and how competitive you need to be at this level if you want to have success on the field in terms of wins and losses,” Wulff said. “And anything but success is just not going to be fun or tolerated.”

That made Wulff’s second year playing for the man he still calls Coach much more fun.

In 1988, the Cougars finished 9-3, 5-3 in the Pac-10 – including a memorable upset of No. 1 UCLA in Southern California – and won the Aloha Bowl.

But in Erickson’s first year in Pullman, WSU was 3-7-1, 1-5-1 in conference, and Erickson’s competitive nature was tested.

“Yeah, it was difficult,” Wulff said. “But it’s not uncommon.”

Not uncommon for a coach to struggle in his first year at a new school is what Wulff meant, and he and this year’s Cougars are proof of that.

WSU will take a 1-9 overall mark and a 0-7 Pac-10 record to Arizona this week. The Cougars already hold the Pac-10 record for most points yielded in a single season (502) and are closing in on the national mark (566, set by Eastern Michigan in 2002).

Erickson understands, having gone through losing streaks in his career, including a six-game one this year with a Sun Devils team that was expected to challenge for a Pac-10 title.

So he’s called his former player.

“After a couple tough defeats, early in the season, he’s given me a call, kind of a pep talk,” Wulff said.

So did he return the favor when ASU struggled?

“No, because we’re still in ours,” Wulff said, laughing. “But you’re right, I probably should have.”

Not that Erickson isn’t used to the ups and downs of coaching college – and professional – football. In a career that dates back to the Nixon Administration, Erickson thought he had seen it all – and he’s probably right.

“I’m trying to think,” Erickson said this week when asked about former players becoming head coaches. “I’ve done most things in this profession, but I think this is the first time I’ve coached against anybody that played for me.”

Actually, Wulff opened his coaching career at Eastern Washington playing Erickson’s Oregon State team, but this is the first time the two have squared off as conference equals.

Steve Broussard, who played for Erickson at WSU and with the Seahawks, now coaches running backs for Wulff in Pullman. He’s hoping to be the second Erickson player to be a head coach. But for now, he is one guy who can compare the two and their coaching styles. And he sees similarities.

“Players’ coaches,” is how Broussard described Erickson and Wulff. “Fair. Playing for Dennis and then coaching with Paul, they want guys who will compete and work hard, get after it and get the job done. I can see them relating to the players in a similar fashion.”

That might explain why Erickson feels Wulff will ultimately have success at WSU.

“He’s the right guy for that job,” Erickson said. “He’ll do a great job there. Like all of our places, it takes some time and it takes some here, too, so he’ll do a good job. You know, he’s a Cougar and that’s very, very important.”

“I think that would make anybody feel good,” Wulff said when informed of Erickson’s comments. “When somebody who is very respected in the business and obviously has a clue of what’s going on in the college football world, yeah, it makes you feel good.

“Dennis has been here. He knows what Washington State is all about and probably as much as anybody understands the type of philosophy it takes to be successful here.”

“The one thing that does happen is you watch them very closely, to see how they’re doing and hope that they have success – except for one week,” Erickson said.