Yes, the Great Hunt is over after only four weeks and the 49ers have hired Dennis Erickson away from Oregon State to be their new head coach. Woohoo, no exclamation point. True, Erickson won two national titles at the University of Miami but those were over a decade ago and he left there under a cloud, with the team on probation. He was a head coach in the NFL before, four years in Seattle before Holmgren, but only had one good season there and went 31-33. Even at Oregon State he only had one really good season, going 11-1 in 2000 and finishing with a huge win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, but only getting about a .500 mark the rest of his tenure.
But that Fiesta Bowl win was very significant. 49ers owner “representative” Dr. John York (i.e., he’s married to team owner Denise Dibartolo York) is a Notre Dame alumnus and his school and its teams are very dear to him. So such a big win carries big weight in his decision making. Oddly Erickson is known as an offensive specialist but not someone who uses the West Coast offense and will need to retain current offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, QB coach Ted Tollner (another ex-Pac 10 head coach), and O-line coach Pat Morris to handle the details.
But the team needs help more on the defense, especially some hard core leadership. Jim Mora Jr. isn’t the man to give it, clearly, and that’s probably why he didn’t get the promotion; even one of his key players said that was unthinkable. The public stance, by the way, is that Mora might be retained, though to me this is doubtful and the team will need a big name to come in. Most of the other candidates were known for their defense.
But bang, out of the blue, even though so many other candidates were announced and discussed publicly, not a word about this man? I think Erickson has a chance to improve on Steve Mariucci’s results but also serious doubts that he will actually do so. I think Ted Cottrell, currently Jets defensive coordinator and apparently the Niners’ second choice, would have been a more exciting selection. Not too mention a defensive expert.
Here’s a link to a complete chart of the big NFL changes: Coaching Chart.
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