Time for Erickson to go

[Diamondback Jay]

Looking at his record over the last three years, Erickson is riding a record of 12-18.. His teams are perennially underachieving, there doesn't seem to be much discipline (no shocker there) with the team, and the faithful is seemingly growing restless. I know I personally am.

I'm not one who buys in the "grass is greener" theory all the time, but let's be honest. ASU should be better than the way they looked this week against Cal, and certainly should be better than 4-8 or 5-7.

What are some of the candidates you folks think would be worth looking in to as possible replacements? Am I off for wanting the Sun Devils to make some kind of change?

 

[Dback Jon]

Agreed - needs to go - now.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Am I off for wanting the Sun Devils to make some kind of change?

I didn't want him to be our coach in the first place so I'm all for getting rid of him.

 

[O]

He has what, two years left on his contract?


Unfortunately, I don't see him getting bought out.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

I didn't want him to be our coach in the first place so I'm all for getting rid of him.

Unfortunately, the list of candidates in 2006 was so underwhelming, he was the best of a poor crop. The only other name on the list that really had any kind of value was Mike Price.

I hope that if he is bought out and sent packing, Lisa Love is a little more expansive with her next search. There's some quality coaches out there worth taking a look at.

 

[HooverDam]

If ASU could get the money together to lure him here, I'd love Mike Leach. Maybe the football Gods would finally shine on the Devils if we hire a Coach who stuck a kid in a shed after long ago firing one who slugged a punter. He went to a Bowl game every year in Lubbock, had 10 winning seasons in a row and 8 seasons in a row with 8 or more wins. If he can do that in a town where the only appeal is "hey come see the Buddy Holly statue" I think he can do it in Tempe as well.

He may be too pricey though, but Id hope his name value would rally the boosters try to get him. If we have to go for the cheaper/up and coming route I'd like Dana Holgorsen, current OK St Offensive Coordinator. He coached as the OC for 7 years at TT, then Houston and is in his first year at OK St.

E: Also, it is time for DE to go. ASU only has like 12 seniors graduating this year, so its going to be a small recruiting class. It makes a perfect time to do a coaching change, since that will effect recruiting, it would be nice to do it in a year where a poor classes impact will be minimized.

 

[Wildcat05]

Question is, what will happen if Washington State pulls off the upset in Tempe this weekend?

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Question is, what will happen if Washington State pulls off the upset in Tempe this weekend?

If ASU loses to Washington State, Erickson should be fired on the spot.

I know that sounds drastic but....

 

[ASUCHRIS]

If ASU could get the money together to lure him here, I'd love Mike Leach. Maybe the football Gods would finally shine on the Devils if we hire a Coach who stuck a kid in a shed after long ago firing one who slugged a punter. He went to a Bowl game every year in Lubbock, had 10 winning seasons in a row and 8 seasons in a row with 8 or more wins. If he can do that in a town where the only appeal is "hey come see the Buddy Holly statue" I think he can do it in Tempe as well.

He may be too pricey though, but Id hope his name value would rally the boosters try to get him. If we have to go for the cheaper/up and coming route I'd like Dana Holgorsen, current OK St Offensive Coordinator. He coached as the OC for 7 years at TT, then Houston and is in his first year at OK St.

E: Also, it is time for DE to go. ASU only has like 12 seniors graduating this year, so its going to be a small recruiting class. It makes a perfect time to do a coaching change, since that will effect recruiting, it would be nice to do it in a year where a poor classes impact will be minimized.

I'd be fine with Leach. Bottom line is, this team needs to start winning, and I think he'd do really well here.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

If ASU could get the money together to lure him here, I'd love Mike Leach. Maybe the football Gods would finally shine on the Devils if we hire a Coach who stuck a kid in a shed after long ago firing one who slugged a punter. He went to a Bowl game every year in Lubbock, had 10 winning seasons in a row and 8 seasons in a row with 8 or more wins. If he can do that in a town where the only appeal is "hey come see the Buddy Holly statue" I think he can do it in Tempe as well.

Well said..

Here's my list of possible candidates, or ones I'd at least like to see ASU consider.

Mike Leach:
Former Head Coach
Texas Tech

Needless to say, this off-season expect Leach to be the pretty girl at the Junior High School dance. Expect him to have quite a few suitors.

In my humble and unbiased opinion, Leach would do extremely well in Tempe. If he can have success in the Big 12, recruiting talent to come to Lubbock, and still compete with those brutal defenses, I can see him bringing some luster back to Tempe. Also, he was a very good recruiter in Texas and California, so I could see him luring some of those gems here.

Price wise, I think he'd be well worth the investment. Personally, I could give a rat's rear-end less about the Adam James situation, that kid acted like a horse's behind from the minute he stepped foot in Lubbock, and everytime something didn't go his way, he threatened to go cry to Daddy. Kid disrespected coaches, teammates, danced all over team rules and never gave the respect to the team they deserved. Make no mistake about this, Gene Meyers was looking for a reason to get rid of Leach, the two NEVER saw eye to eye. Adam James was no saint, nor was Leach's infraction severe enough to merit termination in my judgement.

To me, winning 84 games in ten seasons in Lubbock is a monumental feat. I could easily see him winning that in Tempe.

If I had to make a judgement, I'd say he's #1A on my list of candidates, right there with...

Mark Richt
Head Coach
Georgia

Apparently, the relationship between he and Georgia is all but over. Why he's on the hot seat in Athens, especially when you consider his Bulldogs have averaged 9 wins a season and gone to the BCS 3 times in ten seasons, while finishing perennially in the Top 25 and around the top of the rugged SEC is beyond me.

Tell me he couldn't win 9 or more a season in Tempe? I know he and Leach are 1 and 1A on my list of candidates, and if I'm Lisa Love, I'm backing up the trucks for either.

Troy Calhoun
Head Coach
Air Force

Calhoun has done a very nice job at Air Force with limited resources. Winning 29 in three and a half years at the helm. With his NFL background (was the offensive coordinator for the Texans and an assistant with the Broncos), he might be an under the radar hire that could prove to be a nice long term investment.

Getting him to leave his roots (Calhoun was QB for the Falcons, and went through the Academy) might be a litte easier said than done however.

Will Muschamp
Defensive Coordinator
Texas

Reportedly, Muschamp is the "head coach in waiting" in Austin, however Mack Brown has shown no indications he plans on stepping aside anytime soon.

Could Muschamp, a top assistant and quality young defensive mind, be tempted to take a job after turning down several other chances, most notably Auburn, Washington and recently Tennessee? To me, the question looms: how long is he willing to wait for Brown to ultimately step to the side? I can imagine it will be before long that he decides to make the jump himself. Now that the Longhorn fanbase has become restless with some of Texas' troubles this year and have began to criticize Muschamp unfairly, it is entirely possible he may jump while his value is high.

Kevin Sumlin
Head Coach
Houston

Electric offense.. That's what Sumlin brings to the table..

His Oklahoma teams averaged 35 points a game or more during his tenure as Offensive Coordinator, and he's poured over that success with Houston, taking the offense Art Briles instilled and perfecting it, turning Chase Keenum and the Cougars into a high powered, electric offense.

He could be the poor man's Leach in my opinion. If Love looks to save a few bucks, he'd be worth the investment.

Here's just a few. Any you all would add?

 

[HooverDam]

I have no interest in Richt, it seems like he's got a couple of kids winding up on the police blotter every year. Leach told one kid to go sit in a shed, his 'baggage' is vastly less, Richt uses slime to me.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

"I've heard a lot of this talk about a hot seat. I think we have a football-wise fan base that are saying and understanding (that ASU's program is on the rise)."
Lisa Love -

Think Lisa got into the cat nip...

 

[Nasser22]

She's crazy.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

"On the rise"? Sure.. After a 5 win 2008 and 4 win 2009, sure they're "on the rise" with a 3-3 record.

Yet, I expect more. To me, is 6-5 that much different from 5-6 or 4-7? In the grand scheme of things, essentially 6-5 COULD get you in to one of the low level bowl games, but this program is capable of a tad more than that.

Say what you will about Dirk, he had the Devils in bowl games four of his six seasons in Tempe. Granted, he couldn't beat the ranked teams, but Erickson isn't exactly blitzing the world against Top 25 teams himself.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

She's crazy.

More like she's broke. Or she realizes that firing a football coach you hired automatically puts you on the hot seat. Either way from what I heard from a Sun Angel it's going to have to get real bad to get rid of Erickson.

 

[HooverDam]

More like she's broke. Or she realizes that firing a football coach you hired automatically puts you on the hot seat. Either way from what I heard from a Sun Angel it's going to have to get real bad to get rid of Erickson.

More like, she's saying what any AD would right now in her position. I have no idea what kind of war chest the Sun Devil Club (Sun Angel is the old name) has, but I've heard wildly varying rumors. I've heard anywhere from "ASU has no money" to "The SDC has $13 Million stockpiled", I suspect like most things the truth lies somewhere in between.

If she canned Erickson and could pitch a big name like Mike Leach to the Boosters, I imagine they could scramble and come up with the dough.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

More like, she's saying what any AD would right now in her position. I have no idea what kind of war chest the Sun Devil Club (Sun Angel is the old name) has, but I've heard wildly varying rumors. I've heard anywhere from "ASU has no money" to "The SDC has $13 Million stockpiled", I suspect like most things the truth lies somewhere in between.

If she canned Erickson and could pitch a big name like Mike Leach to the Boosters, I imagine they could scramble and come up with the dough.

You could be right on the first (heard differently though) but I'm willing to bet that there's no way ASU gets in bed with Mike Leach especially after the Pat Murphy fiasco. Not only is Leach shady but he also can't get along with anybody. That especially includes his superiors which in his case is most likely due to the fact that he might be legally insane. That guy might get ASU the death penalty someday and only win eight games a year in the meantime.

 

[The Commish]

I have heard Mike Bellotti's name pop up in some circles. I think he will be in serious contention if/when Erickson is let go.

 

[Gaddabout]

I've done this exercise elsewhere, I'll do it here. ASU athletic department is $7 million in the red after three years of rolling over deficits. All the big ballin' donors are either bankrupt or no longer willing to bail out ASU athletics.

You want to fire Erickson? You have to do the following in the following order:

- Find $7 million to bring the AD coffers to even
- Find about $3 million to buyout Erickson and his staff
- Find whatever money you need up front to hire the next staff.

Until you do that, firing Erickson is a moot point, IMO. That money's not coming out of the general funds on the BoR won't let you borrow the money against future earnings because you've shown for three years you can't turn a profit.

But ... if Erickson is somehow let go, my top two guys are Jerry Kill and Mark Whipple.

 

[HooverDam]

Its on the players too but that was some terrible late game management by Erickson on the offense. On 3rd down with Weber being as awful as he's been this year, why do you run a short pass to one side thats well short of the 1st? If you're going to play it conservative, at least go up the guy so Weber has a straight kick.

Then on the 2nd to last play of the game you run a play with short routes that wastes a ton of time. Threet would've been better off throwing that ball way high and out of bounds.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Situation now is this.

In order for Arizona State to become bowl eligible, they'd need to win out.. They still have Stanford and Arizona left on their schedule, sandwiched between them is UCLA.

If ASU doesn't make a bowl, this will be three out of four seasons at the helm where the Sun Devils have missed bowl games and the third straight season they'll have finished in the bottom three in the Pac 10.

Say what you will about Dirk, at least he had them playing in December bowl games. I was never a Koetter fan, and feel like Arizona State failed to live up to it's full potential under him. However, they sure as hell aren't doing it under Erickson four years in either.

 

[Gaddabout]

The decision to kick the PAT instead of going for 2 with six minutes to go was plan awful fundamental football. You make a stupid chart for every game for those decisions, math is already worked out. They went against the chart. If they were afraid of Threet throwing interception, they could have run a draw. Worse case scenario ASU is still up by 4 and USC has to score a touchdown. Erickson said his staff talked him out of it. That's just passing the buck.

I get players making errors, but when coaches make fundamental errors -- not play calling, but basic football -- it's a sign the whole thing has come undone.

 

[FArting]

I have counted 3 games that ASU should have won this season . ASU has the talent and coaching. It is just the stupid mistakes that cost this team.

 

[Mathew81]

I have counted 3 games that ASU should have won this season . ASU has the talent and coaching. It is just the stupid mistakes that cost this team.

They don't have coaching. Good coached teams don't consistently make stupid mistakes. They certainly don't allow TWO blocked PATs in one season to lose games.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

In modern day college football you're only as good as your staff. Ultimately they do the bulk of scouting and recruiting the players, they develop the talent, they devise most of the scheme, they are the closest to the individual players on a personal level.

Dennis Erickson by himself is better than the following coaches whose teams have performed better than ASU the last few years: Mike Stoops, Lane Kiffin, Rick Neuheisel, Steve Sarkisian, Jeff Tedford. His resume clearly speaks for itself. The difference is those guys don't fill their staffs with unqualified family members and over the hill buddies from the glory days.

I think Erickson keeps his job next year and finds a way to win 8-9 games and holds on for the time being but ultimately he needs better people under him if he's ever going to take ASU to the next level.