‘It jumped out at you’
Former Idaho and Washington State football coach
Dennis Erickson, who enters the college Hall of Fame tonight, built a career
around an offense he adored from the beginning
By Dale Grummert, Lewiston
Trib Dec 10, 2019
Living as he does on the shores of Coeur d’Alene
Lake in northern Idaho, Dennis Erickson is accustomed to encountering friends
from the football world. Several of them own property in the area.
But one of them, Denver Broncos general manager and
former star quarterback John Elway, must evoke distinctive memories. As a
high-school player four decades ago, he played an indirect but significant role
in the development of Erickson’s coaching philosophy.
Tonight, the former Idaho and Washington State
coach will join Elway in the College Football Hall of Fame. He and 14 others,
but only one other coach (Joe Taylor), will be inducted in a ceremony at the
Hilton Midtown in New York.
Considered one of the prime developers of the
now-ubiquitous spread offense, Erickson, 72, owes his introduction to such
schemes to a three-year stint as offensive coordinator at San Jose State under
Elway’s father, Jack, who himself was in the throes of a romance with the spread.
Jack Elway had spent the previous three years
coaching Cal State Northridge near Los Angeles, where his son was a quarterback
of distinction at Granada Hills High. The boy was immensely talented, but he
was also benefiting from a bold idea hatched by Granada Hills’ unconventional
coach, Jack Neumeier.
It was a formation that used one running back —
as opposed to the standard two or three — and put an emphasis on throwing the
ball to any of three or four wide receivers. In other words, it was an early version
of the spread. When Erickson later got a chance to see it, he was blown away.
“It really jumped out at you, because it created
mismatches,” he said by phone Monday from New York.
San Jose State and its unusual offense went
22-11-1 during Erickson’s time there, stunning a Baylor team in 1980 that would
finish 10-2. The next season, the Spartans claimed a conference title.
Years later, defensive coaches learned to blunt
the one-back’s effectiveness by inserting extra defensive backs. But during
Erickson’s early years with the spread, first at San Jose and later as head
coach at Idaho, defenses tried to make do with traditional tactics.
“Nobody was playing nickel or dime or any of that
stuff, so you have a linebacker on a slot receiver,” Erickson said. “When
you’ve got a linebacker trying to cover (then-UI receiver) Eric Yarber, it’s
not a real good matchup. We did that to Baylor. We spread them out so they
ended up having Mike Singletary covering a receiver, as opposed to knocking the
crap out of you on the ground.”
Erickson and the spread prospered at Idaho,
Wyoming and Washington State, where the Cougars’ impressive 1988 season
propelled him to then-powerhouse Miami. When he’s enshrined in the Hall
tonight, his two national titles with the Hurricanes will get prominent
mention.
In the Pacific Northwest, though, he’s best
remembered for successful rebuilding projects at Idaho,WSU and especially
Oregon State, where in 1999 he led the Beavers to their first winning season in
29 years. A season later, they went 11-1 and beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta
Bowl.
Those years are dear to Erickson.
“Obviously, the deal at Miami was two national
championships, but that was almost as hard as the rebuilding projects,” he
said. “To keep that level for six years, it’s hard. Rebuilding was a lot of
fun.”
Erickson supposedly retired in 2016 after a
four-year stint as an assistant at Utah. But nobody close to him was surprised
when he accepted the head-coaching job last year with the Salt Lake Stallions,
a member of the Alliance of American Football that met financial problems and
disbanded in April after just eight weeks’ worth of games.
Erickson doesn’t rule out another comeback. In
the meantime his innumerable connections — he has a preternatural ability to
remember the names of people he hasn’t seen in years — help him stay close to
the game.
Last spring he attended Oregon State drills
conducted by one of his former Beaver players, Jonathan Smith. He remains close
to the program at his alma mater, Montana State. When his son Bryce was head
coach at Lake City High in Coeur d’Alene, Erickson spent a year assisting him
prior to the Stallions gig.
For Erickson, football itself has always been
more enjoyable than its peripheral aspects, even the critical ones like
recruiting and the unexpected ones like adulation. But he’s not playing down
tonight’s Hall induction.
“It’s the biggest honor you can get in this
profession, college coaching,” he said. “I’ve been doing this close to 50
years. I enjoyed every second of it. It wasn’t a job to me, it was fun. I was
raised on it. My dad (the late Pinky Erickson) was a high-school coach and
worked for me at Idaho as a volunteer. I’ve been in locker rooms since I was in
first grade.”
Along the way, Erickson took two stabs at the
NFL, where he went 31-33 for the Seattle Seahawks from 1995 to ‘98 and later
9-23 in two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
“The San Francisco thing was just stupid,” he
said. “I didn’t do my homework. I should never have taken that job.”
He enjoyed his time with the Seahawks but
expresses one regret. Now that the spread offense has finally broken through to
the NFL, he believes he should have ignored advice he was getting and stayed
true to his roots.
“I didn’t run the offense I should have — I
didn’t run the one-back stuff,” he said. “It’s that old saying: ‘You can’t do
that in the league.’ And now everybody’s doing it. That’s what I regret. I
should have stayed with what we did in college and let ‘er fly.”
::::
WSU football
Hawaiian defensive back Alaka’i Gilman decommits
from Washington State
Tue., Dec. 10, 2019
By Theo Lawson Spokane Spokesman-Review
A promising defensive back prospect from the
Hawaiian islands has chosen to reopen his recruitment six months after
committing to Washington State.
Alaka’i Gilman, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety
from Honolulu football powerhouse Punahou, announced on Twitter late Tuesday
he’d decommitted from Washington State in order to reconsider his options eight
days before the beginning of the early signing period.
Gilman posted the following from his Twitter
account Tuesday: “Grateful for all that the Washington State staff and family
has done for me, but at this time it is in my best interest to decommit and
open up my recruitment! Thank you to all who continue to support me!”
Without Gilman in the 2019 signing class, the
Cougars would be down to just three defensive back pledges. Safety and
cornerback are both positions of need for a team that’s struggled in the
secondary this season and had three DBs dismissed from the program. WSU is also
losing starting senior cornerback Marcus Strong to graduation.
Blair Angulo of 247Sports.com anticipates that
Gilman, despite his decommitment from WSU, will be playing in the Pac-12 North
nonetheless and will sign with Stanford a week from now.
The three-star defensive back has collected a
number of other offers from Power Five schools, including Arizona State, Cal,
Oregon, Oregon State, Nebraska and USC.
:::
WSU football
Washington State linebacker Dominick Silvels
announces decision to enter transfer portal
By Theo Lawson
S-R of Spokane
12/10/2019
Dominick Silvels, a Washington State linebacker
who led the Cougars in sacks last year but missed the entirety of the 2019
season with undisclosed personal issues, has entered the transfer portal and
won’t return to Pullman next season.
Silvels was one of the most productive players on
WSU’s defense in 2018, playing in all 13 games and leading the Cougars with 4
1/2 sacks, while finishing with 7 1/2 tackles for loss and 25 total tackles.
The San Diego native and Patrick Henry High
product was projected to play an important role for WSU’s defense in 2019 after
switching from “Rush” linebacker to the middle linebacker position he played as
a freshman in Pullman.
On Twitter, Silvels wrote, “I appreciate all the
coaches at WSU along with the players that I have built bonds with these past
few years. This place will always hold a special place in my heart. So with
that being said, I will be putting my name in the portal and transferring. Once
a Coug always a Coug!”
After WSU’s Week 2 game against Northern
Colorado, Leach told The Spokesman-Review that Silvels was working through
“personal issues” but indicated the linebacker would rejoin the team at some
point.
On Oct. 16, when asked about Silvels, Leach said,
“I’m kind of curious why I don’t have an update. That’s befuddling to me.”
Approximately three weeks later, Leach said, “You always remind me and I need
to follow up on (Silvels).”
Despite losing Silvels, the Cougars bring back a
handful of rotation linebackers, including All-Pac-12 honorable mention choice
Jahad Woods, who finished second in the league with 121 tackles this season.
WSU also returns starting linebacker Justus Rogers and promising freshman
Travion Brown, who earned All-Pac-12 second team Tuesday as a special
teams/all-purpose player.
::::
WSU football
High-powered offenses with contrasting styles set
to meet when Washington State takes on Air Force in Cheez-It Bowl
UPDATED: Sun., Dec. 8, 2019
By Theo Lawson
S-R Spokane
CHEEZ-IT BOWL
At Chase Field, Phoenix
➤Friday, Dec. 27: Air Force Falcons at Washington
State Cougars, 7:15 p.m. PDT TV: ESPN
When Cheez-It Bowl public relations director
Scott Leightman introduced the teams participating in this year’s Arizona
showcase during a teleconference Sunday afternoon, he teased an “offensive
explosion” between Washington State and No. 24 Air Force, who each enter the
postseason averaging more than 34 points per contest and should give the other
plenty to think about as bowl prep takes place over the next three weeks.
Of course, standards aren’t too high for a bowl
game that produced just two touchdowns and 17 points when Cal and TCU met at
Phoenix’s Chase Field last year. There were more interceptions (9) than Cal
points (7) in TCU’s narrow victory and both teams finished the game with backup
quarterbacks behind center.
Nonetheless, the 2019 game, scheduled for Dec. 27
at 7:15 p.m. PT (ESPN), should be a refresher for anyone still waiting to get
their offensive fix.
The Cougars and Falcons have no problem getting
into the end zone, but while the Cheez-It Bowl may be an offensive marathon
between teams that respectively rank 11th and tied for 22nd nationally in
points per game, it’ll also be an appropriate example of the old adage that
there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
In Pullman, Mike Leach is known for his simple
but potent Air Raid schemes, which have produced the nation’s past two passing
leaders in Anthony Gordon and Gardner Minshew. The Cougars have thrown for
5,332 yards this season – 303 more than second-place LSU, even though the
Tigers have played one more game.
In Colorado Springs, Troy Calhoun has shown the
same dogged determination and unwavering attitude toward the triple option, a
run-first scheme that often forces the defense to focus on three ball-carriers
on a single play. The Falcons have attempted just 114 passes this season –
second-fewest in the country – but they’ve rushed for 37 touchdowns and rank
third in the country at 292.7 yards per game.
So, while Leach and Calhoun may never swap
playbooks, the coaches have plenty of mutual respect for the other’s strategy.
“Other than this bowl game, being American and
everything, I always rooted for Air Force,” Leach said. “But the opportunity to
play a great rushing team like them, an option team, we’re excited about that.”
Despite the stark contrasts in how the Cougars
and Falcons move the football, Leach actually believes they draw on similar
concepts, both striving to distribute offensive touches evenly.
“If I didn’t throw the ball, I’d run the option,”
Leach said, “and why I admire the option is I always felt like our brand of
football really kind of started with the wishbone, because what the wishbone
always did such a good job of is distribution. All the skill positions touch
the ball and it’s pretty good at stretching the field from side to side.”
Calhoun, the longtime Air Force coach, has plenty
of background knowledge when it comes to the Cougars, and he’s spent decades
following Leach’s career, crediting the offensive guru for his work at Oklahoma
in 1999 as an offensive coordinator.
“Oh goodness, what a challenge it is,” Calhoun
said. “And it’s been that way ever since really … Mike, he’s just done a
sensational job even going back at Kentucky, even prior to that. He’s just been
incredible. He’s the one that truly launched Oklahoma back into such a
prominent program and the job he did at both Texas Tech and certainly just an
amazing job he’s done at Washington State.
“The production, the quality of their execution
and really the difficulty in trying to assimilate what they do. It is going to
be a gigantic challenge.”
The Cheez-It Bowl will mark the first meeting
between the Pac-12 Cougars (6-6, 3-6) and the Mountain West Falcons (10-2,
7-1). Air Force carries a seven-game win streak into the postseason while WSU
is coming off a 31-13 loss to Washington in the Apple Cup.
WSU has played in the bowl game once before, and
so has Leach, but the appearances were separated by 14 years. The Cougars’ only
trip to the Cheez-It Bowl, then named the Copper Bowl, came in 1992 when WSU
beat Utah 31-28 in Tucson, Arizona.
In Drew Bledsoe’s final game as a collegian, the
WSU quarterback completed 30 of 46 passes for 476 yards – a school record at
the time – and threw two touchdowns to Phillip Bobo, who finished with seven
receptions for 212 yards. Even after rushing out to a 21-0 lead, the Cougars
needed a 22-yard field goal from Aaron Price late in the fourth quarter to seal
the program’s third bowl victory.
In 2006, the game had been moved to Tempe and
renamed the Insight Bowl when Leach’s seventh Texas Tech team earned a berth
and staged the biggest comeback in bowl history. The Red Raiders overcame a
31-point deficit in the third quarter to edge Minnesota 44-41 in overtime, with
current USC offensive coordinator and former WSU assistant Graham Harrell
nabbing Offensive MVP honors. Antonio Huffman, who was Leach’s longtime
Director of Football Operations at WSU, was the defensive MVP and current
Cougars interim co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach Darcel McBath had
five tackle.
The Cougars, who appeared in the Sun Bowl (2015),
the Holiday Bowl (2016, 2017) and the Alamo Bowl (2019), are attempting to
finish with a winning record for the fifth consecutive year under Leach with
what would be their third postseason victory under the eighth-year coach.
The Falcons are playing in their 10th bowl game
under Calhoun, who’s been at the helm since 2007, and have a 4-5 postseason
record since the 53-year-old took over.
:::::::::::::
WSU football
Washington State’s Blake Mazza named to
All-Pac-12 first team; Spokane’s Evan Weaver earns top defensive honor
UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 10, 2019
By Theo Lawson Spokane’s S-R
Despite boasting the league’s most potent scoring
attack at 39.2 points per game, Washington State didn’t place an offensive
player on the All-Pac-12 first team, but eight Cougars were named to the
all-conference teams released Tuesday afternoon.
Blake Mazza, a Lou Groza Award finalist who’ll
have a chance to win the award given to the nation’s top kicker, was the only
WSU player named to the all-conference first team.
Quarterback Anthony Gordon, the first 5,000-yard
passer in conference history, earned a second-team nod along with sophomore
right tackle Abraham Lucas and true freshman linebacker Travion Brown, who made
it as an all-purpose/special teams selection.
Spokane’s Evan Weaver, a Gonzaga Prep graduate,
took home the conference’s award for Defensive Player of the Year after setting
a Cal record for tackles in a season with 173. Utah running back Zack Moss was
named Offensive Player of the Year, and Utes coach Kyle Whittingham earned
Coach of the Year. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis was named Offensive Freshman of
the Year, and Oregon defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux earned Defensive
Freshman of the Year.
Four other Cougars received at least one
all-conference vote from the panel of coaches that votes on the postseason
teams and were named to All-Pac-12 honorable mention: running back Max Borghi,
right guard Josh Watson, wide receiver Easop Winston Jr. and linebacker Jahad
Woods.
Mazza was omitted from the preseason All-Pac-12
teams, voted on by media members, but he vaulted his way into the postseason
conversation by converting on his first 18 field goals of the season – the
longest streak in program history – and finishing 20 of 21.
The redshirt sophomore from Plano, Texas, became
the first WSU kicker to grab first-team honors since Drew Dunning in 2003.
Mazza, who made 52 PATs, finished the regular season tied with the sixth-most
points (112) by a kicker and had the most in the Pac-12.
Gordon, a redshirt senior who won the starting
job in fall camp, joins predecessors Luke Falk and Gardner Minshew as a WSU
quarterback to earn all-conference recognition. The Pacifica, California,
native set WSU and Pac-12 single-season records with 5,228 passing yards and 45
touchdowns, becoming the 13th QB in college football history to go over 5,000
yards in a single season.
Lucas, a redshirt sophomore from Woodinville,
Washington, is 2 for 2 on all-conference honors after being named to the second
team as a freshman. He started all 12 games for the Cougars at right tackle and
was considered the best pass-blocking offensive tackle in the country by Pro
Football Focus College.
Brown was the only true freshman from WSU to be
recognized, starting four games at nickel, while also rotating in at rush
linebacker and middle linebacker. The Moreno Valley, California, native was a
special teams standout for the Cougars, racking up four tackles on kickoff and
punt duty.
Despite boasting what statistically was the
league’s best receiving corps, the Cougars had one player, Winston, recognized.
The redshirt senior broke out with 80 receptions (fourth in the Pac-12) and 11
touchdown catches (third).
Borghi, who earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
honorable mention in 2018, finished second in the conference in scoring with 15
total touchdowns, was fifth with 114.8 all-purpose yards per game and led the
conference’s running backs with 6.5 yards per carry.
Watson, a junior from Everett, earned
all-conference recognition for the first time in his career. Woods, a junior
linebacker, was honored for the second time. The San Diego native was second in
the Pac-12 with 121 tackles – also ninth most in the country – and led WSU with
10 tackles for loss. Woods also had three sacks and two forced fumbles.
:::
Calculated disappearing act of Pac-12 Commissioner
Larry Scott on display
By John Canzano, Oregonian as of 12/10/2019
The roll call of Pac-12 Conference staff present
at Levi’s Stadium for commissioner Larry Scott’s annual football championship
game media address on Friday included the usual suspects.
Erik Hardenbergh, Scott’s chief of staff, stood
in one back corner of the room. His vice president of communications, Andrew
Walker, leaned along one wall, mid-room, observing, arms folded as a couple
dozen media members asked questions. And near the back door, carrying a
backpack and Scott’s overcoat, was his executive assistant, a woman named In Ja
Holcomb.
Not present -- any members of Pac-12 CEO Group,
Scott’s bosses.
Also not present -- any semblance of news.
It was a peculiar scene. Friday’s event spanned
more than 22 minutes. I listened. I took notes. I even reviewed the transcript.
Nothing new. Only Scott, standing alone up front beside the championship-game
trophy, an empty suit spitting mostly hollow words.
The commissioner was asked about the status of
the conference’s quest to sell equity in its media rights to a private entity.
“The status is it’s ongoing,” he said.
Scott was asked whether he supported an expansion
to an eight-team playoff.
“Well, when we designed the playoff, we
understood there were four slots, there are five big conferences, plus
independents. There would mean years that teams couldn’t get in. So we
understand that.”
He was asked whether the College Football Playoff
system was set up to favor teams that didn’t play challenging schedules.
Scott rambled for a moment, then paused, and
offered, “A long way of saying I don’t have a clear answer yet.”
I’m getting a clear picture, however.
Scott has been far less visible in the last year.
He’s said much less. And the perception is that his bosses have pulled him back
some. The chair of the CEO Group, Philip DiStefano, Colorado’s chancellor, sat
by his side during public events in Las Vegas last spring. And during the
football season, Scott deviated from a routine he developed and performed in
prior seasons.
He used to show up at every Pac-12 stadium and
make an impromptu halftime media appearance. That ceased to happen regularly
this season. I witnessed him hold a halftime availability at the USC-Oregon
game this season. But nowhere else. That was a deviation from the weekly,
regular media appearances at every stadium.
So, why? Has Scott been told by conference
members to stand down? Is the commissioner just being more calculated? I tracked
him down after the news conference in the stadium tunnel, and asked him.
“I think I took some shots that were unfair,”
Scott said. “I’m not trying to duck it. I took some things to heart. I think
the perception was that I was out there marching to my own beat and I’ve tried
to present that we’re more together."
Was that a specific request of his Pac-12 bosses?
“Some of the conference members didn’t appreciate
the perception of me being out there alone as if I was the Czar of the Pac-12.”
Scott said he only spoke publicly at “three or
four” stadiums this college football season. He said he was more selective in
where he appeared, indicating that he received case by case clearance from the
campuses he visited.
If I were consulting on Scott’s team, I’d view
this as a positive development. The commissioners at Power Five Conferences
don’t hold regular weekly appearances. I think Scott liked to be quoted. But he
often hurt himself in that setting. Especially when asked about topics he
wasn’t well versed on.
For example, over a couple of weeks, he talked
himself into a mess on the instant-replay fiasco and Woodie Dixon front last
season. Also, those appearances gave weekly fuel to the conference’s biggest
problems, with Scott turning defensive. Further, on many occasions he left the
stadium after halftime, boarded a private charter and was home before the end
of the game.
It was just a bad look.
Scott is still the conference commissioner. He’s
paid $5.3 million a year. That’s a lot of money to pay a spokesperson, if
that’s what his job has been reduced to, I think. But when I asked if that was
his role for the group now -- spokesman -- his eyes widened and he said, “It’s
not that, it’s just that we want to be together.”
Then, he raised his hands and clasped the
fingers.
“More together," he said, “just more
together."
The Pac-12 Networks continue to struggle. The
search for a private-equity partner hasn’t, so far, presented a no-brainer
option. The conference has now been left out of the College Football Playoff
for the third straight season and four of the last five.
Not a lot of changes. But Scott’s act has shifted
some.
He is on a shorter leash. His bosses appear more
tuned in, especially with DiStefano sitting beside him. The chancellors and
presidents of the universities control Scott’s destiny. There’s been a
collective effort to make the conference feel more unified in its mission. In
fact, the conference athletic directors say Scott has been more inclusive of
their opinions in the last year.
That’s a far cry from when one-time Utah athletic
director Chris Hill stood in a 2014 meeting in Las Vegas asking questions about
the lack of revenue generated by the Pac-12′s media deal. The conference ADs
were frustrated and pushing Scott for answers.
Scott cut Hill off and told him, “You’re lucky
for what you get."
Friday’s news conference felt hollow. No news to
report does that. I looked around and noticed who was in the room. Scott’s
executive team was there, trying to help him. His act felt different. But this
was not a conference that had much to say in front of its championship football
game. And not a conference that mattered nationally after it.
I keep waiting for that to feel different.
#
