It was inevitable, of course, that Everett native Dennis Erickson would one day come to the end of his long football coaching career.
So when Erickson announced his retirement last week, some three months shy of his 70th birthday, it was hardly a shock. Yet for the people who know of Erickson’s lifelong passion for football, it is also no shock to hear he expects to stay close to the game.
“I’ll probably always be involved in (football) somehow until the day I die,” said Erickson, speaking by telephone from his home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “My son (Bryce) is coaching high school football in Coeur d’Alene and I may end up helping him. For me that would be the whole circle. High school is where I started in coaching (in Billings, Mont., in 1970) and it might be where I end up.”
Erickson spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Utah, including the final two seasons as assistant head coach. Previously in his 47-year career he had been a head coach at Idaho (1982-1985 and 2006), Wyoming (1986), Washington State (1987-1988), Miami (1989-1994, where he won national championships in 1989 and 1991), Oregon State (1999-2002) and Arizona State (2007-2011).
He was also head coach of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks (1995-98) and San Francisco 49ers (2003-04).
In a university statement, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham called Erickson “one of the most respected coaches in the history of college football, and the opportunity to work side by side with him and learn from him has been an invaluable experience.”
The decision to retire had nothing to do with his 70th birthday, Erickson said. “There wasn’t really any magic number (for age),” he explained. “I’ve been (coaching) a long time, and I just thought it was time to retire and maybe take a little time to smell the roses. There’s never much time to do that in this business.
“There’s just a time when you decide that you’ve done it enough. But it’s not that I still wasn’t having fun. I had a lot of fun doing it. I met a lot of great people. Some great coaches and players and all the people that you’re around in this business. It doesn’t get any better than that and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
For Erickson, a 1965 graduate of Everett High School, the foremost career highlights “are the memories,” he said. “And then being able to help young people. That’s what coaching is all about, irrespective of the level, whether it’s high school, college or the National Football League. It’s about helping people go in the right direction and helping them be successful in life. So all the memories and then the players that I was able to be around, that’s what it’s all about.”
What he will not miss as much, and it became an increasing issue in recent years, “is the time on the road recruiting. I liked the recruiting. I liked meeting the players and their families and the high school coaches, so that was fun. But the travel gets to you the older you get. It takes a toll on you.”
Still, he said, in his 47 years “there were way more pluses than minuses. I was fortunate. I was blessed to be able to coach where I did in a lot of different places in the country. And then being able to play for national championships and play in bowl games. It was fun and I really enjoyed it.”
Coaching was a natural career choice for Erickson, given that his father was a longtime high school and college coach, including stints at both Everett and Cascade high schools. Robert “Pink” Erickson died in 2004, but Dennis Erickson’s mother Mary and three sisters still live in and around Everett. He also has many friends in the area, so he expects to visit often in the coming years.
But he also has friends in Coeur d’Alene, including two former coaches with Snohomish County roots, Mike Price and Keith Gilbertson. The three men “will spend time together in the summertime,” Erickson said. “And Jim Walden (the former Washington State University coach) is actually around here, too. So this is an area where we (Erickson and wife Marilyn) have some friends.”
And some kin. Sons Bryce and Ryan both live in Coeur d’Alene, and there are three young grandchildren, “so now I’ll get the chance to spend time with them,” Erickson said.
Asked about other retirement activities, he replied, “That’s a good question.” He is an occasional golfer, “but you can only hook it out of bounds so many times. Or fade it out of bounds, whichever way you want to do it that day.
“So I’m not sure. I’m sure I’ll be in some phase of (football), but who knows, maybe we’ll do a little traveling. But I don’t have a formulated plan by any means.”
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