This year, Dennis Erickson won’t have to travel 1,500 miles to attend a reunion.
The Everett native and his Arizona State University football team play host to the University of Washington on Oct. 17, and Erickson might need an extra hour of pregame just to catch up with old acquaintances. That’s because the Huskies’ coaching staff is chock full of ex-Erickson assistants, players and guys who have just plain admired him from afar.
While UW has just one assistant coach who hails from the state of Washington — running backs coach Joel Thomas, who grew up in Port Angeles — the Huskies have plenty of ties to the state, and to Snohomish County in particular.
Four current Husky coaches played or coached under Erickson, while a fifth — offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier — was recruited by him. Special teams-coach Johnny Nansen played under Everett native Mike Price at Washington State, linebackers coach Mike Cox played under Snohomish native Keith Gilbertson at Idaho, and graduate assistant Mike Anderson played under another Snohomish native, Tom Cable, at Idaho.
Even defensive coordinator Nick Holt is tied to the Snohomish County pipeline, having bridged the gap between Cable and Erickson during a two-year stint as head coach at Idaho in 2004 and ‘05.
In the small world that is college coaching, Erickson is the Pac-10’s version of Kevin Bacon. Snohomish County seems to be within six degrees of separation from everyone.
Most of the UW ties took a detour through Moscow, Idaho. Eight of the 11 coaches on the Huskies’ staff spent time with the Vandals program.
So what’s the connection?
“Obviously, a lot of the guys worked with Nick (Holt),” said Nussmeier, who played quarterback at Idaho under John L. Smith after Erickson’s WSU team turned to another signal-caller in the recruiting process. “Coach Cox, coach Thomas and myself all played there. So when you have those natural ties, as it is in any profession, guys tend to associate with people they have a history with.”
During two stints as Idaho’s head coach, Erickson coached Cox and had current Huskies safeties coach Jeff Mills on his staff. While at ASU, Erickson had a staff that included two current UW assistants: Nansen and offensive-line coach Dan Cozzetto.
“The one thing is Dennis was always good in his relationships with kids, understanding what they’re all about,” Nansen said when asked what most stuck out about Erickson. “He was more a players coach than anything else.”
Even some of those assistants who haven’t played or coached under Erickson have met him. Thomas once ran into the longtime coach at SeaTac Airport, where they chatted about Vandals football. And Nussmeier met Erickson during his senior year at Portland’s Lakeridge High School in 1989.
While UW head coach Steve Sarkisian’s history at Southern Cal has led some people to don the Huskies as USC North, the coaching staff might be called Erickson Northwest.
The Everett native has helped tutor plenty of coaches, while Moscow, Idaho, has been just as important to their rise up the coaching ranks.
“There aren’t a lot of people that roll through there,” UW’s Thomas said of the bond that the Huskies’ former Idaho assistants have formed. “You kind of take note of those guys and feel a sense of pride when you go out and coach in the Palouse.
“You don’t have all the bells and whistles of a big city; you learn to be very self-sufficient in coaching. And you also form very close relationships when you’re coaching out there.”
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