Why was dennis erickson fired

The fate of his coaching staff was unclear. Complete NFL playoff coverage. Week 17 with the Wiseguys. Forum: Who will be next to be fired? Erickson, who was dismissed for the first time in his coaching career, had records of , , and during his four seasons in Seattle.

Erickson's original contract was for four years, with the team having an option for a fifth season. But the option year was guaranteed in during Behring's failed attempt to move the franchise to the Los Angeles area.

Paul Allen, in his second year as owner, spent lavishly on free agents but the Seahawks could not deliver. They have not had a winning season since and no NFL team has gone longer without making the playoffs. However, the Devils played exceedingly well in each game and arguably should have won both, had it not been for a harrowing hallmark of Erickson coached team--self-inflicted wounds.

Nevertheless, ASU was beginning to show it could hang with the big boys, as they battled USC and Stanford to the bitter end in close defeats. They ended the year with a big wins over UCLA and Arizona, and for the first time since early , optimism reigned. When he took the ASU job, Erickson said that he was building towards a five-year plan.

With the new division structure of the Pac, an abundance of returning talent and the momentum from still fresh, the pieces were in place for ASU to win the South division and appear in the inaugural conference title game, and justly those were the expectations. A win over No. The win ended an game losing streak to the Trojans and seemed to serve as a legitimizing accomplishment for both the program and Erickson.

Even a loss to Oregon before the bye week did little to dampen the enthusiasm surrounding the team, and after a win over Colorado, the Devils stood at and were in complete control of their destiny. Erickson was always known as a player's coach, and the lack of discipline was evident in his team's penalty totals. But it also manifested itself in a sense of entitlement and a lack of hunger in the players.

Instead, the once effective defense disappeared, replaced by a lackadaisical unit that refused to make adjustments to their opponent's game plans. As a result, the Devils lost each game and finished their second straight season at a pedestrian However, Erickson did do some good. His skills as a top recruiter were evident. The talent present on ASU's roster is now markedly better than anytime in the recent past and a loaded class in speaks to the possible success the program could soon have.

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Arizona State's Dennis Erickson is reportedly going to be fired in the next few days.

Despite his Arizona State Sun Devils reaching bowl eligibility for the first time since , Dennis Erickson's days in the desert may be numbered.