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Dennis Erickson ranks as the seventh winningest Division 1-A active college head coach in the nation with a winning percentage of .722, and is ninth for total victories with 136.
In 16 years as a collegiate head coach, Erickson has produced a record of 136-52-1. In three years at Oregon State, he has produced a record of 23-12, a percentage of .657.
Erickson led Oregon State to a school-record 11-1 season, a Pacific-10 Conference co-championship and a berth in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 2000. It was the Beavers’ first-ever 11-win season and first conference title since 1964.
OSU produced a convincing 41-9 victory over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, a victory that propelled the Beavers to the schools highest-ever national ranking, fourth on the Associated Press Poll, fifth on the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and fifth on the BCS Poll.
For his efforts in 2000, Erickson was named National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News and Coach of the Year in the Pacific-10 Conference. The American Football Coaches Association also named him Coach of the Year in Region V. Erickson was one of three finalists for the Football Writers Association of America’s Eddie Robinson/FWAA Coach of the Year Award and he was one of six finalists for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award. He was runner-up for the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award.
Dennis was enshrined into the state of Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame on March 16, 2002 at Coeur d’Alene during the 40th annual North Idaho Sports Banquet.
Dennis was named the Herald Man of the Year by the Everett Herald newspaper on March 21, 2001. The award is given each year to a coach or athlete with ties to the Everett, Wash. area who has excelled in his or her sport the previous year.
With all of Oregon State’s success in the first two years under Erickson, he was rewarded with a new seven-year guaranteed contract, which he signed on December 2, 2000.
Erickson, already one of the most successful college football coaches in history with two national championships under his belt at the University of Miami, was named head football coach at Oregon State University, to succeed Mike Riley, on Tuesday, January 12, 1999. He signed a five-year contract at that time.
In announcing the hiring of Erickson, former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, Oregon State Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart pulled off the most prominent hiring of a head coach in the history of Oregon State athletics.
The only other hiring in the history of Beaver athletics to compare with the magnitude of the Erickson hiring was the hiring of Ralph Miller in 1971 as OSU’s head basketball coach, a year after being named Coach of the Year at Iowa in the Big Ten Conference. Miller, of course, went on to win 674 collegiate games in his coaching career and earn a spot in the James Naismith Hall of Fame in 1988.
Erickson became OSU’s 28th head coach less than one week after Riley was announced as the new head coach of the San Diego Chargers on Thursday, January 7, 1999.
Erickson’s hiring brought instant success to the Beavers’ football program in 1999. Erickson led OSU to a 7-4 regular season record and a 7-5 mark overall, the first winning season for the Beavers since 1970. In addition, Erickson became the first Oregon State coach to lead his team to a bowl appearance (Jeep O’ahu Bowl) in his first year as head coach. He also became the first Beaver head coach to have a winning in his year at OSU since Tommy Prothro in 1955.
As a result of the tremendous accomplishments by the Beavers in 1999, Erickson was rewarded with a new five-year contract on November 23, 1999.
Erickson brought to Oregon State a legacy of winning in the collegiate ranks. He brought a 13-year record as a Division I collegiate head coach of 113-40-1, including national championships in 1989 and 1991 at Miami, and a winning percentage of .737. His 1989 team produced a 11-1 record, and his 1991 team went undefeated, 12-0.
A proven winner in each of his four college head coaching jobs, Erickson has endured only one losing season in 15 campaigns as a collegiate head coach, 1987, in his first year at Washington State, the Cougars recorded a 3-7-1 mark. Erickson quickly reversed that record and his 1988 WSU squad finished 9-3 and was ranked 16th in the nation.
Erickson left Washington State in 1989, moving to the University of Miami, where he won a national championship in his first year.
During Erickson’s very successful six-year stint with the Hurricanes, he compiled an NCAA-best record of 63-9-0 (.875), which included a 35-2 home mark at the Orange Bowl, and part of an NCAA record 58 straight wins. He became only the second head coach in NCAA history to win a national championship in his first season at a school.
Erickson has been named Coach of the Year in three different conferences—Big Sky, Pac-10 and Big East. The 2000 season marks the second time Erickson has been named Coach of the Year in the Pac-10 Conference, having also achieved the honor at Washington State in 1988. He joins Bruce Snyder as the only coach to be named Coach of the Year at two different Pac-10 institutions.
He reached 100 career wins in his 137th game, becoming the third-quickest to reach that plateau among Division I head coaches who were active in 1994, trailing Penn State University’s Joe Paterno (122 games) and the University of Nebraska’s Tom Osborne (126 games).
After leading Miami to a 10-2 record and No. 6 ranking nationally in 1994, Erickson accepted the head coaching position of the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks. He coached Seattle four seasons (1995-98) and produced a four-year record of 31-33-0 (.484). Erickson’s Seahawks finished 8-8 three times and 7-9 in 1996.
Erickson is a native of Everett, Washington. His father, Robert (Pink) Erickson, was a highly successful high school coach at Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Washington, and Cascade High School in Everett, and he and his wife, Mary, still live in Everett.
Dennis attended Everett High School, lettering in football and basketball, and was 2-1 against his father. Former Washington head coach Jim Lambright (1961) and current Washington State head coach Mike Price (1964), along with Erickson (1965), all attended Everett High School.
Erickson was a three-year starter at quarterback at Montana State University from 1966 to 1968, twice earning first-team All-Big Sky Conference honors in 1967 and ‘68. He was also named honorable mention All-America as a senior. He set Montana State records for career total offense (3,945 yards), career passing yards (3,181), passing yards in a single season (1,189 in 1968), passing yards in a single game (282 vs. Montana), while ranking second all-time with 126 points and 21 touchdowns.
Erickson’s 70-yard pass to Ron Bain against Northern Arizona in 1968 was a school record. In addition, he was the holder for future NFL Hall of Fame kicker Jan Stenerud. He graduated with a B.S. in Physical Education.
Dennis and his wife, Marilyn, have two sons, Bryce and Ryan. Dennis was born March 24, 1947, in Everett, WA.
Dennis Erickson Career College Coaching Record
Year School W L T Notes
1982 Idaho 9 4 0 T2nd in Big Sky Conf./I-AA playoffs
1983 Idaho 8 3 0 T3rd in Big Sky Conf.
1984 Idaho 6 5 0 T3rd in Big Sky Conf.
1985 Idaho 9 3 0 Big Sky Conf. Champions/I-AA playoffs
1986 Wyoming 6 6 0
1987 Wash. St. 3 7 1
1988 Wash. St. 9 3 0 Aloha Bowl Champions
1989 Miami 11 1 0 National Champions/Sugar Bowl Champ.
1990 Miami 10 2 0 Cotton Bowl Champions
1991 Miami 12 0 0 National Champions/Orange Bowl Champ.
1992 Miami 11 1 0 Sugar Bowl participant
1993 Miami 9 3 0 Fiesta Bowl participant
1994 Miami 10 2 0 Orange Bowl participant
1999 Oregon St. 7 5 0 Oahu Bowl participannt
2000 Oregon St.11 1 0 Fiesta Bowl Champions
2001 Oregon St. 5 6 0
College Totals 136 52 1 (.722)
