Leadership

I don't care for Dennis Erickson. I've long thought of him as a person more interested in advancing his interests as opposed to actually trying to help those he coaches. You see, Dennis Erickson started out coaching Idaho University back in the '80s. Then he left for Wyoming, which was a conference school. Then he bolted for Washington State - a Pac-10 team, so it's a better place for him to be - to coach them for a few years until Miami University came calling. Since Miami was THE school to coach at in the 80s/early 90s, he jumped - who could turn down such prestige? He stayed at Miami until 94, when he bolted for the NFL, which, of course, is more prestigious than college, and after failing as an NFL coach, he skulked back to college, where he's really better suited to coach, at Oregon State, until San Francisco hired him (a move I KNEW was going to be bad - he's a college coach, not an NFL coach). He got fired from San Francisco, licked his wounds, and took a position at Idaho again - for one year. Then Arizona State called - bigger prestige - makes him look better, so he jumped.

His statement upon taking the ASU job? "It's exciting for me to have an opportunity to come to Arizona State and compete for the BCS championship, to compete for the Pac-10."

Of course, this statement implies that he didn't think he could compete for the BCS championship with Idaho (granted, it would have been far more difficult, but it still was possible), and he quite obviously has made no statement that he's committed to anyone but himself. He left a job that he had signed a 5 year contract for, and he's leaving after 1. What I don't understand is why anyone would be willing to spend money on someone that disinterested in setting an example of leadership with the folks he's supposed to be leading.

Quite frankly, I don't wish him well. He's not the example of leadership we need.

Happy Birthday, Derek Koch.