Official: Dennis Erickson out as Arizona State coach
The administrator spoke on the circumstance of secrecy on Sunday because details of Erickson's going away have not been finalized.
Erickson will meet with athletic director Lisa Love as early as Monday and, at 64, could be allowed to give up work rather than be fired. Erickson could unmoving coach in whatever bowl game the Sun Devils play in.
Erickson's job came into danger after Arizona State lost its final four games next a 6-2 start, knocking the Sun Devils from contention to play in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game next Friday. He was 31-30 in five seasons in the wasteland.
Erickson won a pair of national titles with Miami and had stops at Oregon State and Idaho before incoming in Tempe in 2007. He had an imposing start in the wasteland, named the Pac-10 coach of the year after most important the Sun Devils to the Holiday Bowl and their first 10-win season in nine years.
That twisted out to be the highlight of his tenure. Arizona State won no more than six games the next three years, ineligible for a bowl last season since two of its games were next to Football Championship Subdivision schools.
Love opt to stick with Erickson in spite of three straight shaky seasons and the Sun Devils went into this year with high prospect, recurring nearly every starter on both sides of the ball.
Arizona State looks good early; taking control of the Pac-12 South after its first eight games then went into a tailspin.
After becoming bowl eligible for the first time in four years with a win over Colorado on Oct. 29, the Sun Devils lost their grip on the South with a loss to UCLA the next week, and couldn't make up ground regardless of the Bruins' lackluster finish.
The final blows for Erickson's probability of keeping his job came with a unsatisfactory home loss to rival Arizona, which had fired its coach and had won just two games at that point, followed by Friday's 47-39 loss to California at home.
"I don't know that I have ever been through a month like this," Erickson said after the loss to Cal. "We felt that we had a chance to have a great year, then you lose four in a row and just end up with a very, very average year."
