Spoke too soon..
Many recruits feel betrayed by Erickson's departure
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By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
When Dennis Erickson sat in Bob Moore's living room and pitched Moore's stepson about playing football for Oregon State a few weeks ago, Moore felt uneasy.
He sensed that Erickson wasn't genuine. That he didn't want to be there. He told his stepson, Justin Williams, that he didn't trust the head coach. But Williams, bent on playing football in the Pac-10, didn't listen.
And less than a week after Williams signed his letter of intent to play for the Beavers, Moore's intuition was proven true. Before the ink from his signing day letter had barely dried, Erickson was gone, on his way to San Francisco to be the 49ers head coach. The move left many of the 21 members of Oregon State's 2003 recruiting class, not to mention their parents and high school coaches, angered.
Some of them feel used. Cheated. And they can't help but wonder if they were abused by a system in which coaches can come and go whenever they want without penalty, but players can't.
"You believe in somebody, you make a commitment, you sign a contract and you think the coaches would honor that commitment right back," Moore said. "It's not like Dennis Erickson woke up one morning and decided to coach the 49ers. He had to have an idea. And he sat in our living rooms and told us otherwise. That bothers me."
While Kirk Ferentz, Bob Stoops and Rick Neuheisel all reportedly declined post-signing day overtures from the 49ers, Erickson accepted. He said he first met with 49ers officials on Saturday, met again in Portland on Monday and accepted the job on Tuesday.
"It was a very, very difficult decision," Erickson said. "I don't know if there's any good time for something like this. Before signing day, after signing day, a few months from now. There's no good timing. It was very difficult, but hopefully it will workout OK for everybody."
Oregon State assistants, unsure whether or not they will be retained under the new head coach, spent much of Tuesday night and Wednesday scrambling to touch base with recruits, doing everything possible to put their minds at ease. If Erickson would have left before signing day, players would have been free to sign letters of intent with another school. But because the move happened after Feb. 5, players will have a difficult time transferring without penalty.
"(Linebackers coach Greg) Newhouse basically told me that when you have success like Coach Erickson has, people are going to go after him," Lebanon, Ore. tight end Zach Hagemeister said. "It just happens. Then he reminded me that I made a commitment to Oregon State and not to worry. We'll move on."
Considered by many the jewel in Oregon State's 2003 class, quarterback Ryan Gunderson picked the Beavers over Tennessee. He was so upset by Tuesday's announcement that he missed a half-day of school on Wednesday to spend time with his parents trying to figure out what his options might be.
"The Tennessee thing came right down to the wire," said Joe Bushman, Gunderson's high school coach. "I know he definitely would have thought differently had he known this was going to happen. I'm not going to beat around the bush. Dennis was a major factor. He wasn't the only piece of the puzzle, but he was a big piece."
According to the National Letter of Intent office in Birmingham, Ala., if Oregon State were to release a student athlete from his letter of intent, that student athlete could transfer to another school but would have to sit out one season and lose a year of eligibility. If Oregon State doesn't release its incoming student athletes, the player can still transfer, but he'd have to sit out two seasons. The only way to transfer and not have to sit out a year would be to transfer to a I-AA school or file an appeal with the National Letter of Intent steering committee, citing extenuating circumstances.
But whether or not an appeal would be approved is questionable. Of the 20 rules listed in the packet that accompanies the actual letter of intent, only one -- No. 19 -- is circled. It states, "I understand that I have signed this NLI with the institution and not for a particular sport or individual. For example, if the coach leaves the institution or the sports program, I remain bound by the provisions of this NLI."
"I can't say what would happen (if one of the Oregon State recruits appealed)," said Eugene Bird, director of the National Letter of Intent. "I really don't know. But rule 19 basically states that you sign with a school, not a coach."
It's the most troubling line to parents. If a player only signed based on the school, why do college coaches put such an emphasis on building relationships with the players they're recruiting?
"That's what irks me about the NCAA," Moore said. "These coaches can leave and do whatever, but the kids can't. They're stuck. If Erickson comes out with this a week ago, the kids can do whatever they want. But now they can't. And I don't care what they say -- 99 percent of these kids go to play for a coach, not a school."
Said Bushman: "The kid, ultimately, is the one who loses," he said. "It's something that needs to be changed in the system. Maybe this will cause some change."
Not all the recruits were disappointed in Erickson's departure. Las Vegas linebacker Jeff Van Orsow was shocked when he got word by Erickson's decision, but didn't mind. As long as one of the school's current assistants or perhaps former coach Mike Riley is hired, he thinks the transition will be seamless.
"(Erickson) told us he had two years on his contract and he'd probably end his career at Oregon State," Van Orsow said. "And obviously that isn't going to happen. But I understand. That's a great job. And I didn't pick that school based on the coach. I'm going to Oregon State regardless."
Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn3.com.
, I'm still far far from a clone) And he was ripping Erickson on his move to San Fran pretty good. He was going on about "how long have talks been going on?" and about how the players who he recruited are now stuck. Even though he can quit and move on, the players cannot decommit and have to stay at Oregon State for a year at least. So at least Rome was calling it like he saw. Some person wrote in an email saying something about Francione though.