It was announced yesterday that Dennis Erickson would be leaving Oregon State to take the HC position with the SF 49er's. It was reported that he was initially contacted 3 weeks ago. That would be just a couple of weeks before national signing day. I imagine that Erickson was telling his recruits that he wanted them to come to OSU to play for him. He probably also told their parents that he would look out for their kids best interests. Then, a week after getting their committment to come to OSU, he leaves for a better situation for himself and his family.

I have heard the various sports outlets reporting his new job, but no mention of how disloyal and misleading he was to his new recruits. I wonder why it was such a big story when Coach Fran chose to come to A&M, but when Erickson leaves OSU, there is no story. Could it be that the media also believes that Alabama is the "mecca" of college football.

Outrage is now passe.

No joke, JLP. Where is the public outrage? I felt the same way when Mike Price left Washington State. Where are all the calls for a one year hiatus on coaching after a transfer? Where are all the calls for "moral responsibility"? I never agreed with any of these arguments. However, if a ruckus is going to be made over one coach's decision to move, then make noise over other coachs' decisions to move schools.

Makes me sick.

-jch2002

maybe there aren't as many castores in positions of media influence as elefantes?

[This message has been edited by theNetSmith (edited 2/12/2003 6:59p).]

You don't hear it because you do not live in Oregon. If you read the papers there (or listen to the duck fans) you can hear the outrage. Also a slightly different situation when you leave for the pros.

All coaching changes can be traced back to Fran and the evil money men at TAMU. If you see any outrage over this latest move it will be directed at us.

Really guys, there never should have been any outrage over Fran leaving Alabama and there shouldn't be any outrage over any other coaching change...Continuing to call for media outrage is getting old.

Also saw an article in yesterday's Charlotte Observer regarding a number of college programs where coordinators were known by the colleges to be leaving, but they chose to wait until AFTER signing day to announce the changes. They didn't want to hurt their collective classes by alerting recruits that the very coaches they were hoping to work with were leaving. To me, that's about as dishonest as it gets.

Programs cited in the article included Florida, GA Tech, and NC State.

I agree that there was a double standard in these situations, but did Erickson tell his players he was leaving. That seemed to be the thing most people jumped on w/ Fran.

Erickson met with all of his players last night.

[This message has been edited by ORAggie (edited 2/12/2003 10:02a).]

People seem to give us more attention than most when it comes to coaching changes, or any other happening for that matter.

I'll just take that as a compliment and go on.

The only reason Coach Fran was getting raked over the coals is that he went to a conservative university and the liberal media didn't like it. It happens everyday.

big12texag

ORAg, why the heck would Duck fans be outraged? We should be talking about all the angry beaver!

I do believe that coaches should do what is in their best interest. But I will add this. If a coach knows he is leaving very soon, and witholds this info from a recruit in order to get his commitment, that is dead wrong and that coach is a sorry sack of sh*t!

The ducks are saying how horrible it was to leave all of the recruits... blah, blah, blah. OSU fans know that the program will continue and everything will be fine.

"The only reason Coach Fran was getting raked over the coals is that he went to a conservative university and the liberal media didn't like it. It happens everyday."

What an idiotic statement. Truly oustanding effort to make yourself look like a fool. Coach Fran was raked over the coals, and for good reason, because he left without meeting with his players. He ABSOLUTELY should have done that. No excuse for not doing that, and I think Fran knows he should have done it.

That said, there is no easy way to leave a job for another. I certainlt am not holding how he left against him, but he did not handle it well at all. Thats why he got raked over the coals. And because the national media doesn't seem to believe that the A&M job is a better opportunity than the Bama job.

But the conservative/liberal leanings of various institutions has NOTHING to do with it.

Again, a truly stupid statement.

Norm Hitzges is talking about this on the Ticket right now.


BQ '81 (B-Co. drummer)

----------------------------------------
The road goes on forever, and the party never ends - Robert Earl Keen (he's an Aggie, ya know)
http://www.geocities.com/nailbone/

I dont know why Fran didnt meet with his players, but neither do any of you. Its all specualtion, you should hold your critisism until Fran has had a chance to tell his story...which probably wont be for a long time. Not talking to the players was just a excuse for alabama to use for why they were so mad. Most of them could probably care less about what was or was not said to the players. The fact that anyone would leave bama for anyplace else was the real issue.

Bundy, you are pretty ignorant if you really think politics doesn't come into play. It is all about which side of the fence you are on. Here in Texas, who decided which athletic conference four major institutions would join? Who decideds how much institutions can charge in tuition?

You think that is just a Texas thing and doesn't play out on a national and global perspective or in the press? Ever watched any news shows on CNN, Fox or MSNBC? Ever considered why the USA is Israel's only ally?

Yours was an igorant statement. By the way, interesting date you joined our little community here...12/6/2002. What else was happening here right around that time?

[This message has been edited by Sully (edited 2/12/2003 10:51a).]

I dont know why Fran didnt meet with his players, but neither do any of you. Its all specualtion, you should hold your critisism until Fran has had a chance to tell his story...which probably wont be for a long time. Not talking to the players was just a excuse for alabama to use for why they were so mad. Most of them could probably care less about what was or was not said to the players. The fact that anyone would leave bama for anyplace else was the real issue.

OSU = BEAVERS
OREGON = DUCKS

Cmon guys we sound like idiots. What if folks from other schools were calling us the A&M Longhorns during the whole Fran thing.

Coach Fran probably planned to go back after he made the trip to Texas to consider the offer, after all, he had not accepted the position yet. However, there was such outrageous hostility then he was probably warned that he shouldn't go back for fear of his life.

Bundy,
It is a fact that when A&M does anything out of the ordinary, the news media has a field day.
IMO, the reason is that A&M is one of the few institutions that holds itself to a higher standard, although that standard is different from what the media considers.

On the other hand, nothing would really be out of the ordinary for the t-sips and the like. So nothing there is really news.

The news media are truly hypocrites. They create news by criticizing different parties by different standards. For instance, they chastise some for doing one thing that they honor and defend others for doing.


[This message has been edited by SiValleyAg68 (edited 2/12/2003 11:25a).]

KA_AG, you are correct, but wondering where that came from?

I think it's great, because it means Teddy Cottrell will be back running the D for my Jets next year.

Given the feral reaction in Bama to Fran's leaving, I'm surprised anyone still wonders why he didn't return to tell the players in person. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

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Hey Bundy, take a chill pill. There's no reason for name calling. The guy made a comment, so you get to judge whether it's "stupid"?

You are right to some extent that Fran got slammed for not meeting with his players. I also agree with other comments made that the sports media thinks the Bama job should be considered much better than ours.

I also think that what DE did was just as bad if not worse than what Fran did. Fran made his change at the end of the season when recruiting was hitting it's stride. DE got the players to sign then he was out of there. {HEY, I think it's great you get a chance to improve your situation, but the question remains...did those players know that DE wasn't going to be there?}

IF NOT..IF they were lied to...I think there needs to be a procedure in place for the players to be able to remove their commitments based on false/misleading recruiting.

Say... within a certain time frame after signing day if there are coaching changes that were planned & known about before signing day and not divulged to players before signing day, then those players can have the option to try to sign somewhere else.

You lawyers out there help me. Would a recruit have a case for false information prior to signing his contract?

Erickson did not know before signing day. He may or may not have been contacted, but look at all of the other coaches that were contacted. Not even his assitants knew he was going, as most of them will still be at OSU.

I'm not an attorney, but in my opinion the kids are signing a letter of intent to play for a school and not to play for a particular coach. It certainly can seem highly dishonest in many instances but I think most of the players approach it that way. The nature of any business is that there will eventually be turnover and that personnel changes will be made. That being said, I think most schools would voluntarily release a kid that really did not want to play for a program that was vastly different than the one he signed up for. Just my opinion...

There is no outrage because he said goodbye to his players.

quote:

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"To compete for a world championship, I guess, is the itch I had to scratch," Erickson said Tuesday night in Corvallis, Ore., where he said goodbye to his Oregon State players. "That's basically what it boils down to."

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http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/2003/0211/1507238.html

What the SF Bay Area media jerks are outraged about is that DE was not paraded before them so they could pronounce there opinion. The 49ers mgt announced 3 other candidates (who were all pro already coaches) but didn't announce DE until he had been offered and accepted. The media didn't get their scope, their chance to sell news, and they consider that higher than treason.

I'm sure okie u fans find it outrageously relieving, since they didn't pick Stoops.

who cares

ORaggie
It came from the fact that everyone keeps saying that the "Duck" fans are upset about Erickson. The Duck fans are probably not too interested seeing as how he coached at Oregon St.

KA_AG_01
Go back and reread all of the above posts and tell me where someone calls OSU the ducks.

"Bundy, you are pretty ignorant if you really think politics doesn't come into play. It is all about which side of the fence you are on. "

Politics comes into play when the media criticizes a high profile public figure? Wake up. The media doesn't care if their "target" is liberal or conservative, all they want is a story. The "target"'s political beliefs have nothing to do with it.


"Here in Texas, who decided which athletic conference four major institutions would join? Who decideds how much institutions can charge in tuition?"

And what do those things have to do with the media? So you're saying that government institutions are political? Wow, thanks for the heads up Dr. Sully. Never would have figured that one out myself.

"You think that is just a Texas thing and doesn't play out on a national and global perspective or in the press? Ever watched any news shows on CNN, Fox or MSNBC? Ever considered why the USA is Israel's only ally?"

Yeah, I've watched news shows on CNN, Fox and MSNBC. I've seen such "liberal" pundits as Pat Buchannon, that Tucker dork with the bow tie, and that woman married to Carvell all over CNN spouting off their "liberal" philosophies. I wouldn't call Fox a "liberal" media outlet, would you? Not sure where you are going with the whole Isreal thing. But staying on topic seems to be difficult for you so I'll let it go.

"Yours was an igorant statement."

Why? Because I refuse to believe that the "only reason" a big deal was made was because A&M is a "conservative" institution. That Fran's philosphies of loyalty and trust, proudly displayed on his website, would seem to be in direct conflict to what he did--that had nothing to do with the firestorm? That someone would consider TAMU a better job than Bama--that had nothing to do with the firestorm? That he never directly spoke to his players about his leaving--that had nothing to do with the firestorm?

That all those factors aren't something a salavating media wouldn't jump on if he were going to a less conservative school? Paranoid much?

"By the way, interesting date you joined our little community here...12/6/2002. What else was happening here right around that time?"

Ah, you got me there. The date I became a poster rather than a lurker proves your point. Nice work Sherlock, you sure solved that mystery.

There's another reason that there was such outrage over Fran leaving Bama........ESPN and the other media outlets that were doing the bashing are East Coast/Southeast/MidWest based. They DO NOT want a southwest team, especially another Texas team to contend with for the teams they cover and hype. Imagine all football AND basketball talent staying in state. It would devastate their "fan base".

Only tu is allowed that privilege.

quote:

---

The ducks are saying how horrible it was to leave all of the recruits... blah, blah, blah. OSU fans know that the program will continue and everything will be fine.

---

There you go, MEENag

quote:

---

Bundy,
It is a fact that when A&M does anything out of the ordinary, the news media has a field day.

---

What planet do you live on?