...the ground with scandal. He did well at first with Jimmy Johnson's players at the U. It's interesting to note that he likely could've had a 3rd NC in a row at the U if it wasn't for Ty Detmer and BYU beating them on National TV in 1990. Things started to tail off and then spin out of control with scandal and player issues. They played in the '91 Cotton Bowl vs Texas and accumulated 16 penalties in the game with 9 of them being for unsportsmanlike conduct. Bill Walsh called it, "the most disgusting thing [he'd] ever seen in college sports."

He lost his last 3 bowl games at the U using mostly his own recruits and scored 13, 0 and 17 pts in those 3 losses. If scandal hadn't chased him out another year on that pace possibly would have. He was fortunate the NFL came calling when they did.

I'm sure he's learned a bit since that time and won't run the yewt offense into the ground or embroil the team in any scandals but when you look at the bulk of his career w/o the gawdy U numbers he's just an okay 116-87. Not homerun numbers but pretty good.

His NFL resume is worse, he has a losing record (40-56), and never got any of his teams into the playoffs. I think overall on the college level he was more successful but his track record looks oddly like someone who does better with the previous coach's players than with his own and that's why he doesn't stay around any one place very long. He typically has one good year and then cashes his chips in and moves on before things have the chance to fall apart completely (his time at the U was his most consistent as far as regular season wins and losses). H

He seems to have a remarkable sense of timing. For what the yewts need help with I think this isn't a bad hire but based on recent history we'll see how much it helps. I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. I guess this speaks to how desperate Dennis Erickson has become since getting canned by the Sun Devils. His phone must not have been ringing at all and he was willing to take the job offer that Robert Anae turned down.