Area’s Oregon State recruits shocked at coach’s departure

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

Not a month ago, Dennis Erickson arrived in Las Vegas with the intent of sealing commitments to Oregon State from Jeff Vanorsow and two more local prep football prospects.

The Foothill defensive end clearly recalls what Erickson said that day.

"He came to talk to my family and said he was going to stick around for the rest of his career," Vanorsow said.

"Obviously, that wasn't the case."

Erickson left Oregon State Tuesday to accept the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers, just a week after securing 20 new commitments to the Beavers' program upon the opening of the NCAA signing period.

"It was a shock when I heard it, but life happens and you move on," said Desert Pines defensive tackle Curtis Coker, who also signed with OSU.

But the trio of Las Vegans headed to Oregon State next season -- to join five more Valley natives already in the program -- emphasized that their choice had more to do with Corvallis, Ore., and the university than it did with Erickson.

"He left a good foundation here," said current OSU linebacker and 1999 Chaparral graduate Richard Seigler. "I think everybody's hoping we just keep it up."

"(Coach Erickson) was a factor, but he wasn't a big factor," Coker said. "The fate of the whole team doesn't rest in one person."

While coaches are free to come and go from college programs, players are not. Players within a program are bound by NCAA transfer rules, and incoming players are bound by national letters of intent that explicity state that coaching changes are not sufficient grounds to break a commitment to a university.

That's OK, Vanorsow said, because he would not have changed his mind based on the coaching switch, anyway.

"I signed to play for Oregon State, not for Coach Erickson," Vanorsow said.

Oregon State athletics director Bob De Carolis said he did not know how many of Erickson's assistants -- the ones who do most of the direct recruiting with players -- would remain with the school. Those assistants have helped Oregon State establish a strong recruiting base in Southern Nevada in the past few years.

De Carolis also sought to reassure incoming recruits.

"They've committed to Oregon State and now the leader of the program is gone," De Carolis said. "Having said that, the message that we want to send to the recruits is, 'When you signed up, you signed up for Oregon State.' While Coach Erickson was a huge part of that, there are a lot of other pieces to the puzzle."