Season collapse leads to Erickson’s firing

After a 6-2 start to the 2011 season, the Arizona State Sun Devils totally collapsed, losing their final four games and their head coach. 

Dennis Erickson is no longer at the head of the Sun Devil football program. He was fired Monday, putting to rest all the speculation on his future in Tempe, Ariz. 

Erickson was 31-30 in his five years at the helm of the organization, and had a very solid start to his career in the Grand Canyon State. In 2007, Erickson was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, after guiding the Sun Devils to their first 10-win season in nine years and a Holiday Bowl appearance. 

Things went downhill drastically after his freshman season. The team would win no more than six games the following three years, and of course the 6-6 season the team would has had in 2011. 

The team is bowl eligible, and Erickson will coach the team in whatever game they will play in. 

“I don’t know that I have ever been through a month like this,” Erickson said following Friday night’s loss to the University of California. 

“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.”

Arizona State was in complete command of the Pac-12 South division following their win over Colorado on Oct. 29, then things snowballed after that in the month of November, starting with the 29-28 loss to UCLA in Los Angeles on Nov. 5. 

Once Arizona State lost the Territorial Cup to the University of Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium, that seemed to fuel the fire and the calls for Erickson’s ouster. 

Many names have been thrown around as Erickson’s replacement even before the axe fell, but it will intensify even more now that the “move” has been made.