Dennis Erickson believes Miami Hurricanes attractive for other conferences
College Football Hall of Fame and Miami Hurricanes Hall of Fame coach Dennis Erickson spoke to Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post about the future of the ACC and where the obvious interest of University Presidents lies in conference re-alignment. Erickson shared his thoughts on which conference fits Miami best.
Erickson was 63–9 leading the Miami Hurricanes football program to national championships in 1989 and 1991 during a six-season run as head coach. The rest of Erickson’s career was spent in the West. Erickson was the head coach at Arizona State, Idaho, Oregon State and Washington State.
Miami hired Erickson from Washington State. Erickson was 12–10–1 in two seasons at Washington State. The Cougars improved to 9-3 in Erickson’s second season in Pullman. Erickson also discussed with D’Angelo his disappointment about the breakup of the Pac 12 last week with five programs leaving the conference.
Which conference fits Miami best if they decide to move on has been the cause of a lot of speculation. The criteria for a conference other than the ACC for Miami vary. The SEC is the best fit for Miami geographically, but many college analysts have stated that the Big 10 is a better fit culturally. Erickson provided his thoughts.
"“They’d be very attractive for a lot of (conferences)…The SEC kind of matches with where they are right now. But I got to think the ACC will hang in there. They got to do some things but you got some pretty good teams in that ACC.You got all these presidents that talk about academics and talk about loyalty and the bottom line is they move because of one thing…money…It had nothing to do with education. It had nothing to do with players. It had nothing to do with the school. It had to do with money.”"
The ACC has been examining the possiblity of adding California, SMU and Stanford but conference Presidents reportedly decided not to vote on expansion. How the ACC proceedes in the future with expansion and the decisions of Clemson and Florida State will have a great impact on where Miami lands.
Next. How B1G and Big XII expansion affect Miami. dark
Erickson also commented on the pureness of the Football Championship Subdivision. Erickson’s son Bryce is the tight ends coach at Montana. D’Angelo stated that Erickson is not fond of Name, Image and Likeness. The game has changed significantly over the past few years. Even more so since Erickson retired.