Last week, former Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson confirmed to the Salt Lake Tribune that he had interviewed for a spot as an assistant on Kyle Whittingham‘s coaching staff at Utah. That interview has gone well enough that Erickson landed a job.
The university confirmed Monday that Erickson will serve as a co-offensive coordinator alongside current OC Brian Johnson.
From the release:“Dennis Erickson brings a wealth of knowledge and coaching experience to our program,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “He has been labeled as one of the original architects of the spread and we are looking forward to the impact he will have on our offense. Coach Erickson also has recruiting connections across the country which should benefit us on that front as well.”
“I want to thank Kyle Whittingham and the University of Utah for the opportunity to get back into college football,” said Erickson. “Being around football players and coaches has been my life and that’s why I’m coming out of retirement. I will do whatever I can to help the players and coaches at Utah be successful and I am excited to get back out on the football field.”
Johnson just completed his first season as the Utes’ OC.
To put the OC hires into some perspective, Utah has had six different coaches assigned to that position over as many years. Andy Ludwig finished his final year with the Utes in 2008 and was succeeded by Dave Schramm, who then shared OC duties with Aaron Roderick in 2010. Norm Chow led Utah’s offense in 2011 before leaving to coach Hawaii, giving way to Johnson in 2012.
Now, Johnson will share responsibilities with Erickson.