Great hire. Maybe he can do for you what Mike Price did for UTEP. Is it true that Idaho turned down Price for a job? Maybe your AD learned from that mistake.

Anyway, good luck to the Vandals. I think this is a big hire not only for Idaho but for the WAC.

Hey, MondoMiner, when are you coming back to the WAC. We want you back.

Congrats to Idaho. The publicity, at least, is great for the WAC. Other good things that come of the hire will be good for the WAC, and the more the merrier.

Big congrats to Idaho for the hire. I wonder if being in the WAC played a big role in Erickson's decision like how it was with Reggie Theus in basketball at NMSU.

State89 - I think Idaho being in the WAC played a "large" role in his decision.

I think it's similar to Tomey. He started in the WAC, went to the Pac-10, Big-12 and NFL.

Now he's a WAC coach.

I feel very good about the WAC's future...

ejmpalle Wrote:Hey, MondoMiner, when are you coming back to the WAC. We want you back.

Congrats to Idaho. The publicity, at least, is great for the WAC. Other good things that come of the hire will be good for the WAC, and the more the merrier.

Don't think we'll be coming back any time soon, but I do hope we can rekindle some rivalries OOC, particularly in basketball.

Still up until last year, my Miners were proud WAC members all of my life. I still cheer on your teams (even the red aggies) and hope the best for you all. I really believe the Erickson hire was huge for the league.

Quote:Is it true that Idaho turned down Price for a job? Maybe your AD learned from that mistake.

I don't know what Price's interest in the position really was; it would have been a strange situation if he had taken it. On the one hand, he liked the Palouse well enough to stay at Washington State for over a decade. But I also wonder if UTEP and favorable southern weather was attractive to him (he is at that snowbird/retirement age). Additionally, UTEP's facilities are miles ahead of us (and, honestly, Washington State for that matter), and our facilities issues probably scare a lot of prospective coaches off. And finally, it probably would have bee awkard for Price to be coaching eight miles away from his old program at Washington State (which doesn't seem to be in as capable of hands with Bill Doba, also my opinion). While we likely would have welcomed Mike Price, I think the close proximity to his old employer, the challenges of succeeding at Idaho, and a mix of UTEP's location and facilities didn't make us a serious competitor for him.

On the other hand, Erickson just feels like a perfect fit. He has a history with the school, wants to get back into coach, and his name means something in the region, particularly after building OSU up. We need a big name to have a shot at really resurrecting the program, and that big name can help us a great deal at resolving our facilities challenges. It should be huge for Idaho, and what's good for us is good for the entire conference.

that he would have not taken the Idaho job if Idaho was still in the SunBelt, so yes, the WAC impacted his hire.