Think back to 1989. Jimmy Johnson was on his way to the woeful (but not for long) Dallas Cowboys of the NFL and Sam Jankovich had to replace his national championship winning head football coach. Did Jankovich turn back to the pros like he had inherited with Howard Schnellenberger? Or to a big-name college hire? No, he went after another rising star in the college ranks. This time it was Dennis Erickson, who in 1988 was the head coach at Washington State. Wazzu was a school Jankovich knew well as the former athletic director of the Cougars.
Erickson had a record of 12-10-1 at Wazzu and had only finished 6-6 at Wyoming at his previous stop.