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Posted on 01/05/2005 4:53:08 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- The San Francisco 49ers fired coach Dennis Erickson and dismissed general manager Terry Donahue on Wednesday, cleaning house just three days after the once-proud franchise finished with the NFL's worst record.
Owner John York announced the changes to his team, which went 2-14 to match the worst record in San Francisco history.
Erickson went 9-23 in two seasons as Steve Mariucci's successor, never reaching the postseason. He won two national championships at the University of Miami during a successful college coaching career, but is 40-56 in six seasons as an NFL head coach in San Francisco and Seattle.
Donahue, the longtime UCLA coach, was the hand-picked successor to Bill Walsh, who returned to the team five years ago to rebuild from a similar funk. Since taking over from Walsh in 2001, Donahue has been criticized for mediocre drafts and unorthodox strategies, from his difficult salary cap relief plan to his reliance on unusual player evaluation methods.
After last Sunday's 21-7 loss to New England, York spent the past two days interviewing Erickson and Donahue while he mulled his decision.
"Dr. John York, as the owner of this franchise and team, has the right to make any decision regarding his football organization," Donahue said in a statement. "I am very disappointed that I do not have the opportunity to remain with the 49ers. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind with the improvement in the salary cap situation, the return of a lot of injured players, along with a good draft, that we would have experienced a great deal of success in the future."
The 49ers won five championships from 1981-94, but since York and his wife took over the team in 1999, they've had just two winning seasons and won just one playoff game.
Erickson has three years and $7.5 million remaining on the contract he signed in 2003, while Donahue received a four-year contract extension last September worth an estimated $5 million. The hefty financial packages were thought to be the biggest obstacle to York's desire to make changes, but the owner decided to shoulder the expense.
Last month, York said he was extremely disappointed with the 49ers' season, and he expected to make big changes to the organization. Erickson will be the second coach fired by York in slightly less than two years, following his abrupt dismissal of Mariucci just days after a second-round playoff loss at Tampa Bay.
While Erickson took much of the heat for the 49ers' record, many of their shortcomings were due to a stripped-down roster assembled by Donahue, who waived several veterans and pared the payroll last summer in an effort to rid the 49ers of the "dead money" - being paid to players no longer with the team - on their salary cap.
The 49ers knew they would struggle this season with that young, inexpensive roster, but few expected them to match the 2-14 marks set by the club in 1978 and 1979.
Many of San Francisco's best players missed much of the year with injuries, including center Jeremy Newberry, linebacker Julian Peterson and quarterback Tim Rattay, who started just nine games. Eleven players finished the season on injured reserve, and San Francisco won't have a representative in the Pro Bowl.
Erickson, the 14th coach in San Francisco history, is 144-57-1 as a head coach at five universities, most recently presiding over the dramatic revival of Oregon State from 1999-02. But he never had a winning season in six years in the NFL, missing the playoffs every year.
Erickson said this season was the toughest year of his life, and though he expressed his desire to return to San Francisco, he probably isn't heartbroken to be leaving an organization that seemed to get more dysfunctional with each loss. Last month, Erickson even met with officials from the University of Mississippi about their vacant head coaching position, which went to USC assistant Ed Orgeron.
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| San Francisco 49ers coach Dennis Erickson, left, and 49ers general manager Terry Donahue, right, talk after practice at the 49ers training camp in Santa Clara, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004. The San Francisco 49ers were expected to fire coach Dennis Erickson at a news conference on Wednesday after two losing seasons. Three team sources, all speaking on condition of anonymity, said they expect owner John York to announce Erickson's firing. The fate of general manager Terry Donahue, who also has been under fire following the 49ers' league-worst 2-14 season, also was in doubt, but the sources didn't know whether Donahue would be fired. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma,file) |
Dang, I wish he had come to Miami! My two favorite teams: Miami and whoever is playing the 49ers!
The problem, Dr. York, isn't Erickson or Donahue....
They oughta fire the friggin' owners.
Now if we can get York to fire himself, we may be getting somewhere.
Tar and feathering works for me....
No, you may not have Pete Carroll and Norm Chow, but thanks for playing!
I love Pete Carroll...
Look at what they did with that franchise....they were a dominant team from 80-94 and then had a resurgence a few years ago after paying the bill for mortgaging the future. York married deBartolo's sister and after they pushed Eddie out, he has made bad decision after bad decision.
Ericson sucks as a coach though. Plus, while coaching at the University of Miami he actually called my older sister (a Dean) a CUNext Tuesday when she told him to get his crew of ganstas under control.
He's not a pro coach though. Crashed and burned in New England. Nice guy though.
Move over Bill Bidwell...John York has dethroned you. ;)
My two favorite teams have always been whomever is playing Miami and Dallas. Oh, and because I'm a sucker, I'm a Vikings fan.
WOO HOO!!! 0-16 here we come. ;-)
Anyone who would take the head coaching job for the 49'ers these days is a complete idiot or a masochist. This was one of the best franchises in football under Eddie D. Now it's a pitiful P.O.S....
I'm still trying to recover from Mooch being fired.
They killed themselves with the salary cap trying to beat the Cowboys, and they're paying for it now. They were going to suck this year even if Jesus was the coach.
you're right in that York is the cheapo. I don't like Erikson but I didn't blame him though he always looks clueless and a dunce...........I think Donahue was the major problem with his draft picks, getting rid of all the vertern players in a short span.....good lord, aftee Eddie D., got caught with his hand in the cookie jar his sister and brother in law screwed up this once fine organization
well Eddie had to go cause of his illegal trists down there in Louisiana so Eddie screwed himself....but carmen policy now with Browns made some initial fu's too....hell they get rid of George Seifert the year after super bowl win. They get rid of Mariucci who is a fine man....yeah he was too conservative in some games but they needed some better coordinators.....the salary cap screw up began way before York but I agree, he has not taken the bull by the horns to resolve the issue and Donahue who I admired once totally messed up once daddy Walsh was gone
steal Holgren from Seattle if you can.....he is a SF guy anyway and if we could get him that would be awesome...sorry to offend any of my northwest friends....
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