According to sources inside the program as reported by the web site Football Scoop, head coach Dennis Erickson has told members of his staff that this will be his last season with the Arizona State Sun Devils football team. It should be noted this is a very preliminary report that has not been confirmed at this time.
Erickson has a 31-29 record in his five year tenure with the program, though losing four of his last five games and the limping finish of the season could be the last straw for the long time coach. He owns an overall coaching record of 179-95-1 as well as a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes, spending time coaching in the NFL as well.
ASU has one more game on their regualr season schedule against the Cal Golden Bears next Friday. If the Sun Devils should win that game and UCLA loses to USC and Utah beats Colorado, then Erickson's team would back its way into the Pac-12 Championship Game which would likely be a rematch against Oregon.
[Note by Seth Pollack, 11/20/11 12:49 PM MST ]
There are conflicting reports in response to this story.
Twitter / @DougHaller: Talked to numerous people ...
Talked to numerous people this morning. No one has confirmed that Dennis Erickson has informed his staff that he is leaving at season's end.
[Note by Seth Pollack, 11/20/11 3:20 PM MST ]
Twitter / @cmorgancbsfoxaz: #ASU coach Dennis Erickson ...
#ASU coach Dennis Erickson on rumor that he'll leave at the end of the season: "There is no truth to it whatsoever. I’m not going anywhere."
For more on Arizona State football, head on over to House of Sparky, the place to be for everything Sun Devil on the internet.