Dennis Erickson.JPG

After nearly three decades as a college head coach, Dennis Erickson is Utah's co-offensive coordinator.

(Associated Press)

Maybe the guy least surprised to see 66-year-old Dennis Erickson turn up this year as an assistant on the Utah coaching staff was Erickson’s son, Bryce.

“He can’t help himself,” Bryce said.

Dennis Erickson has a 176-96-1 record as a college head coach. He won two national championships at Miami and took Oregon State to arguably the best season in school history in 2000, when the Beavers went 11-1 and routed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

But

which fired Erickson after the 2011 season.

Some people might have gone happily into retirement.

, where Bryce was head coach.

“What really surprised me was what a good job he did talking to those high school kids,” South Albany athletic director Tony Matta said. “It had been a while since he had been around the high school level, but he related to them. He has an ability to make the game easy for a 15-year-old guy to understand.”

Erickson grew up as the son of a high school coach. The sport took hold of him early, and the grip never loosened.

The Xs and Os are part of it, and so is the competition. But the biggest pull is the shared camaraderie of a group of men embracing roles and becoming part of something bigger than themselves in pursuit of a common goal.

“In our fast food society, football is about wins and losses,” Bryce Erickson said. “But for him it’s about the relationships he’s developed with young men as mentor or teacher or, in some cases in a parental role. He keeps in contact with the players he’s had an impact on.”

Bryce left South Albany after last season to become quarterbacks coach at Idaho. His dad was making a date with the surgeon for a hip replacement when Utah coach Kyle Whittingham called.

Whittingham had turned his offense over to 25-year-old Brian Johnson last year, and wasn’t completely happy with the results. He offered Erickson the opportunity to reshape Utah’s attack. Erickson didn’t commit until he visited Salt Lake City.

“I talked to the coaches and made sure they were comfortable,” Erickson said. “I wanted them to know I was there to try help and not to try to take over.”

It was an unassuming approach from a high-profile guy. When the meet-and-greet was over

with Johnson.

Utah (2-0) plays host to Oregon State (1-1) Saturday in a 7 p.m. game, and

the offense’s eye in the sky.

Erickson’s addition to the staff seems to be paying off. Utah quarterback Travis Wilson is playing with more confidence. The rough edges in the Utes’ offense have smoothed out.

“Maybe the biggest thing is we’ve shortened up the offense,” Erickson said. “They had been doing a lot of different things. We’re trying to concentrate on a couple things and do those. That’s helped us put our hands around the whole thing.”

Erickson ran his own show for nearly 30 years, in college and in NFL stints with the Seahawks and 49ers. If the loss in ultimate authority bothers him, he hides it well.

“I feel better than I have in a long time,” he said. “I had been the head coach for so long, I didn’t know what it was like to be an assistant. It takes a little bit of the stress off.

“The biggest reason I went into coaching was to be around the players, to have relationships with them and the coaches. Things changed over the years. When I first started as a college head coach, I was still the offensive coordinator. The head coach has become more of a CEO. I wasn’t involved in the football aspect as much as I wanted to be.”

Now he again is hands-on. It’s more football and fewer headaches.

Who knows? This latest chapter in Erickson’s career could go on for a while.

“He’s not close to wanting to leave the game,” Bryce Erickson said. “He’s far from being ready to retire.”

-- Ken Goe