From Profootballtalk.com Rumor Mill
Although its a rumor I have read things like this on other sites as well and I think it is pretty correct.
ERICKSON'S PLAN FALLING APART
It looks like 49ers coach Dennis Erickson is losing his quest to retreat to college ball (again) and pocket the remaining $7.5 million on his contract with the 49ers.
The dance began last month, when we reported that Erickson was planning to head to the University of Washington, as the new head coach.
Once Erickson's desire to have his cake and spend it too was exposed, he flatly denied any desire to leave the 49ers.
"I'm going to finish this thing and do what I came to do," Erickson said.
Erickson also said, "If I wanted to be in college, I'd have stayed at Oregon State."
And Erickson added this gem when asked if he'd be coaching the 49ers next year: ''Oh, yeah. I mean there's no question about that. Like I've said, we have a long-term plan and we go ahead and go from there.''
So what happened?
Erickson, we believe, was banking on the fact that he could worm his way out of his contract -- and get paid to do so -- while at the same time landing in Washington.
Sure, he never was an official candidate for the Huskies gig. Just like he wasn't a candidate for the 49ers job two years ago (until he signed the deal). And just like he wasn't a candidate for the Ole Miss job, until his "secret" candidacy was exposed by ESPN.
Now that the cat's out of the bag (again), Erickson apparently has decided to drop the charade and pursue one of the remaining empty seats at the D-I level. Even Erickson is smart enough to realize that his "I won't fire any of my assistants" routine was merely a more sophisticated equivalent to driving around the parking lot with those five tarnished Lombardis dragging from his bumper.
"I have an interest in going back to college," Erickson now says, less than a month after issuing his categorical denial.
But Erickson is still equivocating. "It doesn't mean [that I'm leaving] at all."
It's obvious that (as we explained last month) Erickson is playing the 49ers for a buyout. The problem is that Dr. John York likely won't blink, even if he otherwise would have fired Erickson and paid the $7.5 million. York now knows that Erickson wants out, and York is going to force him to quit.
It would be smart for York to simply work out a severance package in lieu of forcing Erickson to stay when he doesn't want to be there. Still, even for $2.5 million a year, we can't imagine Erickson hanging around at a gig that he no longer believes in. Eventually, he'll walk away -- likely will nothing or close to it.
And that's the right thing to do, in our view. We can understand that a guy who gets fired should get the rest of his contract, since he otherwise would have stayed and fulfilled it. But for a guy like Erickson to try to weasel a seven-figure buyout when he's got one foot out the door and the other one in the air, that's just wrong.
So give it up, Dennis. You made $5 million for two years in San Fran. Given the performance of the team on your watch, you should be happy that no one is asking for a refund.
If we sound bitter, we are. Why? Because Erickson got on his high horse when we first broke the story that he was looking to get out. "I'd like to know the person who starts those rumors," Erickson said. "There's no accountability."
When it comes to accountability, Erickson needs to look in the mirror. The idea that he'd try to finagle a $7.5 million windfall is shameful -- and the fact that he's apparently going to be blocked from pocketing any more 49ers money than the coin that he (arguably) has earned while on the job is just, in our book, another Festivus miracle.