My memory was completely wrong on this. I thought Erickson had a better record at WSU than that.
Dude- its not worth arguing with most of this board about Leach. They hate Leach because Leach is a Trump supporter. Its funny- I started typing this post this morning and got sidetracked. Come back a few hours later and it's all anti-Trump stuff. OGH, for example, has said repeatedly that black parents won't send their kids to play for him because of his Trump supporter. Kids play for racist SEC schools without batting an eye, but Leach is more toxic because he has openly said good things about Trump. Recruiting coordinators in anonymous interviews have said neither parents or kids care one bit about a coach's politics, but they anti-Trumpers make the ridiculous claim the one exception to that rule is Leach.
Then they say it's not true that Pullman, WA is a ****hole and that it should be a destination school, so it's on Leach that he doesn't have higher ranked classes. The anti-Trumpers (I mean anti-Leachers) say Mike Price had success therefore it proves that Leach should have even more success. Price had 3 10 win seasons in 12 years, therefore WSU should be considered a name brand school and recruits should want to flock there. These anti-Leach porsters have no idea of what Prices classes were ranked or if Price was overachieving with sub par talent; but they claim it proves Leach should be able to recruit better at WSU. There is no logical reason to believe that but since Leach supports Trump its fair to jump to that conclusion.
Prior to Leach's arrival, the last time WSU was relevant was at the same time the University of Colorado was one of the stronger teams in college football. Yet no reasonable person would claim that Colorado should be better at recruiting or is a destination program. It's only because Mike Leach is a Trump supporter that the critics claim that Leach should be recruiting better at WSU, even though they would not make that same argument against other coaches at schools that had more success than WSU around the same time period.
Most of the anti-Leach stuff is an irrational hatred that isnt rooted in football acumen but in politics. While some may put stock in the opinions of internet slapd!cks who think they know football better than actual professionals, I'll value the professionals opinion a bit more. Coaches generally hold Leach in high regard. In anonymous surveys other coaches have rated him as a "very good coach" and one who has done more with less talent than most coaches. If going to take shots at Leach and say he's overrated, the anonymous coach surveys is where you would tend to see it. It was in an another anonymous coach survey that one coach said Manny Diaz was overrated and all gimmicks. Looks like the coaches were right twice.