The 3 worst head coach hires in Arizona State football history
By Sam Fariss
Following Dirk Koetter's failed attempt to fill Snyder's shoes, Dennis Erickson took over the program in 2007. He led the Sun Devils for five seasons before he and the program parted ways.
Erickson wasn't a complete failure by any means. He kept the team from drowning and left ASU with a 50 percent success rate. However, his struggle to defeat conference opponents was his downfall.
The Sun Devils won fewer than five Pac-10 games a season with Erickson as their head coach and frequently found themselves near the bottom of conference standings.
2008 was Erickson's only real success story as Arizona State went 10-3 overall. After that year, the team fell apart. The wildly successful season was followed by losing records of 5-7, 4-8, 6-6, and 6-7.
Disappointed fans and frustrated players had let their hopes soar after the 10-3 season, just to see their program crumble under Erickson's leadership. He finished his time in Tempe in 2011 with a 31-31 overall record.