ASU has provided some incentive for Koetter's replacement to stick around. Erickson's five-year, $5.6 million contract is back-loaded, with most of his pay coming in the latter years. He's to be paid $500,000 this season. The Arizona Board of Regents approved the contract last spring.
Robert Bulla, who was board president during the decision to hire Erickson, says Crow assured him that ASU conducted a thorough review of Erickson's background at Miami.
Giulio Sciorio
Tony Blei
Dennis Erickson, ASU's new football coach
Related Content
More About
"Michael was very comfortable with the process that was taken," Bulla assures.
Bulla says he made it clear to Crow that regents will have "zero tolerance" for bending the rules.
Bulla downplayed the problems swirling around Erickson's tenure in South Florida, calling it "old news." At the same time, Bulla acknowledged that he couldn't "tell you how much involvement" Erickson had in the NCAA sanctions.
Bulla made the statement after New Times provided him — along with every member of the Board of Regents — copies of the NCAA Committee on Infractions report detailing Erickson's role in the sanctions against Miami.
It's difficult to gauge the community's reaction to Erickson's hiring because the e-mails on the subject have been destroyed. In the past, the ASU athletic department kept a record of all e-mails and copies of all letters received from the public concerning the selection of high-profile coaches.
Last year, for example, New Times reviewed scores of e-mails and written correspondence in connection with Love's decision to fire men's basketball coach Rob Evans and hire Herb Sendek.
That policy has changed. The athletic department's new "policy is to respond to public e-mails and to delete both the original e-mail and the response," ASU spokeswoman Shafer stated in an e-mail to New Times.
Shafer stated that the athletic department's e-mail policy "is not published (nor is it required to be published) as formal university policy. Public e-mails have never been designated as required for retention, so they have always been eligible for deletion at any point after receipt."
The athletic department's policy to delete public inquiries and ASU's responses is extremely unusual and could violate the Arizona Public Records Law, says First Amendment attorney Dan Barr.
"I haven't seen something like this before, especially when they say they destroy the records right away," says Barr, who's filed numerous public records lawsuits for Valley news organizations.
ASU hasn't responded to New Times' request for a copy of the university's e-mail-retention policy, and none could be found on ASU's Web site.
However, the University of Arizona's electronic records policy states that "any information including all e-mail produced or received on [the] University provided system . . . may be subject to disclosure under the state public records law."
It's been 29 months since Loren Wade killed Brandon Falkner in a fit of jealous rage outside CBNC, the lively Scottsdale club that's attracted celebrities like rapper 50 Cent and Denver Nuggets point guard Allen Iverson.
During this time, ASU first extended Dirk Koetter's contract and then fired him as head coach. Given the opportunity — some would say obligation — to ensure that the football program would be led by a coach with impeccable credentials in the aftermath of Falkner's murder and the other player problems, ASU selected a man who brought championships and disgrace to the University of Miami.
Eight days before the Dennis Erickson era was to begin on the field with a Sun Devils home game against San Jose State, Wade stood sobbing before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Arthur Anderson and asked for leniency.
Anderson already had in his possession a lengthy letter written by Wade in which the former star running back, now 23, accepted full blame for killing Falkner.
"Never once in this whole case have I tried to deny responsibility for the death of Brandon," Wade wrote. "It is my fault, but I couldn't own up to intentionally taking the life of another human being."
The jury had already agreed that Wade didn't intentionally kill Falkner, convicting him last June of second-degree murder.
Turning to Falkner's brother, Jelani, who'd asked the judge to sentence Wade to the maximum 22 years, Wade said, "I didn't mean to kill your brother, but I take full responsibility. Brandon is with God, and he knows the truth. And I promise you that Brandon will be honored through me."
The judge listened intently before sentencing Wade to 20 years in prison. Wade will now have plenty of time to fulfill his pledge to dedicate his life to Falkner.
"I've made a promise to Brandon that whatever I do here on this Earth will be to honor him," Wade wrote to Judge Anderson. "He is my angel, and he guides me, and I always think about [that] before I do anything."
Arizona State University should consider giving Brandon Falkner a second thought.
