Coach Erickson Loves Chad Johnson

by Footballfatty on Oct 30, 2008 9:00 AM MST Comment 13 comments

With the Sun Devils heading up to Corvalis, you know somebody was going to talk about Erickson's days back with Oregon State. One reporter started to talk to him about Chad Johnson and you could tell Chad was Chad even in college. Erickson gives some great sound and it seems like they got along really well.

http://palestra.net/videos/play/17937

I forgot how much crazy talent he had up there. Steven Jackson, Ocho Cinco, and old TJ Whosyomama.....some solid teams.

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Derek Anderson, Nick Barnett, Richard Seigler....

It was a lot of fun back then, but it’s even more fun now.

How is it spelled?

It's spelled S-h-u-V-3-0-0-0.

by CV3000 on Oct 30, 2008 2:50 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Chad

was “on campus” at OSU for one semester and then bolted for the NFL. If anyone actually believes he was going to class or academically eligible, they’re crazy.

I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles

by Dirk Diggler on Oct 31, 2008 8:03 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

He went to class. I knew people who had classes with him.

He was academically eligible when he started, and he wouldn’t have been able to play in the Fiesta Bowl if he wasn’t academically eligible, so…maybe it’s just you?

Chad also gave 250k to endow athletic scholarships at OSU with his first signing bonus.

How is it spelled?

It's spelled S-h-u-V-3-0-0-0.

by CV3000 on Oct 31, 2008 12:06 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Well

To play in the fall semester, you only have to be admitted to the university and then barely do anything.

I used to work for the ASU football team, and I have friends who are still there working under Erickson. That’s where I got my info. Your choice if you want to believe me, but many members of the coaching staff at ASU were at OSU with Erickson/Johnson.

Also, I never insinuated that Johnson isn’t a “good guy,” so I’m not sure why you throw out the $250k signing bonus gift. Good for him. He definitely should have a soft spot for as school that took a chance on him like they did.

I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles

by Dirk Diggler on Nov 2, 2008 6:26 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

OSU on quarters...

…His eligibility for the Fiesta Bowl would have been an issue had he not finished Fall Term (i.e.-Quarter) in good standing.

My brother attended class with him and while his attendance wasn’t stellar it was average and more frequent than many other students. He showed up for tests and every required lecture. Sounds about right for most college students.

by ArbyOSU on Nov 3, 2008 2:46 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm sure he did the minimum he had to do

to stay on the field….

That doesn’t change the fact that the coaches that were at OSU for the one season he was there have said that they knew he was gone after that one year when they signed him. They knew he was basically a mercenary — but hey, as an OSU fan why should you care? Wasn’t that one of the best OSU teams of all time? As long as they didn’t cheat, who cares?

I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles

by Dirk Diggler on Nov 4, 2008 7:58 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Don't MOST college football players do the minimum?

We can guess all day long about Ocho Cinco’s GPA. The safe money is on it being not very high but also not low enough to get in trouble academically. No OSU fan will argue that.

I guess the most curious part of your post here is that you seem to have a bit of a complex about us having Chad here while Erickson has brought you, well, not much. 0-6 hurts, trust me, we were there once and you’ll bounce back from it. The attack on Chad’s year at OSU is kind’ve strange though. Yes, he was hear from one year. No, I don’t know for certain that he was signed as a “mercenary” or if the coaches knew for certain he’d be gone after one year. He was a JC guy who finally got a shot, had a good year and made a good show at the combine. If a guy like that has a good combine and leaves for the NFL is he really a “mercenary”?

Might want to stop by the doc’s office to get that chip on your shoulder looked at. It’s gaping.

by ArbyOSU on Nov 4, 2008 9:19 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow you totally misread me

I merely passed on a first hand story from Chad’s coaches while he was at OSU. I’m not “attacking” anybody.

Chad going to OSU has nothing to do with this 0-6 streak for ASU — but good job trying to change the subject by bringing up something that is completely irrelevant to the current topic. The snarky tone is quite impressive. It always helps to use a strawman to deflect from the topic. Good job.

As for the mercenary comment, those were the coaches’ words, not mine. Believe what you want to believe.

Athletes do this all the time, it’s not just Chad. However, I have it on good authority that his plan was all along to do the bare minimum and get the hell out. He’s not the only one I’m sure, and the coaches certainly knew what they were getting.

Like I said, as an OSU fan who cares? He sure as hell helped your team out. I don’t really see why you all feel the need to ‘defend’ him when he’s not even being attacked. Maybe you need to get the chip off your shoulder?

I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles

by Dirk Diggler on Nov 4, 2008 9:57 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Dirk, I think the defensive tone stems from your initial insinuation that people are “crazy” if they thought Chad Johnson actually went to class. When that was contested, you changed your argument to the mercenary route… did this comment come from a current ASU coach that used to work at OSU with Erickson?
If so, that is very interesting. We can all agree that a transcendent talent like Chad Johnson isn’t going to peddle his wares for free in the Pacific Northwest.

House Of Sparky: An Arizona State Sun Devils blog

by Cory Williams on Nov 4, 2008 12:58 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, the mercenary quote

came from the coach as told to me by my friend who works for that coach at ASU currently.

The “crazy” comment was an exaggeration — so sorry if that offended anyone. I don’t think of that as an attack on Chad, because lord knows he’s not the only athlete that has any sort of questionable attendance record.

Also, to me, I interpreted “mercenary” to mean that Chad was ONLY there to get on the field and get outta there. That jives with me saying he didn’t exactly give full effort academically — he had one goal and that was to use his time at OSU to get to the NFL. That was how the quote was explained to me, so I don’t think I changed my position at all.

See this quote from Chad himself:

“I don’t just like Coach Erickson; I love him. The most important step in me getting to where I am now was probably him taking a chance on me at Oregon State. Most coaches won’t take that kind of chance on a guy with just one year of eligibility.
He had faith in me, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
~ Chad Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals

http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/erickson_dennis00.html

Now, without attacking Chad, because again — I don’t care one way or the other. But, why do you think it is that most coaches wouldn’t take a chance on a guy like that?

I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles

by Dirk Diggler on Nov 4, 2008 1:14 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I'll take a stab...

I’m thinking that a player with one year of eligibility left in a JC system is most likely unattractive to coaches because there is a very good chance that they won’t have time to find a spot in the system in place or simply aren’t that good.

In OSU’s offense that year we had plenty of possession type receivers who weren’t slow by any means but were sound hands guys. Chad was the homerun option we needed—fast as hell, athletic and a perfect fit.

Mercenary? If that’s what you (or that coach, whoever he is) want to call a college kid with one year of eligibility left who came to a school, played well and showed up for class while he was there for that year I guess that’s your thing. It’s no secret that Erickson needed to infuse talent quickly to compete at the level he did that year. Chad was a big part of that and I don’t think you will find many OSU alums/fans who will apologize for him only being here a year. You will find that we’re all a little tired of the “mercenary” or “JC thug” crap though. We’ve had enough of that from ducks and huskies.

Sorry if I overreacted here—this is your blog and you should be able to say what you want. I just don’t think belittling Chad’s association with OSU does anything but stir the pot and come across as sour grapes.

On a slightly unrelated note, my uncle played for ASU in the late 70s-early 80s and I’ve always had a slight soft spot for you guys. Hope this thing gets turned around. THe next two weeks seem to be just what the doctor ordered.

by ArbyOSU on Nov 4, 2008 4:35 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

That's the thing

I wasn’t belittling Chad’s association with OSU. It may have come across that way, but I wasn’t.

I wasn’t asking for OSU fans to apologize for him playing there. In fact I said many times that you guys should’ve been excited about what he did. He helped OSU to one of their best seasons of all-time.

I just had heard an anecdotal story about him that I thought was interesting.

I'm undefeated in fights. Have I been in any? No. Thats because people know my f'ing status. Don't mess with the elite. - Miles

by Dirk Diggler on Nov 4, 2008 8:47 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs