by Marjie Ducey, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER , Omaha World-Herald

?He was one of the great all-time coaches in small college ball in Nebraska,?? Morningside Athletic Director Jerry Schmutte said Monday. Schmutte played and coached against Erickson while at Nebraska Wesleyan.

Erickson, also a star athlete at Doane, coached the Tigers from 1962 to 1998. He finished with a 589-483 record, 11th best all-time for wins in the NAIA. His teams posted 27 winning seasons.

He was inducted into the Doane Athletic Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame, and received the NABC Merit Award for Distinguished Coaching. He was The World-Herald coach of the year in 1976.

Former Hastings College coach Lynn Farrell said Erickson was a coach who really cared for his players, and they in turn played hard for him.

?That?s what made him a good coach,?? Farrell said. ?That?s why he was as successful as he was.??

Farrell said he used to work two to three weeks in advance on Erickson?s shuffle offense, a type of motion offense that he said the Tigers ran to perfection.

Ian Brown, a former player who is now the head men?s coach at Doane, said that?s because they ran it over and over again in workouts.

?Our practices were challenging,?? Brown said. ?He loved to run and gun, and we were pressing and shooting. At that time, for a couple of years, there were a bunch of shootouts where both teams were in the 100s. It was really fun basketball.??

Schmutte said Erickson, who had recently suffered a stroke, always seemed to have a good post player that he could build his offense around.

Former Hastings coach Mike Trader, who also played against Erickson while a Bronco, said Erickson was known for his work with post players.

?He was absolutely the best at developing big guys,?? Trader said. ?He had a knack.??

Schmutte said everyone knew that every game against Erickson was going to be a dogfight.

?He was always pretty intense,?? he said. ?Every once in a while, a chair would fly or his coat would come off.??

Farrell said that?s what made it fun.

?He was colorful. He was a little fiery at times,?? he said. ?I think everybody enjoyed that in him and everybody appreciated that.

?When the game was over with, he was just fine. He was always a gentleman. He?ll be missed by a lot of people.??

Erickson also served as athletic director from 1972 to 1998. During his tenure, the Tigers added women?s programs in 1972, introduced soccer in 1996 and also hired several highly successful coaches.

Brown said Erickson, longtime track coach Fred Beile and longtime football coach Al Papik were the heart and soul of Doane athletics.

?We wouldn?t be where we are today without a guy like Coach,?? he said.

Services for Erickson are Thursday at 11 a.m. at Christ?s Place Church, 1111 Old Cheney Road in Lincoln.

Contact the writer:

444-1034, marjie.ducey@owh.com

Copyright 2009 The Omaha World-Herald Company
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.