Erickson named UW-Eau Claire's new head football coach

Sam Janssen, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·3 min read

Feb. 7—The UW-Eau Claire football team has found its next head coach.

On Tuesday, the university announced the hiring of Rob Erickson as the new head coach of Blugold football. He will be the 18th coach in the history of the program.

Erickson was most recently the special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at South Dakota State. They won the FCS national championship last season.

Erickson also brings experience coaching in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Erickson was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at UW-Whitewater for five seasons, including helping them reach the 2019 national championship game in his final season there.

He also coached at UW-Platteville—his alma mater—from 2008-2014 as associate head coach and defensive coordinator. He also served in the defensive coordinator role at UW-Stevens Point and Aurora University before UW-Platteville. He is a two-time WIAC Assistant Coach of the Year winner.

Between his time at South Dakota State and UW-Whitewater, Erickson has coached in three national championship games in the last five seasons.

Erickson replaces Wesley Beschorner, who stepped down after four seasons to become the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Sioux Falls.

UW-EC athletic director Dan Schumacher said Erickson's accomplished resume as an assistant along with his WIAC background made him an "easy choice" for the job.

"He's been there, he's done it, he's done it in our league, and then went to a different level and helped someone else get it (a championship)," Schumacher said.

Schumacher said despite their last two head coaching hires being offensive minded coaches, Erickson's resume made him the obvious choice.

"We just wanted to pick the best guy, the best coach that we could hire, no matter if they were offense or defense," Schumacher said.

Erickson said returning home to the state of Wisconsin and being closer to family was a huge attraction of the job in Eau Claire. Erickson is a Junction City, Wisconsin native and played college football at UW-Platteville from 1996-99, where he was a four-year starter at cornerback.

He also became sold on the job when he met with other head coaches from other sports at UW-EC and got a sense for the culture in the school's athletic department.

"I can sense that stability, longevity, passion for this place is really there," Erickson said. "People love it here, and it made me just buy into what Eau Claire is all about."

He also said he's excited to return to the WIAC, which he described as "comparable to an FCS-level of competition."

"I'm excited to be back," Erickson said. "I want to be in Wisconsin, I love this league, it's competitive, and that's why I'm here."

Facilities were also a huge reason why the job was so attractive to Erickson, with the Sonnentag Center and upgrades to Simpson Field on campus on the horizon, he said. Schumacher said their tentative goal is for football games to be held on campus at Simpson Field by fall of 2025, but that timeline is not set in stone.

"That's going to be a huge recruiting tool," Schumacher said of the new athletic facilities. "That's going to be something that kids are going to be excited to want to come be a part of."

Erickson also gave a few comments about his preferred style of play on both sides of the ball in his opening press conference.

"On offense, we're going to score points by running the football and being physical, but also taking our chances in the explosive passing game," Erickson said. "Defensively, we're going to stop the run. Everything starts there; when you stop the run you've got a chance to do everything else."

Erickson said they will be retaining interim head coach Mike McHugh as an assistant, but still have six or seven more hires to make to fill out his staff. He said they are planning to take their time with that process this spring.