Dennis Erickson was pissed off at me. This was early 2003 and the Oregon State football coach summoned me to his office in Corvallis.

I’d written a column speculating it was probably time for Erickson to leave. It wasn’t an “Erickson must go!!” rant. Rather, I’d examined his coaching resume and determined that the football coach had probably done all he could do at OSU.

He left Washington State after winning nine games. He ditched Miami after winning two national titles. It felt like Erickson had reached the ceiling at Oregon State and if his past behavior was a good indicator, I argued, he was about to bolt.

I walked into Erickson’s office. He stood up from his desk and said: “What did I do? Steal a girlfriend from you?!?!”