The Associated Press

MOSCOW, Idaho — Former Oregon State football coach Dennis Erickson returned to the University of Idaho on Wednesday to accept the head coaching position at the school that gave him his start.

Erickson, 58, had his first head coaching position at Idaho from 1982-1985 before leaving for a string of college jobs that included two national championships at Miami.

He has also been an NFL head coach, at Seattle and San Francisco. The 49ers fired Erickson in January 2005 after San Francisco went 9-23 in two seasons under his leadership.

At Idaho, he succeeds Nick Holt, who was hired as Southern California’s defensive coordinator after changing his mind about becoming an assistant to St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan, a former Vandals assistant who played quarterback at Idaho under Erickson.

Erickson signed a five-year contract worth about $200,000 a year. With bonuses, it could be worth a total of about $1.5 million over the life of the contract, athletic director Rob Spear said. The contract must be approved by the Idaho Board of Education.

Idaho, entering its second season in the Western Athletic Conference, was 5-18 in two years under Holt, including a 2-9 record last season.

After his introduction by Idaho President Tim White, Erickson promised to take the team “to the next level.”

Asked why he is returning to a college conference that is not in the Bowl Championship Series, Erickson said he wanted to get back into college coaching and Moscow “is a good fit.”

“I just thought it was an opportunity for me to come back, give back and get back to coaching college football ... my first love,” Erickson said at the news conference to announce his hiring.

Erickson has been unemployed since the 49ers fired him after the 2004 season. He still receives $2.5 million per year from the 49ers. He was fired with three years left on his five-year, $12.5 million contract.

Erickson turned Idaho into one of the top teams in the nation at the I-AA level when he last coached the Vandals. He went on to compile a 144-57-1 record as a head coach at Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State, Miami and Oregon State. His Miami teams won national championships in 1989 and 1991.

He had less success in the NFL, going 31-33 in four years at the helm of the Seattle Seahawks and posting the 9-23 record with the 49ers.

Between the two NFL jobs he revived a foundering Oregon State program, directing the Beavers to a 31-17 record, including a school-best mark of 11-1 and a 41-9 Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame and a Pacific-10 Conference co-championship in the 2000 season.

“The challenge here is to win, to compete for the conference championship and to go to bowl games,” Erickson said. “Yeah, I love it here. I came here because I’m a football coach and I want to help the University of Idaho become successful.”

Some of the Idaho players who watched the news conference from the balcony of a new weight room are getting their third head coach in five years.

Erickson said he met with the players Wednesday and talked about the work they will have to do to be competitive in the WAC.

“I looked in these guys’ eyes and they are ready to go and get it done,” he said.

Erickson said he planned to meet with current Vandals assistants, but said some of his former assistants have expressed interest in joining him. Idaho’s quarterback coach is former OSU quarterback Jonathan Smith.

The Vandals’ first three games next season are against Michigan State, where former Idaho coach John L. Smith is head coach; Washington State and Oregon State, both teams Erickson formerly coached.

The Vandals play at Reser Stadium in Corvallis on Sept. 23.

Spear said the seeds of Erickson’s return were sown last fall, when he ran into Erickson at a Coeur d’Alene resort and asked if he would be interested in coaching in a non-BCS conference.

When he got word recently that Holt might be leaving, he called Erickson to remind him of their earlier conversation, Spear said.