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SANTA CLARA -- Jon Gruden is pitching 49ers linebackers coach Jim Leavitt to replace Dennis Erickson as Arizona State coach.
"If they can hire a guy better than Jim Leavitt, I hope Arizona State hires him,'' Gruden said on ArizonaSports 620 radio Wednesday night.
Erickson, the former 49ers head coach (2003-04) was fired late last month at ASU after five seasons in which he compiled a 31-30 record.
Between the time in 2010 that Leavitt was fired as South Florida coach and before Jim Harbaugh hired him in January to join the 49ers' staff, Leavitt and Gruden met daily at Gruden's office in Tampa, Fla., to watch film and talk football.
"I've had a chance to not only get to know Jim as a friend, but I've spent a lot of time in the last year or two just talking football with him," Gruden said. "He's passionate, intense. He's proven. The guy built South Florida from a trailer to No. 2 in the country three years ago. He has a different pizzazz about him. You have to meet him. He's very charismatic. I think he's a tremendous recruiter. I think it'd be an unbelievable coup for Arizona State if they could get him."
Greg Roman, in his first season as 49ers offensive coordinator, would also be a logical college head-coaching candidate. He said he has not been contacted by any schools with vacancies.
"I'm focused strictly on this," Roman said.
