PALO ALTO, California -- If there's heaven on earth for football coaches, Dennis Erickson believes he's found it.


"To go around the circle and end up in the best league in football, in the NFL, and to be back home in the Northwest, I just can't tell you how thrilled I am," Erickson said Thursday. "It's beyond words."


The geography and logistics of Thursday's press conference were staggering, as the former University of Miami coach was introduced as coach of the Seattle Seahawks in a hotel near San Francisco.


But geography had a lot to do with Erickson's decision Wednesday to accept the job. The Everett, Washington, native made it clear that if you'd taken the Seahawks roster and organization and plopped it down in another part of the country, he probably wouldn't have been interested.


He could have made a lot more money coaching the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Denver Broncos also wanted to talk, but those teams never had a chance.


"Not really," he said when asked if it was hard to turn down Philadelphia's reported offer of $2 million a year. "I don't know that it was a choice of either of those two teams against the Seahawks. It was a choice of whether I was going to leave the University of Miami and go to Seattle."


And, as much as he loves the Northwest and is thrilled to be on his way back, he said it was still a hard choice to make -- even with a five-year contract worth almost $5 million.


Erickson was 63-9 with two national championships in six seasons at Miami, and his wife and two teenage sons have grown to love the area.