1 More Year = 2 More Years At Least

We are hearing from people claiming to have “inside connections” to Morgan Center that it has already been decided that Karl Dorrell will get 1 more year. We don’t want to beat a dead horse here on DD, especially during rivalry week, but we will. While we don’t believe these accounts, and while Dan Guerrero is continuing to be non-commital publicly (great news on this below) we felt this idea of “1 more year” needed to be addressed head on. You have to be completely out of touch, a Dorrell apologist in denial, or a Dorrell lackey (trying to influence us here at DD?!) if you think giving KD “1 more year” means only 1 more year.

Anyone who follows UCLA football knows that giving KD “1 more year” really means giving KD 2 more years, at least. Next year we return a horde of senior starters (14), 2 returning starting QBs, and we have one of the easiest schedules in memory with many top conference teams at home and another easy non conference schedule. So, KD will have to really screw up to go 7-5. We see 8-4 with NO Pac-10 title, NO BCS bowl game, and most likely another loss to Southern Cal. But an 8-4 coach at UCLA cannot be fired, none ever has, none ever will. End of story. So 1 year = 2 years, and in 5 years KD will still not have accomplished one single goal Dan Guerrero laid out for him when he was hired. And we will have been paying KD a million dollars a year for that futility.

In 2008, KD loses all those starting seniors and will have a horrible season. That is the earliest DG will be able to get rid of him as his record will give DG political cover. However, DG will have set a precedent THIS year by NOT letting him go with nearly an identical situation. It makes it harder for DG, although still a must do. DG has the same political cover this year, AND, he can bring in a new coach while practically handing him a sure winning team with few scholarships needed to recruit. This will allow a new coach to build momentum early. Imagine how hard it will be to do that after 6 YEARS of KD!!

What DG is saying now

Thanks to Nestor at Bruinsnation, Dan Guerrero has again made interesting comments to the press regarding the tradition of success at UCLA and the football program.

“We arguably believe we have the best inclusive athletic program in the country,” UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said. “It’s what we do and how we do it. As athletic director of this program, I could not be more proud of the UCLA brand.”

Guerrero said he knew the “Bruin nation” was buzzing about UCLA basketball returning to the top and didn’t skip a beat when it was mentioned some in the “Bruin nation” were not as enamored of the 6-5 football team.

“We want highly ranked programs across the board,” Guerrero said. “We expect to win and when that doesn’t happen, we expect to hear from fans. But we have a plan. The plan is to move forward and we need to do that in sports that aren’t performing as well.“

If you can’t get on board with what DG is saying here you need to check your pulse. This is what UCLA is all about. Excellence. And DG has stated now publicly, in the midst of a horrible season, that he wants the same for football. Only DG knows what he wants to do about football. And we will all soon find out what that is.

Incidentally, by now you have all heard that our basketball team is back on top in the AP Poll at #1. Why did we fire Lavin??

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