Plaschke Bomb: Dorrell Not Credible On Scott Hiring

The local press finally has the guts to ask the most basic and obvious question we have been asking since the Scott arrest broke. Bill Plaschke, LA Times, has written a biting report on Dorrell’s and Guerrero’s contradictory comments and the lack of transparency that followed revelations that during Scott’s hiring Dorrell did know about Scott’s past yet did not inform Guerrero or the University (HT to bluestreet at BruinsNation).

At the heart of the issue is the integrity of the program, a flag flown so high by Dorrell and Guerrero during these years marked by the poor performance of Dorrell’s teams on the field. We will have more on this later, but we are going to cut and paste right now. For all those Dorrell cultists and even those who claim to want Dorrell gone who simultaneously called attempts to reconcile the truth “a witch hunt” and a “character assasination” .. tell us how proud you are of this:

Said Dorrell: “Yes, I knew he had some issues in his background.”

Said Guerrero: “We did not know the background for that particular person.”

Those quotes, given in recent days to local newspapers, couldn’t be more dissonant if they were sung to the tune of “Sons of Westwood” and “Fight On.” If you believe only those quotes, here’s what you would believe:

Dorrell, known more for cleaning up the program than for consistent victories, felt he had to make a win-at-all-costs move without giving his boss the details.

Guerrero, who has been Dorrell’s most vocal supporter precisely because he has cleaned up the program, felt blindsided.

Shameful. There’s more:

Both men said Dorrell informed Guerrero of general facts about Scott’s past, just not the details. “I explained some of the issues to Dan, but he did not know the specifics,” Dorrell said.

Did Dorrell know those specifics? “That’s all I’m going to talk about,” Dorrell said.

That is, of course, the issue here, and both men know it.

That’s right they both know it. And finally a local reporter states the obvious. That their comments contradicted each other and Dorrell is avoiding the obvious implication that someone is not telling the truth. As we have said, Character and Integrity … have already left the building. But Dorrell is somehow staying and running the show:

But (Dorrell) answered the questions, and admitted that he’s still learning, and showed again why, as a human being, he is impossible to dislike.

As a football coach, however, he remains impossible to figure out, the character guy who is not afraid of a rap sheet, the stoic sideline presence who, once inside, hires and fires and schemes with abandon.

The only thing that makes sense is, beginning his fifth season with a loaded team with big-bowl dreams, Dorrell risks facing his first real heat.

Yeah we know, this is Trojan loving Plaschke of the Trojan Times. Still the question of Character and Integrity are as clear as day. The burden lies with Dorrell and ultimately Guerrero to remove the cloud of suspicion now hanging over the program and Dorrell. It’s one thing if this were SuC where Integrity and Character are actors in a fantasy musical. This is UCLA .. we expect more. HT to Bruinsnation.

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