Has anybody noticed how much the Bruins goals have changed since the start of the season? UCLA has gone from a goal of the BCS to “finishing strong”? Please define “finishing strong” since KD has not.

“Guerrero watching finish closely”

-headline in today’s Bruin Football article in the OC Register

..Athletic Director Dan Guerrero added to the mix Monday..by implying the last four games might decide Dorrell’s fate, “Obviously, many of us were disappointed with the performance up in Pullman on Saturday, but we will still have our fate in our hands with four very tough conference games left to go..I’ll be very interested to see how we finish the season.“

Meanwhile, Karl Dorrell continued to mouth the blandishments he usually does after a blown opportunity:“We’re going to continue to work hard. Our coaching staff will continue to work hard to grind out and find ways to improve our team..”

Continue?

By the way, guys, while it’s a good thing to send an e-mail to Mr Guerrero or the others as “DD” recommends, those can be tossed in the electronic trash or rejected by spam filters. You might just want to sit down and write a polite, cogently written letter instead. It’s awfully hard to deny the existence of an envelope showing up in a post box or a mail bag — and it shows a great deal more animus than someone who dashes off some electronic missive on the spur of the moment.

Why is there so much criticism being brought upon Dorrell and none thrown at Callahan Jr.(Norvell)?
He deserves as much criticism as anyone. I read comments about DW but none about our benevolent OC.
He needs to share some of this abuse that Dorrell has endured.

What worries me is why is the last four games key to Dorrell’s continued employment? Hasn’t the past years been enough!!

Dorrell should get to finish the year. Otherwise we get an interim coach (Walker) who gets made the permanent coach if he manages to win a couple of games or even gets praise from his players. No HC Walker, please. Let’s let the end of the season play out, take our lumps, and get a big-name coach like Peterseon in here for next year. This can be turned around pretty quickly if we do.

WHP’68,

I have been sending the same E-mail to DG, The Chancellor, Bob Field, and other members of administration every day for the last 2 months asking why UCLA accepts incompetence on the football field but not in the classroom. I never received any response until last week I received a note from Bob Field that said “Thanks for expressing your views on UCLA football. Your position is duly noted”. It was not much of a response but it did let me know that these guys are getting and reading my E-mails.

By the way, I will continue to reply all to my same E-mail chain every day until KD is fired and replaced with respectable coach or until I get an answer that satisfies me.

Write a hard copy letter to DG via snail mail. Too easy to filter out or delete emails. More credibility with hard copy as well.

“..What worries me is why is the last four games key to Dorrell’s continued employment? Hasn’t the past years been enough!!

A work associate (UCLA ‘86) says that he read in the L.A. Times article something to the effect that “the man who makes the decisions is now in his office weighing the straws”. The inference of that quote and the quote from the O.C. Register article is that Guerrero is thinking about this instead of stonewalling it.

We all are crying for Dorrell to be fired at this moment, but realistically, he would be allowed to finish out the season (since it is not salvageable anyway given the likelihood that we’ll split or go 1-3 and be out of contention for anything meaningful). I am concerned about UCLA paying the $2.1 million to buy him out..

..unless there are hard indicators that season ticket sales and other economic considerations mandate the change be done before next season. I’m kind of thinking out loud here, but I’ll bet that they might want to prevent a “program death-spiral” from starting. Sticking with Dorrell and having another bad year such as this would radically affect the recruiting (defections and transfers from the #2 national recruiting class we now have). Also, when you consider that the PAC-10 has gotten materially tougher (Oregon, ASU, Cal), a WSU-like program would mean a serious drain on TV revenues..

..anyway, it’s a crap shoot. As Tony Soprano might say, I’d give five large to be a fly on Guerrero’s wall.

..still a proponent of writing letters; mailbags of envelopes tend to indicate some really pissed-off fans.

National Blitz: Bruins try to hold on to commits

Rivals.com recruiting staff
Rivals.com Football Recruiting

UCLA has assembled one of the nation’s top recruiting classes early this season, coach Karl Dorrell and Co., have had to fight hard to keep all the pieces in place. Some recent on-the-field struggles are causing the Bruins to have to work harder to keep intact a group that is currently ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 4 class in the nation.

Thats why he should be fired now. If he stays the team will lose more than just games.

We cannot focus on a current recruiting class. That class is going to be lost. It doesn’t matter if they’re lost now, or if they’re lost when Dorrell leaves. Unless a big name coach is placed immediately in charge, these players, unless they’re swayed by an unwavering loyalty, will be inclined to de-committ to UCLA. Why wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t know who their coach is going to be, what kind of system is going to be run, in what capacity theyr’e going to be used, or if they’re going to be liked by the incoming coach. All of these factors have to be considered when we make a coaching change. This is why we can’t worry about this current recruiting class; it’s going to be fragmented regardless.

Diego,

I agree that most of the class will be lost regardless. The point is that you might keep a few from formally committing elsewhere, if you show that the school is no longer going to tolerate mediocrity.

Karl Dorrel is the real-life Chicken Little. (question) the current class can pull it together and beat Cal, and then let Arizona walk all over them before the half? (answer) Inconsistent coaching.

Karl ‘Chicken Little’ Dorrel watches the game like he’s sitting from home and can’t do anything about it.