Dump Dorrell

You've heard it a million times, and no doubt you will hear it a million more … because it's true: it all starts at the top.  A leader sets the tone, is the moral compass and the ethical guide, and defines the character and personality of an organization.  Much has been written here and elsewhere about what a nice guy Karl Dorrell is, that he has changed the nature of UCLA football to one where character and integrity matter.  Elite boob Don Morrison reminded us of that too in his scornful defense of Dorrell. 

But we have also pointed out how there are chinks in Dorrell's armor of character and integrity.  An unmistakable flaw is Dorrell's persistent need to deflect blame onto his assistants, players, referees, and even us fans.  That culture of blame is beneath our community, and it's maddening and frustrating to watch Dorrell march into press conferences armed with his quiver of excuses.  What's worse is watching Dorrell's assistants and now players doing the same thing.

There are far too many examples of Dorrell's culture of blame spreading throughout our football program to point out in one post, but there are a couple we'd like to highlight.  Brandon Breazell, a great Bruin player who leaves everything he has out there on the field, had a lapse in judgment, no doubt due to the culture that surrounds him, when he sold out his own teammate in a classless attempt to explain an unsuccesful play in Saturday's loss:

Listen to receiver Brandon Breazell after his perfect deep pass in the third quarter was dropped by wide-open, walk-on wide receiver Chris Meadows, killing Bruin momentum.

"That was Meadows' play," said Breazell, blaming the kid without the scholarship. "All week he said, 'I got your back, I got your back' " . . . and then when game time comes, well …"

In a program of character and integrity a player especially of Breazell's caliber would never think to make that comment.  It shows that there is lack of discipline, of teamwork, of ownership, and of integrity in the program. And it all starts at the top with Dorrell.  Bruce Davis, our best player, has gotten out of control lately with his mouth and it doesn't appear that Dorrell even cares to teach him something about humility.  Davis has learned how to point the finger of blame from Dorrell, however, as he comments on his critical late hit penalty at the end of the first half:

"I was pretty shocked," he said. "He throws the ball. I take a step and hit him. The side judge had been on me from the get-go. Who knows . . . whatever . . . they made their call."

"I had been warned, but it's frustrating," Davis said. "You're playing hard, do everything you're coached to do, put a hit on the quarterback who has just released the ball. I don't know."

"If I say what I want to say, I'll just get in trouble,"

Davis didn't need to make a late hit on a QB throwing a hail mary as the clock turned to 0 to end the half.  Yet, he looks to the ref as the excuse.  Lame.  Davis doesn't stop there:

"I know what I'm about to say will sound like an excuse," Davis said, "but we've got enough guys hurt to make a pretty good football team in here."

There it is again, the injury excuse.  We will say it again, we were pretty much fully stocked to play an injury depleted Utah team starting underclassman and not only lost but got blown away.  We started with our 1st string QB against the worst Notre Dame team in its long history, who still hasn't beaten another team and might not this year, along with most of our starters and STILL lost.  What were the excuses then?  Obviously, the word "excuse" comes easily to Dorrell's program.  It's sad to see the players now learn this unproductive and weak trait.  We need to not only bring in a new coach, we need to change this culture of blame within our football program … and that might include marginalizing cancers like Don Morrison as well.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Commitment to Mediocrity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.