What about Pat Hill at Fresno State, or is that just way out of the box for a possible HC position @ UCLA?

pat hill is a good coach. But there has been some integrity issues with him running a program, he’s pretty nasty as a person. Wouldn’t handle the pressures this job deals with too well.

Interesting point…never knew Pat Hill had issues at Fresno State, I thought he had few Academic All-Americans over there, which looks good at any program. His grittiness, and “play anybody, anytime, anywhere” attitude would be great. Neuhiesel would be a solid hire, but it may never happen because of black eye situation at Washington, even though he was awarded a lawsuit.

What about a former NFL coach with a Superbowl win? An NFL icon who retired (vice being fired) to spend more time with family? A guy who’s not bound by a current coaching contract and whose wife and daughters are basketball players? Yeah, there might be a money thing… but then again money can’t be THAT important to a guy who chose to retire after reaching the pinnacle of professional football success.

Bill Cowher - can’t hurt to ask (preferrably before Alex Spanos does).

Are you guys for real Bill Cowher? You realize that he was a successful NFL coach who retired, not a mediocre at best coach who was fired (Carroll). Sorry to say this Bruin fans but you don’t have the money for Cowher.

Dorrell for all its worth was a good recruiter but not a good coach, best bet is Neuheisel, but the NCAA is after him. I just hope they hire someone who can recruit as well as coach

Bill Dwyre has mentioned the name of….Lou Holtz!?!

At first I thought it was a joke but I think he’s serious. But if the guy is still in good health and of sound mind, there aren’t any better coaches around.

Peterson apparently is not interested.

I’d like to know why Norm Chow is not getting any attention?

Norm Chow has no personality. He’s also never been a head coach. No on Neuheisal, even though he won a lawsuit, we wasn’t all that successful as a HC. He will probably try and run WCO too. Karl Dorrell was his offensive coordinator at Washington and Colorado. Plus, his scandal and what not, just a low of negative publicity.

I don’t know about Peterson. He hasn’t been a head coach all that long, and he inherited a lot of his success from Dan Hawkins, even though he was the OC. I really like Bobby Hauck from Montana. He led his team to thr div II national championship game in his second season as coach. He attended school at UCLA (didnt play ball) and was a defensive assistant under Donahue from 1990 to 1992 at UCLA

R U kidding me with all of you Norm Chow for HC supporters?! He is an offensive genius and can develop talent, but he would FAIL as a head coach. Have any of you Norm Chow supporters ever heard him give an interview….??? No personality, not a lot to say! Leave him upstairs in the box and let him call plays as an O.C., but PLEASE do not hire him as the HC. No experience as a HC…didn’t we just go through that? Think about what the next UCLA HC has to compete against…POM POM over there at SUC with an enormous amount of charisma and energy, sitting next to Norm Chow in a recruites home and Norm wouldn’t get one word in. HAAAAAAA!!! Lets go after a PROVEN HC and start on our way to National prominence in football!

You’ve lost all credibility in my book due to your attacks on Walker.

Holtz would be great if you could understand a word he said without being spit on from his leaky dentures, and as far as Walker, DD your right, I personally dont have much of an opinion on him, but have a feeling he is on the shortlist, and if the team shows up and destroys BYU in a bowl game he may just get the job. I personally believe 85 percent of the problems were offensive on this squad, and that led to anyother problems later after KD completely lost his team, I think if DG believes Walker can get the team back he may promote him, lots of reasons to from DGs perspective.

1. Keep the incoming recruits
2. Retain minority HC, cant criticize there
3. Defense regarded highly most of season
4. Fits the budget

I hope we get Peterson but honestly I am pretty happy with knowing there will never be a coach with no passion staring into oncoming traffic on the sidelines.

Mike … well we can’t tell you how hurt we are by your announcement. Sorry Mike, it is you that has no credibility. But hey let’s talk about Walker. Notice we are talking about his INDISPUTABLE RECORD!!! There is NO DOUBT what he has done at UCLA. You can talk warm and fuzzies (”the players respond to him”), the kind that Dorrellistas constantly told us about Dorrell, but after 2 years of DD do you actually think it’s going to work on our site??!! Our readers are the best out there. They have been through it … they won’t let that tripe stick.

“Credibility” … great word. Walker has very little. Point to any “credibility” and all you get MAYBE is recruiting. Not enough to be head coach at UCLA. Seriously, Mike we like to have your viewpoint on here. But if you are going to go the way of the drive-by Walker flamer we will cut you off. We think you are smarter than that. Give us reasons, fact-based arguments, as to why we should hire another inexperienced AVERAGE coordinator as head coach.

yookla .. Defense did not improve over the year that Walker had his returning senior starters back for a 2nd year under his system. Sorry, that says more than anything. We do not need to hire a minority, wrong there. Recruiting is a red herring. Any good hire can recruit at talent-rich UCLA. Period. Fits budget - as we have pointed out and Dan Guerrero has made public - NOT AN ISSUE ANYMORE.

Only 1 argument you made is related to coaching talent, and the facts do not support even that 1 claim. Sorry, yookla. We know that you want whats best for UCLA football because of your contributions to this site. We disagree with you.

Walker is a poor choice, end of story.

We need to take a hard look at Tricky Rick, Mooch, or possibly Bowden.

Neuheisel proved last on MNF that as the offensive coordinator for the Ravens that he still has it together. He came within one unneeded time out by the defensive coordinator of winning the game, and ending the undefeated Patriots season. Wow!!

No other team has come this close all season.

He is died in the blue and gold, won against a favored Illini team in the Rose Bowl and he can recruit and coach. He has been a head coach twice at two powerhouse football schools, and he would be great at UCLA. Maybe he can convince Norm Chow to be his offensive coorginator. We have had awful OCs in the KD era.

Rick! Rick! Rick!!

Neuheisel proved last night on MNF that as the offensive coordinator for the Ravens that he still has it together. He came within one unneeded time out by the defensive coordinator of winning the game, and ending the undefeated Patriots season. Wow!!

No other team has come this close all season.

He is died in the blue and gold, won against a favored Illini team in the Rose Bowl and he can recruit and coach. He has been a head coach twice at two powerhouse football schools, and he would be great at UCLA. Maybe he can convince Norm Chow to be his offensive coordinator. We have had awful OCs in the KD era.

Rick! Rick! Rick!!

Pat Hill is not a good fit at UCLA. Does anyone know what has happened to Sonny Lubick? The guy is a defense minded genius. When he coached at Colorado State he had them in bowls every year and he beat Colorado regularly. That would be like San Diego State beating UCLA or sc. Also, there was a coach named Minter at Cincinnati for a few years who couldn’t recruit vs the giants in his neighborhood, but he was damn good.
My personal choice is Neuheisel just because I think he can out coach, out recruit, and out rah-rah that dummy Carroll. I’ll tell you this, when he coached at Colorado and Washington, opposing coaches did not like to recruit against him or play him. Also, he won their superbowl pool every year. Hypocritical asses.

I will be honest when I write that none of these choices wow me! Neuheisel does thrill me, but I know that’s a lost cause. I know that the administration doesn’t care for him, and if we’re to believe the information we were given about DG playign golf with one of our prominent alumni, DG doesn’t much care for Rick.

With him out of the equation, I have to say that no other coach jumps out at me and thrills me. This is beginning to concern me.

What do you think about Steve Mariucci? Personally, I think Mike Leach of Offense-minded Texas tech’s Mike Leach. Look at the “passing” numbers his teams put up!

I am still for Mike Martz. He won a superbowl as OC he went again as HC. He has ties to the Pac-10 and Cali. He is the cloest thing youll find to a June Jones, but might be even better with the success hes had. If you want to improve the offense, I cant see how you could go wrong with hiring him.

Brent, that’s not a bad idea, but the issue that surfaces with Martz is his longevity. Ben Howland isn’t going anywhere. NBA teams aren’t going to come after Howland, mostly because of his style of coaching, but also because he’s a college coach that has nothing to prove in the NBA.

Martz has a great deal to still prove in the NFL, not the least of which is to win a superbowl with his style of coaching. Martz wants another shot at coaching in the NFL, to take a team to the Super Bowl and win it with what most NFL teams term a gimmick offense.

If Martz is successful at UCLA, he could, and likely would, quickly parlay that into an NFL job. We would be right back in this position within 5 years. This is what happened with Dick Vermeil.

Okay, okay. Rick Neuheisel has some issues that concern Guerrero. Well, Dennis Erickson had some issues and Arizona State gave him a shot and they are BCS bowl bound with a 9-2 year. Do we want to win football games or not?

Using Guerrero’s criteria during the upcoming search, here is his list:

Mariucci - former head coach at Cal. Lousy recruiter and still covets an NFL job. Buy, hey, he wears a tie on the sideline and he doesn’t enter superbowl pools.

Dirk Koetter - former Arizona State head coach after highly successful run at Boise State. Found the PAC-10 to be a difficult place to win. However, did recruit the current ASU class that is 9-2.

Dennis Green - Former Stanford head coach. Also, coached Minnesota and Arizona NFL teams. Love the guy’s intensity. However, he is who we know he is.

Dick Tomey - Former head coach at Arizona. Always had tremendous defenses at Arizona and his teams were always highly ranked. Fired because he couldn’t get the team over the hump with losses to ASU.

Rick Neuheisel - Former head coach at Colorado and Washington. Inherited problems from McCartney (sp) at Colorado with strip club recruiting issues and the coaches daughter marrying one of his players. Sheesh! Was fired at Washington over a trumped up “gambling” issue. He entered a superbowl pool. Was made an example of with firing. Dynamite recruiter and has “bulldog like” desire to win. UCLA grad, former walk-on QB.

Mike Price - Former Washington State head coach now at UTEP. Always recruited top-notch QB’s and brought WSU to national prominence with high rankings. Hired and fired as Alabama’s new head coach over a strip club debacle while on league business in Florida.

Rocky Long - Former defense coordinator at Oregon State and UCLA then head coach at New Mexico. Known as a gambling, high risk defense coordinator but had little success as head coach.

I hope Dan’s testosterone level is running high when he makes the decision. Otherwise, we probably will end up with another nice guy wearing a tie on the sideline whose claim to fame is a 6-6 year at Cal and a few 12-4 years with talent laden SF in the NFL.

Pick Rick and beat sc is my mantra.

Add to previous post:

Rich Brooks - Former head coach at Oregon now head coach at Kentucky. Finally turned Oregon program around after 19 years at the helm. Responsible for upgrading Oregon football facility to tops in the nation. At Kentucky, runs a middle of the pack Kentucky team that beat LSU this year. However, he is not charismatic, and is 97 years old.

I like Mike Price on that list.

We need a clean sweep. That includes D. Walker. He had his moment with $o cal last year but what about his great defense against Utah, Wash. St., Arizonas and those forgetable bowl games.

Mike Price might just be the ticket

Neuheisel would be great–except for the skeletons, and maybe the complexion. He was vindicated for the UW gambling probe, and there is the forfeiture of the 1997 CU season. However, for those who saw the Ravens come one flag away from beating the Pats on MNF–Rick as OC is the real deal.

What about Denny Green? He is not employed as a coach (like Mariucci), has Pac-10 history, and is certainly dynamic.

The problems with Mike Price are threefold.

First, he is a middle aged white guy. Inner city black kids are not going to relate to him. The next UCLA coach is going to have to go head to head with Carroll and his squad of recruiters which include former Bruin, Ken Norton Jr. Norton is very appealing to top notch LB types playing in the LA City. However, Price did manage to get a top notch Afro-American LB (Field) to come to WSU. Like most northwest schools in the Pac-10, WSU always got players that slipped through the nets of the LA and Arizona schools.

Second, it is likely he has an alcohol issue. His firing at Alabama was highly embarrassing given the fact he had a stripper in his room and was flashing money in a strip club while drunk. If Guerrero thinks Neuheisel has issues, what does he think of Price?

And third, he was always known as a players coach. However, it was to a fault. He allowed Ryan Leaf to sabotage his previous starting QB (Davis) and then was mum with NFL scouts who inquired as to Leaf’s weaknesses, personality traits, etc. This is tantamount to Steve Lavin allowing Baron Davis to talk him into letting the Bruin BB team wear black uniforms. That was crap.

Slick Rick had some shady dealings in Colorado and Washington. If we want the University of Miami (West Coast Branch) with gun toting idiots, then he might be a good choice. If he dedicated himself to running a tighter ship than he has done in the past, he might be a good choice. UCLA was the job he wanted in 1995 before he left to CU after Holy Toledo was cast as the HC. Maybe he’s learned his lesson and can be a good all-around coach now? It’s a gamble.

I still think a guy who has paid his dues at a lower level program, who is well respected, and who wins would be the best choice. Think Appalachian State. The UCLA campus, location, and prestige can recruit by itself (see Terry Donahue not winning much while having the highest number of players moving on to the NFL during his tenure, year in and year out.) Get a guy in there who can manage the game, pick good assistants, and not scare away the top caliber recruits. And, when the NCAA finds the paper trail leading to your Heisman running back and his mother’s house paid for by Friends of the Program, he should be able to somehow make it go away despite the evidence.

No much to ask for really.

Compared to Price, Neuheisel has some definite advantages. He is a younger, progressive type guy. He exudes confidence and is relentless when he wants a certain recruit. It is documented that he has gone so far as to go to a recruit’s home to convince the kid’s parents to place their kid in his hands rather than rely solely on an assistant coach to do the job. He has reportedly taken his guitar with him and serenaded the family. Kinda hokey, yeah, but remember, we are talking about competing with rah-rah, pom-pom Carroll here.
He is a former Pac-10 QB with a Rose Bowl win under his belt. He has NFL coaching experience and thus has contacts at the next level. Afro-American kids will be able to relate to his obvious ability to get them to the NFL, should that be their desire.
Sorry to dwell on this, but I am so tired of a losing football program I’m starting to obsess.

NO TO DUANE WALKER!!! WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER DISASTER. WHO CARES IF BLUE-CHIPPERS DECOMMIT. WE NEED TO START WITH A CLEAN CANVASS, EVEN IF WE HAVE TO STRUGGLE THROUGH A COUPLE OF .500 SEASONS! NO TO NEU, PRICE, HILL, MOOCH, HOLTZ…PETERSON WOULD BE GREAT BUT WTF? WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE TO LIVE IN BOISE??? MAYBE HE HAS NO CONFIDENCE IN HIS COACHING ABILITIES TO COACH AGAINST BETTER TALENT?

Okay, I’m done. I just hope Guerrero doesn’t end up hiring D. Walker or Mariucci because he wants to maintain a “clean” program as his sole reason for the hire. I think it is important to avoid becoming the “Miami of the west coast” but on the other hand, I don’t want to accept the fact that, because of UCLA’s stringent academic standards, we are forever relegated to second tier status in football.

I wrote a letter to Peter Dalis, former UCLA AD, a few years ago after attending the Rose Bowl game between UCLA and Wisconsin. I sat at the entrance tunnel to the field, and before the game, UCLA players were flashing gang signs and bad-mouthing the Wisconsin team as both teams came on the field. A fight ensued before the game. I was embarrassed by the UCLA team’s behavior and I let Dalis know in my letter. However, that was a pretty good UCLA team that was in the midst of a long series of wins vs sc.

My point is this. Somehow we have to find a coach who can find a balance between players with halos that can’t play football and thugs who run 4.4 40’s on their way to the NFL.

Peace. And good luck to Guerrero with his choice.
Go Bruins!

I am 62 years old and a life long Bruin fan and lifetime member of the Alumni Association. for 20 years I held season tickets before moving to No. Cal. For as long as I can remember, I have wished that UCLA got serious about football and being the head dog in this town.
We now have a chance to be a football powerhouse if we make a committment to the cause. What will it take to do that?

1. Hire a coach that will run a clean program but be committed to building a top 10 ranked program, year in and year out.

2. Hire a coach that can recruit top players from So. Cal on a consistant basis. The Southland has so many talented high school players who shun UCLA and go to other Pac- 10 schools. We need to keep them here.

3. Hire a coach that can recruit a top stud QB. We haven’t had one since Troy Aikman and he was a gift from Oklahoma.

4. Maintain a clean acedemic program. There are schools that have proven that acedemics and football go together.

5. It’s time to delvelope some traditions. I miss the Serpentine huddle. Toledo did a good job of starting to instill some Bruin football tradition. He brought some things from Texas A&M and we need to build on that.

6. It’s time to make the Rose Bowl a feared place for an opponent to play. for too many years, I went to games at the Rose Bowl and it was the most boring place to watch a game. I’m not talking about the team but the stands and the fans. UCLA takes too much pride in being a family oriented experience for football. I say it’s time for fans to get a little rowdy and act like fans.
My son went to Wisconsin and I saw how fans are suppose to react to their team. It’s time we started to act like real college football fans!

7. It’s time for UCLA to have an on campus football stadium. My senior year, ‘67, the students voted to have an on campus stadium. Being 35 miles away from campus discourages students from attending games.
There is nothing more team spirit building than fans meeting on campus and walking with the students into the football stadium.

Who’s my choice for a coach? Somebody who can doo what needs to be done! Of the mentioned candidates I say Rick is the pick! If he’s being treated like toxic waste than I say find a hard nosed, kick ass guy who is going to make people stand up and take notice of UCLA. We found one for basketball now find one for football. I want to see 8 straight wins over U$C again. Make me proud!

Peterson? Gene Bleymeier is not letting him go, especially after being snubbed by UCLA for its AD position. Rick Neuheisel wants the job. Hire him! Perhaps Guerreros ego won’t let him bite the bullet on this one, but it is time. John Cooper recommends Neuheisel as would Dick Vermeil. Former Bruin football players are overwhelmingly in favor of Neuheisel and these are people that know the college game. Dan, bury the ego and hire Neuheisel and become the AD that you want the publc to perceive you as being. Bob Stiles

I have heard enough. Neuheisel is the best choice. Hands down. He did one helluva job in the Ravens game last nite. He has a great offensive mind. If he had been the OC for the 1988 UCLA team in the Miami game, we would have won and been # 1. He was a walk on and will ever be a legend at UCLA, even though he was not admitted to UCLA Law School and had to attend USC.

He can out rah Pom Pom Carroll, and he is one of the funniest performers at UCLA football breakfasts. Players love him, and he exudes class and can be very emotional on the field and off. We need to get some soul back in the UCLA program.

Let’s give Bobby Hauk, at Montana, some serious consideration.

Bob Levin

I’ve posted here close to ten times regarding Walker and you’ve never once approved the post. I’ve laid out my support for Walker in detail - refuted your “OPINION” in detail - but because you’re falsely alleging that anyone who supports him is part of personal group that Dewayne Walker has arranged to push his name all over the internet. That is absurd. My post regarding your credibility is DEAD ON. Funny how you only approved that one - one where you can respond any way you want without having to refer to your extensive (LAUGH) football knoweldge. You’re running a propagaganda machine to make yourself an extra buck and the next name you’ve chosen to run into the dirt is Dewayne Walker. Shame on you. Take some criticism for once.

A note regarding Walker. I’m sorry. I just can’t get behind an effort to hire the guy as head coach. If I have to sit through anymore defensive efforts like those vs Utah, Washington State and Notre Dame, I will disavow allegiance to UCLA. My gosh, the UCLA defense vs Utah was atrocious giving up over 40 points. Washington State shredded us. And, a Notre Dame team that is so slow you time them with a calendar notched their first win against us. AT HOME, no less. Just think….ND’s other wins this year were vs Duke and Stanford. PeeeeeeeYeww.
If Walker couldn’t get his defense in a position to shut down these three terrible teams, I’m sorry, we can’t afford to give him a shot. We are at a critical point regarding the future of UCLA football. We can’t make a mistake this time.

Seriously Mike, what’s so great about Dewayne Walker??? He’s just a DC. We already suffered for 5 yrs with a coach who never HC before and his only coaching job was a reciever’s coach. No, we need a HC with HC experience and not only that, but has proven he can win! That’s your opinion and I resect that, but enough of this mediocre “experimental” kind of coaches. We’re to good for that! We need to hire a HC for a the RIGHT reasons!!!

Mike … so that was you. Ha. You have a great misconception about this site. We get a hundred comments now daily .. we are at over 10,000 since inception. We dont remember who wrote what and when at the time that we approve/delete certain comments. Your comments were about DeWayne Walker when our site was focused on Karl Dorrell. Your comments may have been good for whatever reason but they were not relevant. It had nothing to do with YOU and we do not keep tabs on YOUR comments. When a comment is written that is relevant or from a respected source we let it go. You now have free reign to comment as you wish. But if you go over the line we will cut you off. Sounds amenable doesn’t it?!

We approved your recent comment because it WAS relevant .. because NOW we are making Walker relevant not because we knew it was from you. Say all you want about Walker, but this fuzzy “credibility” argument you have now made a 2nd time about us still lacks evidence. Make it a 3rd time without any evidence and you will be banned. We have given you a platform … what more can you ask for? Use it wisely.

One last thing .. we obviously never said EVERYONE who wants Walker for HC is part of this group that is pimping him. There is a group, that is all we have said. Get it right.

So everyone’e speculation for months about other coaching prospects is more relevant? Wow, ok. I don’t see the rationale behind that at all.

Beyond that, I feel that if you’re writing about how Walker and his agent are personally making an effort to push his name around - someone should be allowed to post in his defense. There hundreds - if not thousands - of bloggers who support Walker. I am positive that you’re not that naive to think that Walker or his agent had anything to do with that outside of his performance relative to his job. I can only think that you’re pushing that for personal reasons.

I’ve never once pushed for DW as my first head coaching choice in any of my comments. I’ve only tried to refute your comments on how our defense got worse, etc. Walker is a fantastic coordinator and we are supremely lucky to have him. The options before us really are not all that impressive imo. Petersen and Leach - yes. Mariucci, Neuheisel - No. Johnson? - nobody mentions anything about this guy except coacheshotspot.com . Our options aren’t that great - if the tops ones fall through - I think we should consider taking a long look at Walker.

So let me get this straight Mike, you would pick a guy with no HC experience and risk going through another five years of crappy football, then to go with Mariucci that has NFL HC experience and has proven he can win?! C’mon Mike…

Bottom line is DG and UCLA will hire whoever is available but we need someone who has the drive to go head to head with SC and Carroll. Neuheisel has what it takes. Regarding his past, not a single one of us is a saint, so his gambling snafu can be forgiven. He can keep Walker and assemble a staff starting with Dwayne.

Go Bruins………..

Steve Mariucci = Bill Callahan.

I’m a student at UCLA and am infuriated with Guerrero for not considering Neuheisel. Neuheisel would bring in a new age of football to UCLA…one with spirit and passion that have been missing from this god-awful Dorrell era. As the son of a father that was close with Rick in college at the fraternity, I have grown up with entertaining stories about the guy. Some of Rick’s close friends have told my family that he is dying to come back to the UCLA and the glorious Rose Bowl. No doubt, he would tear up USC and Pete Carroll. He would dominate in recruiting and he would dominate in bowl games.

And to some poster above, Rick Neuheisel would not bring in the West Coast Offense. There is a specific report online where Rick criticized Dorrell for using it in college. Rick said you have to use your playmakers and build the offense around them.

Rick is an innovative guy that would no doubt bring UCLA back to prominence. We have the athletes here. They just need to be directed and inspired.

And his mistakes at Colorado and Washington. He was incredibly young and did whatever he could to succeed. I’m sure he has learned from these, especially after being denied college jobs after his dismissal at Washington. He wants to be back in college. He won’t make the same dumb moves again.

Guerrero landed Howland…an amazing coach that surely has and will bring even greater success to UCLA. Howland’s dream job was UCLA…it was easy for Dan to give the job to him. Neuheisel could be our Howland for football. His dream job is UCLA. He lived and breathed UCLA during college and he still does. He won’t mess it up.

Celebration for Dorrell’s dismissal is now thwarted by the thoughts of having another incompetent coach (aka Mooch).

Mike…we found some common ground. Mariucci would be a poor choice to head up the UCLA football program. He coached at Cal and managed a weak 6-6 record. He admittedly hates to recruit. His success at the pro level is not relevant to the college game. He inherited established all-pro players with the 49ers, yet never won the big prize. College teams are replete with former pro coaches who flopped as college coaches. Check out Weiss at Notre Dame, Gailey at Georgia Tech, Wannstedt at Pittsburgh, Brooks at Kentucky, Cameron at Indiana, Green at Stanford, Robinson at UNLV, etc.
Convincing a football player to give 100% for the good ‘ol ivy covered walls of MyfavoriteU is a lot different than threatening some guy’s paycheck.
Apparently, Carroll has the ability to rally college kids more than he could pros. They ran him out of town in New York and New England. Neuheisel possesses many of the same qualities Carroll has as far as being able to motivate college athletes. But, I digress. I’ve made my point and now I’ll just rely on Guererro’s innate wisdom.

PAT-NEUWEASEL DID A GREAT JOB LAST NIGHT? DID YOU SEE THEIR (RAVENS) LAST # POSSESSIONS? 3, 3 and outs…COME ON..PLEASE TELL ME YOU WERE DRINKING WHEN YOU WROTE THAT COMMENT. WASH AND CU HATED NEUWEASEL. HE WAS BAD ON AND OFF THE FIELD. WHY ARE WE CLAMORING FOR HIM IF THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN HIRING HIM?

Big Dave…Uh, that was Kyle Boller running the Raven offense. You remember Kyle don’t you? He’s the guy with the QB rating of 47.5. You could put Bill Walsh, Vince Lombardi, Don Shula and Jesus on the sideline with Boller and go 3 and out.

Rick isn’t calling the plays in Baltimore, guys. Billick still calls the plays. This is a main reason why Skippy wants to leave the Ravens. He doesn’t have the control that he wants.

Neuheisal for Head Coach, Chow for offensive coordinator, and Walker for defensive coordinator. If that combo doesn’t do it, what will?

I am still not excited by these candidates. Huak is a good name that surfaces. I believe Huak falls in line with my contention that I’d like to see a D1aa guy that has proven himself by building, sustaining and advancing a COLLEGE program. This is key… COLLEGE program.

Huak is perfect for this consideration. To boot, he’s a UCLA guy who attended the university and he coached at UCLA in the early 90s. This is an equivalent of a Jim Tressel who had established a culture of winning and success at Youngstown state, before Ohio State, one of the best all time programs, noticed that they had the type of coach that knew how to coach the college game, and likely wouldn’t botl for the NFL.

After studying his profile, I did some research, and I now see that Huak had issues with his players. Apparently he has had arrests on his team, they’re rowdy, undisciplined off the field and there are general concerns about the behavior of his players. This IS NOT the type of guy that I want here. ANyone that has discipline issues in Montana, where there’s nothing to do, will have major issues in L.A. where there’s everything to do.

Well if not Mariucci, then somebody that Jerry said, someone that can COMPETE with Caroll. That’s the ultimate priority. But I think that we can all agree we need a coach with HC winning experience and not another round of mediocrity.

Bluebruin - Thanks for the info. Good stuff.

This has brought me to the endorsement of one candidate- Kelly of Cincinnati. I truly feel this is going to be our best candidate,if we go after him strongly enough. Michigan is going to consider him, as soon as they finalize this Les Miles situation (I believe that les will end up at michigan at some point this season).

Watch Cincinnati play; they are a tough, tough group. Any of you that watched the game on Saturday versus USC, saw where our guys were completely outmuscled. They were out hustled and out muscled. Did anyone read the injury reports the next day? WE were manhandled. We were the walking wounded. Medical students at UCLA are getting great experience by practicing MRIs, Xrays and test results on UCLA football players. There were schedule MRIs for Breazell, Cowan, MArkey and others. Mroe concussions, more bruises and fractures.

USC flat out HIT US!! HARD!!! And our guys took it, and hurt over it. We didn’t dish out any punishment. We hardly dished out punishment this year.

Kelly has created a great spirit at Cincinnati. Watch his bearcats closely during their bowl game to see how they play. I don’t know what off field issues he may have with his players, though.

I don’t think we should rule out CP yet. He’s definitely my first choice. Some user comments from idahostatesman.com:

Coach Petersen
Submitted by rktul123 on Tue, 12/04/2007 - 1:47pm.

I remember being in Pheonix about 7 years or 8 years ago and I read in the Pheonix paper that Coach Koetter had accepted a $700,000 contract to coach at ASU. I called my wife and she turned on the news and the news in Boise said that he had turned down the position. They even had an interview with coach Koetter and he said he wasn’t leaving. The next day he was gone. When coaches are talking to another school I am sure they are under confidentiallity agreements and can’t talk about what they are doing. All I can say is GOOD LUCK AT UCLA coach Pete. It was great having you here and I hope we can replace you with the same level of integrity and talent.

Good grief
Submitted by cptbox on Tue, 12/04/2007 - 1:57pm.

What else do you expect Petersen to say, people? This is the same tango every head coach does when they’re being considered for other jobs. The say very precisely things like “I’m not interested” and “I’m perfectly happy here”. Everybody likes to believe THEIR coach doesn’t play games like this, but unfortunately it’s the way it is.

BTW, Petersen would be a great coach for the Bruins. I’m not saying he’s going to take the job, or even suggest it’s been offered, but I’m convinced Pete is one the 10 best coaches in the country - right now. (BTW, I’m not a BSU fan - just an interested out-of-stater.) With those recruits and those resources, Pete could really do some damage in the Pac 10.

I guess we’ll see what happens.

Walker would be another Dorrell as Head Coach - trying to learn on the job while we all suffer. He’s a DEFINITE NO. If the new Head Coach wants him as DC, fine, but if not he should be gone.

As for the new Head Coach, Paul Johnson is the best choice out there. He’s a program reviver (which we’re in desperate need of), he’s experienced, he’s a winner who establishes a culture of success and winning in his program (which we don’t have now), and every program he’s been a part of has been A LOT better off for having had him. You can’t say the same for Mooch - Cal was no better off after he left than before he came. Or Neuheisel.

Johnson coaching at the Naval Academy is definitely able to work with high academic standards, and he’s never had a hint of scandal attached to his name.

U C L A should realize that it’s the best place to be a football coach in the whole country and go for the homerun hire. No more settling. No Walker because he’s familiar. No Mooch because he’s comfortable. No Neuheisel because he’s a Bruin (so was Dorrell). Let’s make Johnson an offer he can’t refuse and start celebrating Pac-10 titles, BCS Bowl invites, and crushing the trOJans every year. That is, unless you agree with Streeter and Simers that UCLA is supposed to be mediocre.

Kelly is not a bad candidate….except for the fact he has no west coast connections that I know of. It will be tough to recruit against sc’s established recruiting pipeline when you don’t know any high school coaches, etc. Cincinnati was a good team this year. They stomped Oregon State at Corvallis early this year to demonstrate they weren’t intimidated by a Pac-10 school. Oregon St. is a bowl team with wins over two formerly #2 ranked teams this year. Plus they were the #1 defense vs the run in the country. So, Cincy has juice.
I was always impressed by a former Cincinnati coach, Rick Minter. Cincinnati has to recruit against the Big-10, SEC and ACC. Minter’s teams always played tough, physical defense and did well given the fact they lost kids to the likes of Ohio St., Michigan, Tennessee, etc.
Kelly fits the profile. We’ll see.

I have some concerns about Johnson. Yeah, it is hard to argue with the fact that he turned Navy into a respectable service academy team. But, there is the rub. The service academy teams, Air Force, Army and Navy all run similar gimmick type offenses. Usually some form of option offense that runs the ball 85% of the time. Part of the reason is they have some size restrictions on recruits and pass blocking is not their forte. They are hard to defend when a team only has one week to prepare because they run offenses that teams won’t see all year. Thus, Air Force or Navy usually lead the nation in rushing stats.
So, I wonder if Johnson can step into the pass happy Pac-10 and compete.
Once exception would be Bobby Ross. He coached Georgia Tech to a national championship, the Chargers to the Superbowl and then didn’t make much of a ripple as head coach at Army.

That’s my only concern about Kelly, About to puke. HIs lack of west coast contacts will make his work that much harder.

Now I see why DG is hiring a firm to handle this stuff. This is taxing on the brain, the finger tips and work time. ha ha ha

Rick: I was reading your comments and nodding my head–I graduated undergrad in ‘66 and law school in ‘70 and moved to Nor Cal in 1981. I was interested in UCLA football from the National Championship under Red Sanders because my older brother preceded me at UCLA. Toward the beginning of Terry Donahue’s tenure (he was in my class undergrad) I sent him a letter suggesting that we go back to the serpentine. He thanked me and said something about having enuf things to worry about in getting a play off in time!

I am intrigued by Rick N, but he would have to take a blood oath that the integrity of the program is a top priority (wiping that shit-eating grin off Pete Carroll’s face is THE top priority).

Jerry Shaevitz

Petersen said “not interested”
Translated: “I really want the Oregon Job in a couple of years”
Analysis: Too bad, he was the obvious choice, and a good choice!
Mariucci said “No Comment”
Translated: “I might be interested, give me a call”
Analysis: He loves the west coast offense, and under Dullard, the west coast offense was offensive. Just say no to Mariucci

Leach from Texas Tech said “they haven’t contacted me, and right now I’m focused on my bowl game January 1″
Translation: “Call me on January 2″
Analysis: I think he should be the guy! He is a great offensive guy, and should be able to recruit here in LA.

Other guys available:

June Jones: Why not? No one is talking about him. Our offense would not be dull!

Norm Chow: He is available, yeah, he is not the most exciting guy, and wouldn’t it be a great “in your face” to the Surgeons!

Walker: I do NOT think he is another Dorrell. Advantages: Knows recruits (does the recruiting) and easy transition. Disadvantages: No head coaching experience and would need a great offensive mind to run the offense (although his play calling can’t be any worse than Uncle Karl’s!)

Bottom Line: Get Leach, I’m sure he would think playing in warm, sunny Los Angeles, in front of an average of 75,000 rabid fans starving for good football must be better than playing in Lubbock with the humidity, heat and flying cockroaches! Do what you can to keep Walker at DC, go 9-4 next season, and 11-2 the year after that!

Understanding Paul Johnson’s Offense

Triple trouble

Plenty of options for Navy team with nation’s best ground game

By Brent Schrotenboer
STAFF WRITER Baltimore Sun

December 22, 2005

To better understand the concepts behind the Navy football team’s top-ranked rushing offense, a newspaper reporter recently asked Navy head coach Paul Johnson how many plays were in his team’s playbook.
Johnson, 48, might have told him – if he had one.

“We don’t have a playbook,” Johnson said. “I found that if you have playbooks, they end up on eBay and everywhere else.”

Johnson instead said he gives his players empty notebooks and lets them write down plays in their terms. In tonight’s 7:30 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl game against Colorado State, the game plan won’t even take up more than a few sheets: Navy probably won’t use more than five or six different plays, Johnson said.
It’s all part of a system that’s so simple, it’s complicated – at least for opposing defenses. Conceptually, the offense builds around one basic play – the triple option, a system unto itself that’s worked so well that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick called it “one of the best running offenses of the last decade.”

Before Johnson’s arrival, for example, Navy had gone 1-20 in its two previous seasons. Today, despite returning the fewest starters in the nation (six) from last year, the Midshipmen will make a school-record third straight bowl appearance in front of a paid crowd of approximately 40,000 at Qualcomm Stadium. Navy never has finished below third in the nation in rushing under Johnson. This year, the Midshipmen (7-4) rank first nationally, averaging 305.2 rushing yards per game.

“We probably run the same play over 3,000 times, and our whole offense is based off of one play,” fullback Adam Ballard said. “We rep it every day, so we know what’s going on.”

Triple threat
It starts with the name: triple option. Some have called it the “flexbone.” Quarterback Lamar Owens said the team calls it “the spread.” Just don’t call it the wishbone. Reporters and other coaches often have made that mistake.
“And that drives Coach crazy,” Navy athletics spokesman Scott Strasemeier said. “It’s nowhere close to what the wishbone is.”

That’s because the wishbone has three backs in the backfield; the triple option has one, with a slotback (or “A-back”) lined up next to and behind the tackle on each side of the five-man offensive line.

After the quarterback gets the ball on the snap, he has three basic options in one direction or another: (1) keep it, (2) give it to the fullback or (3) flick it to a slot back.

On any play, any of those players could get the ball, forcing the opposing defense to stick to those four players at all times (the QB, fullback and two slotbacks), plus the single receivers lined up wide on each side.

On paper, the triple option’s formation resembles a spread-out run-and-shoot passing offense. With the right personnel – a strong-armed quarterback and fast receivers – Navy could run that offense out of it and pass for a “zillion yards,” Johnson said.

“In fact, this could possibly be the best passing offense ever,” he said. “Because when you run the option, it limits what (defenses) can do coverage-wise, and you can get all kinds of one-on-one matchups (against the defense downfield).”

At Navy, though, Johnson doesn’t have the luxury of getting premium athletes, a fact of life for all service academy football programs.

So he’s tailored it around what he’s got: smaller but able-bodied players with good grades in the classroom.

As a result, Navy runs the ball on 81.6 percent of its plays and has built a package of multiple plays around the triple option, including run-and-shoot passing and misdirection plays.

No other team in the country has an offense like it, either, though Air Force runs some – but not nearly as much – triple option. If there’s one team in the country that most resembles Navy’s offense from a conceptual standpoint, it might be Texas Tech. Ironically, the Red Raiders’ spread offense throws the ball on 66 percent of its plays and leads the nation in passing yards.

“They run it all the time, and we throw it a lot, but in my mind that’s sort of where the differences end,” Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach said. “It’s about distribution of the ball. They make sure everybody touches the ball, and the quarterback makes good decisions about who gets the ball. Philosophically, I think we’re incredibly similar.”

Defending it
The distribution principle is what makes Navy’s offense so difficult to defend. Because the quarterback has three options on every play (four including the pass), the opposing defense is forced to play disciplined assignments, where certain defenders are assigned to certain potential ball carriers.
This effectively takes away the possibility of a blitz, because if a defense blitzed (sending multiple players into the offensive backfield), all the quarterback would have to do is quickly flick the ball away. The recipient of the pitch would be up the field before the blitzing defenders could turn around to run after him.

“If the defense doesn’t pick up one of the guys, it’s going to be a big gain,” said Ballard, who has rushed for 360 yards in his last two games, his first career starts. “When they miss assignments, that’s what happens.”

Making matters worse for opposing defenses, Navy uses lots of moving parts.

“So sometimes it’s hard to know who’s got the ball,” Johnson said.

Therein lies the ultimate task tonight for CSU – finding the ball. The Rams’ rushing defense ranked 104th out of 117 Division I-A teams this year with 200.6 rushing yards allowed per game.

CSU head coach Sonny Lubick said this week his team would try to play “laterally across the scrimmage.”

“Navy is going to go triple option nearly 70 percent of the game,” Lubick said. “We’re really going to have to be geared up to stop them. You might stop them five plays in a row, but all of the sudden, they get the pitch out there and they get a 60-yard play.”

In general, teams that have been successful against Navy’s offense have been bigger, faster and more disciplined.

“Some teams can play assignment football pretty well,” said Owens, the QB whose job entails deciding if, when and where to pitch the ball on the triple option. “Sometimes if guys are bigger than us or faster than us, it kind of neutralizes things.”

To keep the offense up to speed, Johnson has refined it through the years, dating to his days as an assistant coach at Division I-AA Georgia Southern. The Eagles won two national titles when Johnson was offensive coordinator (1985-86) and two when he was head coach (1999-2000).

After more success for the system at Navy, it’s a wonder nobody else tries to copycat the style.

“I think there’s a couple of reasons: One, I don’t think they understand it,” Johnson said. “I think they see it and hear ‘option’ and think that’s 3 yards and a cloud of dust, which couldn’t be further from the truth.”

If only they knew how simple it is.

Without a hard-copy playbook, “We keep the plays in our heads,” Owens said. “It’s easier to remember.”

Brian Kelly’s “lack of west coast connections” isn’t a big a problem as many of you think. The guy flat out recruits, and I’m sure he’ll have assistants familiar with the area that can help him navigate the territory. The guy is a winner and that’s more important than immediate “connections.”

Tommy Bruin…great article on Johnson’s offense. It sounds a bit “playground” to me but it is hard to argue with its success.
But, I wonder how it would do against teams with big, fast defensive ends and linebackers. Also, does it put your QB at risk of injury more than other offenses since he’s gonna get hit on virtually every play. Oregon found out that Dixon couldn’t last the entire season taking hits all the time.
Still, interesting stuff.

It just occurred to me that Jeff Tedford is the guy. Tedford!!!!!!

Cal stinks and will always suck because its Cal. The Tree Huggers are getting in the way for new facilities.

Here in the Bay Area press, they have always expressed concern that Jeff would leave without the resources and facilities. Guess what Jeff??? We got them!!!

Jeff, trade in your Prius for a Hummer and head down Highway 5. If you need encouragement, just think Dorrell beat you.

Yeah, I like Tedford. He was a good OC at Oregon before going to Cal.
One thing, though. The way Cal blew the Oregon State game bothers me. It was eerily close to how Dorrell was unprepared most of the time. The Cal back-up QB forgot how much time was left on the clock and used up the last 12 seconds of the game running around in circles at the Oregon State 20 yard line instead of getting off the field so the field goal team could win the game.
Then, the way Cal collapsed after that loss is disturbing.

Bob Stiles is a former football player. He is a major men’s sports afficianado. He is focusing on the players,not the administration that always seems to want to intimidate coaches and alumni at UCLA. If the players want Neuheisel, he should come back. Right on Rick.

Puke - Cal has improved under Tedford and Tedford knows that Cal will never get the same recruits year in and year out that UCLA can. With his program down this year and the facilities where they are, he should be considered and he may consider the job.

As I said last night, any guy who can make an open field tackle on Bob Apisa to save a Bruin Rose Bowl win against a #1 ranked Michigan State team needs to have his opinion respected. I make no apology for wanting Neuheisel as head football coach at UCLA. I firmly believe he can take the program to heights we haven’t seen since Tommy Prothro and Red Sanders.
I had my own 15 minutes in the sun several years ago but I want to thank Bob Stiles, in particular, for the memory on that January day in 1967.

Well said, Bob Stiles is a Bruin Hero!!

Let’s not forget a couple things. Pom Pom could always surprise us and head back to the NFL after a couple more Stanford games. Do we really want a coach based on the main criteria of whether he can ‘out-Pete’ Pete? And also, let’s not forget who’s calling the shots here. Has he really learned anything after hiring KD 5 years ago?
As Han Solo so aptly quipped, “I’m beginning to have a bad feeling about this.”

I wouldn’t endorse Tedford. On the same vein as lack of preparedness, Tedford’s team continue to disappoint late in the season. This year is no different from past years. Tedford’s team = Toledo’s teams who started out so highly regarded, but fizzled out once adversity hit. Tedford is brilliant, as long things are working well, but once adversity hits, it’s all downhill. Tha’ts how it was with Toledo.

My football coach once said to me, Diego, football is adversity. It’s about how you handle what doesn’t work and incorporate it into what does work. Tedford has seemingly failed this skill.

I agree, Fred, about Kelly that is. If we’re to keep our WR’s coach, and DW in some capacity ( I dont’ know that Kelly wants to keep him as a DC), then the recruiting pipeline wno’t be scrapped entirely.

I endorse Kelly as the most sound candidate. Also, scoring some national players is key, I think. In the 80s we were able to recruit Kenny Easly, and in the 90s we had SKip Hicks who were from Virginia and Texas respectively. Those players are also quite key, and add to the national perception of our program.

Would you want Dennis Erickson if he were available? If you answered yes, then you’ve just thrown out most of the arguments not to hire Rick Neuheisel..
‘West Coast Miami’ my a.s.s! Don’t you think if that’s going to happen it’ll happen at ASU first??

Buycker…Yeah, that is kinda my point regarding Neuheisel’s so-called baggage. Erickson went from Washington State to Miami and had the thug brigade down there. He won a national championship and went to the NFL before returning to the college ranks at Oregon State where he had a team with Chad Johnson and TJ Hushmandzadeh(sp) as his wideouts. That team sent several players to the NFL including both defensive ends, Grant and Jackson. They were super quick. They kicked butt in conference and completely dominated Notre Dame in a bowl. They ended up ranked #4 but probably were the best team in the nation. Now, Erickson is back at ASU, made an impact in his first year and will be dipping into the recruit pool in southern California on a regular basis. We better have a coach who can recruit nationally as well as locally to compete with Erickson and Carroll.

Another thing about Erickson. He brings his assistant coaches with him wherever he goes. The guy preaches loyalty and with his team of assistants following him he gets continuity wherever he ends up. He didn’t make it in the pro game (Seattle and SF) but his college success is second to none. This year’s ASU team was not his guys. ASU will be tough in coming years.

Well said, Puke.
We are no longer just competing with Pom Pom for the local talent. Now the ScumDevils have a leg up on us. This whole anti-Neuheisel-too-much-baggage sentiment doesn’t hold water. It wreaks of ‘holier than thou.’ Are we now looking for another saint to lead the Bruins? Is that the focus? Good god, this is college football, smash-mouth kick-a.s.s. football. We want somebody on the sidelines with fire and desire. Baggage should be a non-issue, like it was at ASU, and they went 9-2.

Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!Bring Back Rick!!! Bring Back Rick!!!!

The Bruins need a coach with a personality. Whether its a guy like Neuhiesel who will keep the press focus on himself and keep the pressure off the players so they can concentate on wining, he’s your man. Nobody is perfect and I thik Rick has learned a few lessons. Certainly he will make it exciting. As far as some critics who cite his performance so far with the Ravens, remember Billick controls the offense despite the title of the offensive coordinator being in Rick’s name, besides he had Kyle Bole as his QB, he might have well just played himself.

Bob Stiles was my hero. I didn’t go to UCLA but always wanted to. I was actually a little smaller than Stiles. I played football at a small college and because of the impression Bob Stiles made on me I got a free education, had alot of fun and continued on as a high school coach who every year told the story of Bob Stiles to my players.

Chad Johnson, Santa Monica College, and TJ Houshmandzadeh, Cerritos College, where J.C. guys at Oregon State. Erickson likes to use the Junior Colleges to fill in gaps, which will make him tough next year like this year (Vasquez was a JC fill in). The next Coach will need to do that. UCLA has historically not used the J.C.s

I’m relieved and excited to see you guys pick up the Brian Kelly banner.Last night, just after ten I posted my opinion on this site for the first time.I’ve been frustrated by some of the name’s that have been tossed around.Anyone who even thinks the name Neuheisel clearly does not know what they’re talking about. I don’t say this to be rude or disrespectfull, it is not my intention to begin a series of tit for tat commentary.I don’t type fast enough for that.It is my sincere hope that by mentioning BRIAN KELLY on this site we can somehow be heard by the powers that are making the decisions.An experienced head coach that has a plan and Knows how to implement it is what we need. This is a coach who steps into a program and hits the ground running. He takes other people’s players and turns them into a well oiled machine; he then recruits his own and does not skip a beat. That my friend is the mark of experience. I agree with Fred’s comments about why we need not worry about any supposed lack of local recruiting ties. I humbly submit my comments to your forum, and I thank you for your efforts in furthering the cause of recruiting BRIAN KELLY as the next head coach of the U.C.L.A. BRUINS.

I am glad to see that there are some Rick Neuheisel supporters here. I am one of the prominent Neuheisel faithful on UCLA Bruins page on ESPN.com message board. When I bring up his name most people say that he is as corrupt as Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein that they never ever want to see Rick as the head coach of the Bruins.

But I believe he will do his best job ever if becomes the head football coach of his alma mater UCLA.

I really want anti-Neuheisel people to list the things he did wrong. Most people can list only 1…which is winning a NCAA pool and donated that money to his local Seattle area elementary school instead of NCAA. What a corrupt organization NCAA is.

I will list what he did wrong:

He angered the UCLA administration with his overbearing attitude. HE was being trained to take over Donahue, but Terry submarined him and chose Toledo. Rick hasn’t recovered from that.

At CU, he angered the administration, crossed everyone from alumni, to boosters, to university presidents. He put his players down and didn’t support them like he should’ve and when he saw that the environment he had created was going to hurt him, he bailed and didn’t bother to fix how he alieanated everyone.

at UW, you’re right, he was wrongly accussed about an NCAA pool. Let me ask you, if Jim Tressel was in a betting pool for the NCAA and it was stiuplated in his contract, would his AD try to fire him?? If this was all he was guilty of doing, would his university President try to remove him? The answer is no, but why is the answer No? That’s because he has the support of his administration. Rick had ALREADY made everyone at the university mad. He had already stepped on toes, ruined relations, ruined connection with the alumni and the boosters. In few words, no one liked him. You only try to fire someone that you don’t like, or that is overbearing, with small charges like an NCAA pool.

Let’s look at Jim Harrick. Harrick was fired, allegedly, for a doctored expense report. But he wasn’t really fired for that. HE was fired because he was never liked by the administration. BEcasue he was a liar. He lied to the administration, to the AD. He did things behind the booster’s backs. He wasn’t well received by the high-brow alumni and he was never, ever trusted. He was a bit too duplicitous. Later on, we saw that he was in fact crooked, so the UCLA administration was justified in firing him. Imagine what would’ve happened if that scandal that happened at GEorgia happened here? It would’ve been disastrous for us.

That is why people are fired for these types of things.

HE’s a great coach, adn I would love to put my support in his corner, but someone that alieanates those higher ups around them is destined to lose. I can’t risk the future of my school’s program on something that risky.

What about Dennis Green? I heard that he would like to return to college football.

Rick will put an offense out thee that will fill up the seats. If he has DW and ES on his staff he will get the recruits to do it in two years. His past dosen’t scare me at all. In fact, it may help like I said before in another post it will draw the attention off the players so they may come in under the radar and surprise the rest of the Pac 10 next year.

I think Rick will do more than recruit scholarship players, he will bring in quality walk-ons which we know some can develop into pretty good players, especially when there are injuries (#14 excluded) of course.

The rest of the candidates ae all great, but each has some quirk that may keep them from the job. Kelley has absolute control at Cincinatti and uses it. Do you really think that DG will give him that here? Not likely to happen. Mooch needs a hooch and lots of $$$$$ to come here. Not likely to happen either. Chow will stay put until the Charger job opens again in January. Dennis Green? Would probably be a polically correct move per the BCA, but does he really want to come here? I don’t think so, he wants a job where its a turn key operation into a championship. He is not a good recruiter, just ask anyone at the farm.

Whoever the coach is going to be, I sure hope he gets a goo QB coach, that is a top priority right there. Would it be in bad taste to suggest Brett Johnson?

Regarding the dialogue about UCLA needing a coach to rebuild the program. We had the talent for a 9 or 10 win season with average coaching. That doesn’t sound like a program in need of an overhaul, it just needs some tweaking by an experienced HC. And a program that wins consistently will attract quality recruits. I was surprised Dorrell was able to recruit as well as he did given his record.

AGBruin you are right! Dorrell only recruited one 5 star (Ben Olson) but had many 4 star recruits in spite of his lousy coaching. If you can’t beat them, how about emulating them ? Why can’t the next coach run the same offense USC runs or the Oregon version of the spread offense which is better than Mike Leach Texas Tech version that does not use a running game. Oregon runs a very balanced version of the spread offense as Jonathan Stewart ran the ball beautifully. Before Dennis Dixon got hurt, this was the most exciting offense in the nation.

AG has a good point, a seasoned HC would have gotten a lot more out of this year’s team. Karl was too often guilty of bad calls, he just didn’t have a handle on Football 101.
You would never see a Bob Stoops or a Steve Spurrier making those mistakes.

Paul Johnson goes to Georgia Tech.

I have seen Navy play a couple of times and this is an offensive master mind. Think about this, Navy with undersized and slow players leads the nation in rushing. And while he didn’t at Navy, his system also utilizes the pass as his time at Hawaii indicated.

I think the Bruins screwed up by not talking with him. this is an A+ hire by Tech.)