Hey, at least they’re starting the interviews. All this lack of news is making me (and everyone on this blog) restless.
This whole thing is so shrouded in secrecy, there’s no news to report so we get fed bogus rumors and rehashes of old bogus rumors… I bet DG is laughing in his office as he feeds Bob Fields and Morrison a bunch of nonsense and then watches as it shows up on the internet.

Well, we anticipated this, so it’s up to handle the spin. As I wrote, I was on the radio yesterday, and I’ll be on the radio again, once news of this interview is given.

DD - How’s your endorsement coming along?? I asked once before, but it may’ve been lost in the mountain of posts that have come in lately: Are you going to announce your endorsement soon, and are any radio plans in the works? I think you guys need to return to the media to keep your presence. The site wasn’t about firing Dorrell, but rather changing the culture at UCLA. THis is why I’ve admired your work so much. See if you can set something back up with the Media to bring attention to our opinions in here.

Why is it that we are lukewarm on Leach. Look, if we can’t hire Petersen, Leach, Mariucci, etc. because then will not accept the position, then fine, hire Walker as a last resort. But how can anyone, the media, bloggers, DG, or fans, honestly say that they would rather have an inexperienced Walker as the coach, that Leach. Who would you rather watch: Walker Bruins with more of the same learn as you go ridiculously conservative to the point that it is dumb Coaching, or Leach Bruins, with an exciting offense, some risky trick plays and an overall fun team to watch.

Sure I don’t know what Leach is going to bring to UCLA, but I do know what he did at Tech. 8 for 8 on winning seasons and a 64–37 record in a region that is more difficult to recruit to than UCLA, (Most kids want to go to Texas or OU, UCLA only has USC to deal with.) Look, he probably will not win a National Championship at UCLA, but I don’t see Les Miles or Urban Mayer or anyone else who would knocking on our door.

Look if he costs too much just say it, but do not tell me that we are “lukewarm” on him and hot on Walker and Chow.

IT is somewhat disturbing that we don’t see a wider list of names. If those are the names that are going to be considered for the job, DW has better than a 35% chance of securing the job. That percentage is far too unsettling for my patience. This means that I have a 35% chance of retiring from Bruin Football.

Hard to make an endorsement when we don’t have a real list of the candidates that DG is considering. Peterson is out, Leach is by all accounts not being considered, June Jones said that his involvement was grossly overstated, so we’re left with Chow and Walker… That can’t be it.. Kelly, Hauck, ABW, come on, where are the names?

Sounds like I’m preaching to the choir here

JR … good point! Interviews have finally begun!

I agree, JR, but DD are not the ones interviewing. These are the list of candidates about which we know. There are others, if we’re to believe the administrations quotes that said the search firm was hired to find candidates for the purpose of compiling a list. That list is to feature names the search firm is producing and names that UCLA already was considering. That has to be more than the above named. This is why I deduced that there’s a 35% of DW being hired.

Nevertheless, DD don’t need a list to endorse their candidate. I sent my endorsement to DG today. I sent it to him Fed Ex with three red stamps that say, “PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL”. Traditionally, this has served as a good way of having DG read what I’ve written. I’ve only used it once before, but it worked. I anticipate that it can work again. I endorsed Brian Kelly, by the way.

JR … Brian Kelly is on our list although he is high on Michigan’s list right now. Jones denied making contact with UCLA, he did not deny anything else. Bronco Mendenhall is rising in the rumor mill for our job. Neuheisel also is getting a longer look, with a key stumbling block Vice Chancellor Peter Blackman starting to warm up to the idea (according to both Brian Dohn and Big Joe Macdonnel). And you may not like him but former Auburn coach Terry Bowden is also rumored to be interested. The rumors about Leach may be overstated, we don’t know. So we have Kelly, Mendenhall, Neuheisel, Jones, Chow, Bowden and Mariucci … and maybe Leach. We would take any of those names over Walker. We are not sold on Chow however and we are not high on Mooch or Bowden. Any of the rest we would be happy with. Happy being relative - there is no Ben Howland. We won’t probably name our top candidate for various reasons, but we have one …

Diego (Aka Bluebruin),

I agree that Brian Kelly is the best choice for the job. From what I’ve read recently, things aren’t a lock with Kelly at Cincy. It appears Cincy’s administrators lack the commitment to their football program he desires. At this point, I don’t see them keeping him longterm.

Kelly will bring the same toughness to UCLA that he established at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and now Cincinnati.

Folks … one more thing. Dan Guerrero might be on planes flying to meet candidates. Long shot but not entirely out of the question. If DG pulls a great hire out of a hat then this tight news situation will be a crowing achievement.

One more name we mentioned a week ago but forgot in the comment above … Lane Kiffin. He is out there wanting to get back to the college ranks because he hates working for Al Davis. That is the story. Not saying any more than that.

DumpDorrell,

I live in Ann Arbor and according to a recent Ann Arbor News article, Kelly isn’t as hot a commodity at Michigan, at this point.

That could change, but reportedly the administration is split between Kelly, Les Miles and Brady Hoke of Ball State, with Lloyd Carr wanting either OC Mike DuBord or DC Ron English as his replacement.

Also, Kelly made some negative comments about Michigan a couple of years ago when he was at Central Michigan. Some think that will keep him from getting the job.

My wife’s a Michigan alum, and they are just as passionate as UCLA fans & alum are over their coaching situation and how the AD is handling things.

Dohn wanted us to believe that Washington State was really hot on Walker when in truth they never even intended to interview him. Why? Walker’s defense got bitch-slapped two years in a row by mediocre Cougar offenses. So why is UCLA willing to settle for a guy with no experience? Mike Leach, June Jones and Slick Rick would come here in a heartbeat and turn this thing around. They are interested. Better hurry though, the Slickster may sign on with Duke and June Jones may go back to his old job in Atlanta. Arkansas just pulled off a major miracle by stealing Bobby P. away from the Falcons. Why don’t we try for Jeff Tedford or maybe retired Kansas State coach, Bill Schneider. He said he retired too early. It won’t hurt to call these guys. But it’s gonna hurt for a long time if you just settle for Walker or Chow–they are not ready for the job.

DG needs to interview Kelly, Jones, Leach, Petersen, and Neuheisel, and quickly.

Those are the best candidates to take UCLA to the next level. They all have HC experience and lots of prior success.

So DG, make an independent and inspired decision for UCLA football.

drbob

with this whole arkansas story… i’m hoping for the hat thing too…

Fred … thanks for the info. The source we have has been pretty good. He says Kelly’s name is rising. We’ll see.

This “search process” appears to me to be handled poorly, and if I am correct we may end up with a poor result as our next coach. I hope I am wrong here, but I am not “feeling it.” DG better pull the rabbit out of the hat so to speak.

Lane Kiffin? You got to be kidding. Another Trojie? He never was even a good OC at USC. And look at what he has accomplished at Oakland! If he gets even an interview, I’ll be looking for my hari-kari knife.

As mentioned yesterday, it will not be Chow with DW as DC. This is evidenced by the fact that DW interviewed for the position last night. Rumors were flying that Chow had already been offered the position and was going to have DW as DC. If that were true, there would no need to interview DW for the position last night. Furthermore, DW will not be hired as the head coach. Guerrero will definitely hire someone will head coaching experience. Negotiations are still ongoing with Petersen who happens to be Guerrero’s number one choice. Leach and June Jones continue to be strong candidates. When Guerrero makes the hire and it is not DW, Dohn will then report that DW was a “second tier” candidate.