Because DG is keeping everything close to the vest, it makes me think that he’s going after a big name and doesn’t want to create distractions with their current team. Currently, there are only 3 HC openings… UCLA, SMU, and WV (4 if you count ATL in the NFL), so there isn’t a large demand (yet) for Mendenhall, Jones, Leach, etc. However, if we wait another week or 2, then the NFL will start their coaching searches (although if they’ve learned from Saban, Petrino, etc., they’ll probably stay far away from college coaches unless they have NFL experience).

Hopefully he’s working something out with someone big and then just waiting until after their bowl game to make the announcement.

From rumors of not being on the AD’s list to an interview with the Chancellor, I think that’s quite a jump for RN. Let’s stop this nonsense of considering a “non-BCS school” and any other candidate. RN knows the turf and has a solid foundation to improve, and can stand toe to toe with Pom Pom Pete, and F’ the “baggage.” Yeah, I announce it officially, Rick Neuheisel is our new coach.

Is there any demand by any other teams for RN? Are they tripping over each other to talk to or hire the guy? Every time he has left someplace, he left it worse off than when he got there, and the team for which he is now the OC is lousy — the only team to lose to Miami this year! (of course, I guess that would fit in well in Westwood, since we were one of the few teams to lose to Notre Dame this season) Get a grip, people! If RN is the answer, then it must be a really stupid question!

Jake, I agree with you. Too many people on this site are too enamoured with RN. Neuheisel is 0 for 2 when running a college football program. He starts off great with talent he has inherited, then the program declines and is left in shambles. Remember, he did not leave Colorado and Washington under his own choosing with reputation intact. He was asked to leave. Quickly!! Is UCLA willing to risk having Neuheisel go 0 for 3?

Just from reading about it, hearing about it, the momentum is toward Rick Neuheisel. And that’s fine with me. As a Philadelphian (been here since 2000) I am familiar with Al Golden. Temple has been the toilet bowl of football and I believe they were 19-87 in years before Golden got there. He was DC at Virginia to Al Groh and Ron Prince, now at Kansas State, was OC. Both got head jobs at same time. Guess who was a finalist at Temple — RICK NEUHEISEL! Like Brian Kelly, I think Golden is an up and comer, but this is NOT the time for UCLA. A note on John Harbaugh….has been on Eagles staff since 1996, first under Ray Rhodes and now Andy Reid — Special Teams and Linebacker Coach under DC Jim Johnson. A thought: Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t end up as UCLA’s DC…not head coach.

I sincerely hope this is just a bunch of bullshit, and that Neuheisel will be named coach today or tomorrow. UCLA is going to get creamed in this years recruiting class if we don’t have a coach in place this week. DG may need to go away after this “process” is complete no matter what he does. He is making UCLA look foolish by his version of interview everyone in America for the UCLA football coaching job. I am not a happy camper! Oh wait, my agent just called, I am interviewing for the head coaching vacancy at UCLA in January! Give me a *ucking break! DG better get it right, and he better do it now!!!

I heard the rumor that Walker says he “may” be willing to stick around if Neuheisel is hired. If Rick agrees to this arrangement as a condition, his desire and ambition are overriding his common sense. Situations in which a previous coaching regime’s assistants are retained are rarely, if ever, successful. This year’s Louisville team is an example.
Assuming this rumor has validity, Neuheisel needs to take off his attorney cap and put on his coach’s hat. This is not a time to negotiate some half-assed deal as a means to gain the reins of the football program. If you’re considered good enough to be hired as the head football coach at UCLA at a crucial point in the program’s existence, bring in your own people and change the culture that has been pervasive for too long.
I have heard all the arguments about how valuable Walker is to the program as if he is irreplaceable. Baloney. Yes, the UCLA defense improved statistically from 2006 to 2007. However, that is more a reflection on how terrible the ‘06 defense was, than how good the ‘07 defense was. Walker was the DC for the Florida St. debacle and the crosshairs were squarely on his chest after Utah and WSU thumped us. I will be extremely generous and give Walker the Utah loss as an aberration….even though giving up 44 points to a sub-par program was a disgrace. But, the WSU loss? No way. That game was a conference game at a pivotal part of the season. The same WSU team only managed to score 7 points against an average Oregon defense in its previous game. Yet, against UCLA the WSU offense dominated field position and the clock the entire game. The UCLA offense didn’t help, I know, but the defense needed to stand up in that game and it didn’t.
As far as recruiting goes, does DG believe Neuheisel is incapable of recruiting for himself? Walker may have been instrumental in gaining verbals from a great group of incoming frosh. But, if those players can only play for Walker, we don’t need them.
I wish Walker well. Maybe he will become a great head coach someday. However, this is a time for a clean sweep…a total revamping of the program. We cannot afford to leave any excuses for the next head coach to explain away a few more years of mediocrity.
If Neuheisel is hired, tell him to bring in the guys he can work with. Tell him we want a blast of fresh air that is untainted by recruiting scandal or forced upon us by perceived race-based implications. I don’t want to watch PC-LA lose, I want to watch UC-LA win.

There is going to be a special place in hell for guys like TJ Simmers. No man has made so many peoples’ lives as miserable over sports in the history of sport. He stirs up problems where there are none. He jumps from band wagon to band wagon like like a band of sailors hitting the bars on shore leave. And to make it worse, he hits below the belt more often than Rush Limbaugh ever has to politicians.

If Rick comes in as coach I am sure he will dream up some “Simmersism” to describe him with and do his best to stir up more garbage.

But watch out for Rick and the team winning and moving on to a BCS bowl game, I am sure Simmers will take credit for that.

Negative journalists are just that “negative.” They can be occaisionally amusing, but are you laughing with them, or laughing at them for being the only person on earth to stoop as low as they do.

TJ will never be a Grantland Rice, nor will he ever be a Jim Murray. Pulitzer will not be synomonous wiyh his name. I only read his columns to see how low he will continue to stoop. It’s like a traffic wreck, you have to slow down to see if someone got hurt.

There are fishwrap hacks who write about high school teams for the local advertising throw-away papers that are better than him. His nose is perpetually brown from sucking up to sources and then the next week he blasts the same people for something else. He bags too often on members of his own family in print which gets you a little bit warmer place in hell.

He is a guy who couldn’t kick an extra point, sink a fre-throw or hit a wiffle ball out of the back yard. A total dork, klutz and spaz. He helped to mess up his own daughter who would be playing in the WNBA or past women’s Olympic teams by hovering over her so she would not play her senior season of high school. He wrote that in a column, maybe a “mea culpa” on his part.

The mere fact that he is listened to on the radio amazes me. He sounds like such a whiner, truely he does. There is just one question I would have for TJ; how many times were you “pantsed” and had them ran up the flagpole in junior high school to make you the evil person you are?

I am sure that TJ will give his usual line of crap to the next Bruin coach and begin ridiculing the coach before he has 24 hours on the job.

Jake, Greg

Like I said, dump the baggage.

With all the talk about the current players and recruits preferring DW I have a message to them:

“Fellas you had 6 wins and 6 losses last year. The bowl game you are going to is like the pize in a box of Crackerjacks. Don’t you feel that some of the problems KD had were because of you and you lack of execution. And you recruits, all that you have done has been in high school and won’t mean anything except to you and you parents five years from now and someone else comes in and breaks your records. It’s going to be what you do in college that determines the rest of your life. A self promoting assistant coach isn’t going to do anythning for you six years from now when your knees are blown out and you have no college degree to support you. You can run around from high school team to high school team trying to get a job as a walk-on coach and maybe make $3,000.00 a year to supplement your real job at Wal-Mart. And you will have to spend countless hours for the rest of your life reminding people of how good you were and what kind of potential you had, when nobody really gives a damn. You might get lucky and have someone buy you a beer to shut you up. SO SHUT UP, DON’T GET INVOLVED, BECAUSE YOU WILL LIKELY GIVE THE WRONG IMPRESSION, ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU HAVEN’T PASSED A SPEECH CLASS YET AND GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES EVERY NIGHT AND THANK GOD THAT YOU HAVE SOME FORM OF TALENT THAT CAN EARN YOU A COLLEGE EDUCATION SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY HELP YOU TO A BETTER LIFE.”

Just like I said b4, we can’t assume anything or listen to someone post “reliable sources” of who and who’s not going to get the job. Awhile back some guy here wrote that he heard from a reliable source, who was plaing golf with Guerrero, that Rick would never be considered for the job. And now look what has transpired. He’s the front runner for the job. Ofcourse theres going to be rumors, but we won’t know for sure until DG issues a Press Conference.

About to Puke, I couldn’t agree more! This is FOOTBALL, not Politics. We’re looking to get a winning HC to take us all the way!

Some of the guys at bruinsnation have continued to blow Mike Leach’s horn, claiming that he is a “big name” coach. What? There are only 9 letters in the guy’s name. What do you mean “big name”? Are you intimating that he is a “big time” winning coach? Is that what you mean? How do you come to that conclusion?

The guy is a BYU grad and he never played football in college. Okay, being a player is not a prerequisite to being a good coach. However, what has he done as a coach to warrant this “big name” reputation?

His Texas Tech teams always seem to go 9-3 and he gets them into some minor bowl game. Sounds like Karl Dorrell’s 2006 UCLA team to me. Texas Tech’s schedule is ridiculously soft. They have played the likes of Florida International, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Rice, Baylor, SMU, etc. Wins over these teams render those 9-3 seasons a joke. When Leach’s team plays Texas, the closest thing to SC as far as dominance goes, in the Big-12, he gets waxed. He has managed win some meaningless bowl games….Tangerine Bowl, Houston Bowl, etc, but has lost his one shot at the Cotton Bowl and even lost the GalleryFurniture.com Bowl.
So, I ask you, why is Leach your idea of a “big name” coach? Is it because his teams are always among the statistical leaders offensively? Well, remember, if you are playing Sam Houston St. (is their home field the Alamo?) and you roll up 800 yards of total offense and score 70 points, those numbers go a long way toward boosting your overall statistical averages. So, I don’t get it. Please tell me why Mike Leach should be considered anything more than an average coach.

Tom, I agree.. It seems we’ve heard rumors for every possible situation so far. RN has the job, Chow gets the job, DW is a lock, RN won’t even be considered, etc. I can’t stop looking for rumors because the suspense is killing me, but I don’t take any of them seriously.

ATP, you forget Dorrell’s teams would have lost to Sam Houston because they would come out unprepared. If they were supposed to win in a blowout, that’s the game they lose. In any case, I agree somewhat about Tech. The thing is, Leach has got to compete for recruits with UT and A&M and try to get people to come to Lubbock vs. Austin. That’s a tough sell, and I think it explains why his record against UT is so terrible. I think he’d do better in our system with the recruits he could get here.

JR….I’m thinking, if Leach can’t recruit favorably against Texas, how is he going to compete recruiting against SC and their goon squad of recruiters. Also, Arizona St. will now be a player for southern California recruits with Erickson at the helm.
No personal knock intended, but have you heard Leach speak? Wow, I have my doubts if a Gomer Pyle clone could convince inner city kids they should take him seriously.

You may have a better handle on what Leach is about than me. Obviously, he has impressed a lot of people. I think I need more convincing, though.

JR….By the way, you are right on the money about Dorrell’s teams losing to teams they should have creamed. That was always irksome to me. They were never prepared.

Hahaha…Goomer Pyle..That’s exactly what I thought…

Right on the mark JRB. At least with Leach, you know there would be consistency. His teams consistently beat the teams they are supposed to beat. That was my biggest issue with Dorrell. And yes, I would label him as one of the better coaches out there. He is a great teacher and knows the game extremely well. Year in and year out, he gets new players to adapt to his system and run it to perfection. Recruiting players against Texas, Oklahoma, etc, is a tough sell, and if he had the recruiting base of CA, more specifically, LA, I think he would thrive.

BruinBuddy,

Your rant to “current players and recruits” is evidence that you are seeing this through the eyes of a fan, which is totally understandable. However, recruits and players will not process this issue the same as someone sitting in the stands.

It’s normal for current players to have an attachment to the current staff. I experienced a coaching change during my college playing days, so I know exactly how these players are feeling. Also, if kids are being recruited by Walker, they naturally will have an affinity for the guy.

When the new staff comes in, some recruits will be lost, some current players may transfer and then life goes on.

I think that DG has already made up its mind on who the new HC is going to be, but they wont make that announcement after the UCLA game with BYU. I read the la times article on Kragthorpe being forced to keep the current staff. That went as well as the Hindenburg Flight. I went to Louisville website and read that he fired his DC and OC the day after their last game. I now agree with you guys that DW shouldn’t be forced on any potential HC.

it still is unfathomable as to why D.G. has not interviewed coaches such as T.Bowden and S.Spurrier! at least just an interview! and the fact that the H.C. has to meet with a chancelor to get hired,well I guess that explains Ucla football over the years(the exception being Bob toledo and our 20 game win streak). you think Bo Pelini had to meet with anybody but the A.D. at Nebraska. the difference I see with schools like Michigan,Nebraska,etc.,is that they know football and know how do search for a coach and football is #1 priority! it seems Football at Ucla is secondary to Ucla’s 11 National titles in Basketball! i am sick of hearing fans say they like Usc in F.B. and Ucla in B.B. I am sick and tired of hearing that Ucla is a B.B. program and that we are only good once in a while in F.B.! Granted S.C. is a private university and they have a lot more money to play with(i.e.Pete Carroll making 2 plus million a year) but then I look at Arkansas paying its coach about the same!!?? WTF? Arkansas can pay up to 2 million a year and Ucla cannot?? that’s what separates us from these other schools that are serious about a top 10 program every year,and when we get an A.D. that understands that we don’t want to have a good team every 5 yrs. and that we should have a N.C.contender every year,well then maybe Ucla football will be where it should be!!!!

alx324, that’s how I feel about the whole HC coaching announcement. My gut tells me that he may be going with DW for the HC job and announce it after the bowl game. I mean you gotta figure it to be, because why is it taking him this long to find a HC and then make an annoucement if he did find one already? In what affect is it going to matter to the current players if he makes an annoucement now? If anything he’s just keeping the recruits in limbo. That’s why I say he has made up his mind and most likely going with DW. He’s just playing the media by dragging this thing on and saying that “he’s still looking for the right fit”.

Simers opinion piece today is yet another calculated attempt to save his job at the Times, which is particularly important since he and his daughter got canned at 570 AM (that was some great radio!). According to my source in the sports department at the Times, Simers has believs that bashing UCLA and hailing SC will bring him a certain amount of cache with his editors and supervisors, of which, are mostly SC fans and alum. This is evidenced by his recent piece on how great a guy Tim Floyd is. Simers went on to describe how much he and “Timmy” like to goof around with each other and that they’re great buds. It was such a suck up piece that widespread nausea was reported throughout SoCal. Today, Simers opined that Guerrero is incompetent and the Bruins need to hire someone just like Pete Carroll, who, according to Simers, has a great personality (just like Timmy). Simers sucking up to SC has garnered him great “access” to all SC sports, coaches, and players. His only “access” to UCLA was Dorrell (recall that he was the only “reporter” invited to Dorrell’s office after he was fired), and that evaporated when Dorrell was canned. Howland won’t give Simers the time of day, and Simers has been repeatedly rebuffed by Howland. Overall, Simers knows nothing about the UCLA coaching search and his “sources” consist entirely of info and rumors that can be read on the internet.

Tyler,

I cant stand Simers…so thanks! Your comments just made my morning!

Here’s hoping he does get canned…

Simers is awful and his articles are unreadable. He truly doesn’t have any talent. I hope he gets CANNED!!!

Simers has no talent… true. He’s not getting canned though. What’s everybody so exercised about his column? Is it that he question your precious prince Neuheisel? There are coaches I would like to see. However, if some sportswriter brings up obvious points against someone I like (maybe Leach) I don’t freak out and insist he be canned. Maybe you are joking. In that case, my bad.

Simers is an idiot as evidenced by his bootlicking fishwrap commentaries….for this reason, Howland appropriately ignores him. Nuf said.
Lots going on but I am holding to my prediction that RN is “not an option”. While I respect and admire him, I’m afraid Tuesday’s reported interview was intended to placate influential and/or rich alums. I’m still hopeing Jones is high on DG’s list as he is personable, fiery, a great recruiter and he runs a spread which is fun a watch while being highly productive (again, recruits love playing in it). He also had a near death experience in 2001 which has shaped his incredible enthusiasm for life and success ever since. The man is transparantly sincere.
Query, with the biggest game in his school’s history against
Georgia looming, when can DG and Jones publicly divulge talks? Sensitive issue no? I just hope the Choker option is more placating intending to stall writers hungry for a story so that a proper time for the announcement of JJ as HC can be made. DG you are a class act.

I have lived in So. Cal most of my life. Over that period of time we have had some of the greatest sports writers of all time. We have been lucky to have had Jim Murray and Al Malamud. What we really lacked over the last 60 years ,that I know of, is a sports writer that has been been critical of the local sports establishment. Most writers have been homers or at best shills for the establishment.
While I haven’t always agreed with Simers, I have to give him credit for telling the Emperor that he isn’t wearing any clothes.
Let’s consider a scenerio that I have heard being talked about through various sources. I believe that DG is waiting to see the outcome of the Vegas Bowl before naming his choice for HC.
If DW wins the game I’m predicting he gets the HC job. If the team tanks, he doesn’t get the job and some other candidate is named, hopefully Slick Rick. I think the out come of the Bowl game determines a lot.

P.S. What happend to the guy from Fresno State? Haven’t heard his name recently.

I think DG is waiting until after the Vegas bowl, but not because he’s going to name DW the coach if he wins. Rather, he doesn’t want to disrupt the current preparations for the bowl game by muddying the waters with a new coach. Let DW finish what he started and after Vegas and these seniors move on, the new coach can come in and get things moving back in the right direction.

Concur with JR Bruin at 12:57pm regarding the timing of the new UCLA head coach. Let’s make the announcement that RN is the new head coach the moment after the game ends.

For once in my life I largely agree with Simers (today’s column). Regardless, he has no talent.

It is something that we are stuck with Simers when as Southern Californians we were accustomed to the nationally-renowned Hall of Fame excellence of Jim Murray, Chick Hearn, and Vin Scully. At least we still have Vin Scully.

That’s what I’ve been saying all along, no decision until after the game. That would be foolish. DG’s not foolish, is he?

What Simers and a lot of people forget is that Pete Carroll was Mike Garrett’s fourth or fifth choice…..No. 1 was Lou Holtz; 2. Mike Bellotti 3. Mike Riley 4. Dennis Erickson and then Carroll. Holtz’ wife had cancer and he didn’t want to leave Southeast, Bellotti said LA was not his type of place (sounds like Chris Peterson), Erickson got a new deal from OSU and Riley was OFFERED the job and couldn’t get out of his Chargers’ deal. A year later, he was fired and he was the finalist for UCLA along with Dorrell. Carroll’s a Messiah now, but Trojans fans were not happy. Even after beating us 27-0, USC lost to Utah 10-6 in Vegas Bowl. The key to their turnaround was Palmer understanding Chow’s offense and Justin Fargas getting healthy. That led to the first win over ND in 10 years, 52-21 over us and the big win over Iowa in the Orange Bowl. Screw Simers. KD gave him private interviews and TJ conveniently forgot that his nasty comments about KD greased the skids for his firing.

I just hope DG is not playing Politics.

it is not a list that inspires people right now, is it?

However, I remember golfing with an SC buddy during Carroll’s first year and telling him that I thought Carroll was perfect for the college game (regrettably i was dead on accurate about that)

That’s why whatever hire they make (and i for one hope it is either Neuheisel or Harbaugh), it may take time to win consistently but it won’t take long to see whether they have the right guy.

As good a guy as Dorrell is, it was obvious early that he was in over his head..and UCLA fans were forced to hope he could grown in the job. He didnt’.

All this said, I have a gnawing hunch that Walker is still very much in this scenario, which would not be popular.

Ed, why on earth would you hope that it’s Harbaugh? Honestly, I’d rather have Walker than Harbaugh.. At least with Walker we’d keep our recruits and have an inexperienced underqualified coach.

You do realize that’s John Harbaugh and not Jim right?

Lou Holtz as the Trojan HC?? Didn’t know that, didn’t know such. However, DO know that my SC friends still hate his guts. I wonder why his name has never come up in this astute group. Too old?

Ahh…this explains why the LA Times is in the pathetic that it is.

Tyler Lyon @ 11:11 am:
“…According to my source in the sports department at the Times, Simers has believs that bashing UCLA and hailing SC will bring him a certain amount of cache with his editors and supervisors, of which, are mostly SC fans and alum.”

That should say “pathetic state” that it is–the paper is in a freefall.

Why are we all worried about a bunch of high schoolers who haven’t proved anything? Everybody is so worried about losing some recruits. Are these the second coming of the Four Horsemen?
Every year I hear about how great our recruits are.Every year after letter of intent day, I ask my son, prep sports editor of the Oakland Tribune, who are these guys and why should I get excited. I always some run down of which bureau has them rated and how high, yada yada yada.
Each year our highly regarded group of talent sucks big time. Obviously they either weren’t coached very well or their high school talents didn’t translate well to the college game.
I say let’s try something different. Let’s get a great coach and then we’ll see who shows up to training camp. Let the coach develope what talent he’s got. A great coach will make a gourmet dinner out of a can of spam and some potatoes.
Let’s quit worrying about the recruits and focus on getting a great coach!

I’m an SC fan, but I like to see a good chalenging football
game. I don’t like pushover oponents. Make the rivalry come alive again. Hire Mike Leach and give him a short contract.

I am not a fan of Simers, but I think most of us can admit that everything he wrote crossed our minds at one point or another.

Gil, Thanks for that little tid-bit of information. I feel the same way about basketball. I love it when the Bruins get a challenging game. You guys should hire Lavin and give him a lengthy contract.

I agree with the old guy (Twothphry ‘67). We shouldn’t let kids who are not even enrolled in the school dictate this coaching search. If we get a good coach, the recruits will see that the school is committed to winning, and keep their commitments. You guys forget that we lost one of our best recruits (Kemonte Bateman) during the season. If DW is the great recruiter everyone says he is, then why did we lose Bateman? Maybe with a good hire we could get him back, and sign some more big names.

Regarding recruits who haven’t played a down of college ball, I remember kneeling on the grass at old Sawtelle Field and having a coach tell a bunch of frosh….”I hear you guys have a lot of potential. Potential just means you haven’t done anything yet.”

That kinda says it all. Plus, there is any number of things that can happen to a high school hot-shot between the time he first steps foot on campus until he plays in his first game. Some guys don’t make it academically, some guys get injured, some guys have to drop out to support their families, some guys get in trouble with the law, some guys get homesick, and some guys find out they aren’t ready to make the sacrifices necessary to play at the college level.

I guess what I am trying to say is, let’s not fret the possible loss of some recruits. For every guy we lose, there will probably be some other kid who wasn’t highly recruited who steps up his game and makes a huge impact.

LOL - poor Lavin, sits on ESPN and is treated like, well, like he actually knows what he’s talking about…proof that people are either stupid, have short memories, or are just plain gullible..

In response to a comment from [ucla34 @ 10:43 am]

I totally agree with you about those bisexual(SC FB&Ucla BB) sports fans.
Come to my thread in UCLA Bruins section of ESPN.com board and write in.
http://boards.espn.go.com/boards/mb/mb?sport=ncaa&id=26&tid=1988969&lid=4

Re: John Harbaugh. I know of him, his coaching roots, his success in the NFL, his enthusiasm. Heck yes, he would be a good coach and perhaps a great coach. The fact he hasn’t been a head coach is your concern which I respect. But trust me, the different between him as an NFL assistant and Dorrell is vast. Harbaugh is an important player in the Eagles system and he’s a tough willful guy…more like Vermeil than anyone else on the so-called list.

I don’t think DG will make this type of inspired hire…my guess now is that its between Walker and Neuheisel..in which case I vote for rick.

ed- Has John Harbaugh even been a Coordinator? Thsi is a serious question, because I don’t know. I didn’t know Jim Harbaugh had a brother until we interviewed him for our head coaching job. AMAZING!! A totally unknown is dug up by what someone would conside is a top D-1 program.

How soon does everyone believe UCLA will name Neuheisel as the next Head Coach. I do believe this hire will also help us get better recruits. Go Bruins!

many are suggesting that it’s a done deal, Javier. They’re adding that UCLA is simply waiting for the Bowl game to conclude, so that the team isnt’ distracted. AS if it MATTERS!! IT’s not as if we’re playhing for the national title or the rose bowl. We’re playing for the VEGAS Bowl! GEEEZZ

lol. I agree. If anything, this might spark them to play well.

Diego. John Harbaugh has never even been a coordinator. He has 9 years or so experience as a positions coach, which should tell DG something.

Ed, I’m glad you know of John Harbaugh, because you might be the only one. Not a knock on your or Harbuagh though, it’s good to know that at least he’s highly regarded in some circles.

It’s hard to justify hiring a position coach though..

Hey Buckeye, I hate to say it…but Lavin really does know what he is talkin about as an analyst. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know how to coach!!!, nor was he able to garner any respect from any of his players as the head basketball coach at UCLA. No discipline, easy recruiting since we are an Adidas school and all of those recruits were funneled in by Arn Tellum, Sonny Vicarro, Adidas camps, etc. etc. etc.
After Lavin (alledgedly) got Coach Harrick fired, there were (alledged) episodes of players flipping the finger at Lavin and telling him to f$^& himself when he would try to command some authority on the court during practices.
Again, Lavin = good commentary and the ability to break down X’s and O’s on the court with lots of replay and plenty of statistics in front of him. I guess that would make him a pretty good asst. coach too. hahahah. Good riddens however, no mo’ Lavin!!!

woops, BUYCKER I meant, not Buckeye

We need a coach who will build a real program and develop playersm. Proof of this is how come schools who don’t pull in top recruiting classes like ND,Texas, and SUCs can still develop into strong programs. The Oregon schools were at a disadvantage for years and they took 3 star recruits and competed and beat teams loaded with 5 star recruits. It’s about gameplan and preparation. Erickson took the same players from last year essentially and made them a top 10 team. I’m a niner fan and hated him there but was hoping all last year that Dorrell would get fired and we could get him. He’s one everywhere in college. Another thing about unproven high schoolers, didn’t we all get excited about a certain 5 star recruit lefty QB? Dorrell and Norvell’s plan exposed all his weaknesses and didn’t leverage any strengths. Recruits will come to UCLA because it’s a great school and location. Making them into top college players is the coaching staff’s job. Also, noone has mentioned CAL. Don’t they pay their HFC quite a bit and doesn’t Tedford have to deal with academic rqmnts? I don’t know the answers and am actually askimg the question. FWIW, I hope we end up with Rick with Chow as OC. I am fine with or without Walker at DC. Go Bruins- Class of 91-

JR.

Think you are right that they won’t hire a position coach. In fact, the only assistant they might hire is Walker.

While I believe Harbaugh would be great, I think that Neuheisel is the pick.

Unless DG has something up his sleeve, and what in past searches would make you think that, he had better pick RN who will give the program a much needed dash of excitement.

UCLA is in the marketing business. And when your product doesn’t match your rivals (and it doesn’t nearly match SC), then you have to package things much differently. (That is one ofthe reasons I thought they should seriously consider Mike Leach).

Hopefully they will announce the hire this week..

LAT says that Al Golden, Temple HC was interviewed by Chancellor Block yesterday. Who the heck is Golden and where did his name come from?!?! Never heard this guy’s name mentioned until yesterday, and already he has interviewed with Block?

Okay, it is Thursday morning. Guess what? The next UCLA coach has already been selected. We will hear the name on Sunday, or at the very latest, Monday.
Dan Guerrero cannot announce the name of the new head coach, unless it is Walker, prior to the game on Saturday. Why? It is incumbant upon him to protect the competitive integrity of the Las Vegas Bowl. Walker has interviewed for the job and he is the interim head coach. Players who have publicly endorsed Walker will have an impact on the outcome of the bowl game. If it is announced, prior to the game, that Walker has not been selected, the competitive effort of Walker and some players may be seriously compromised.
The NCAA is all about keeping the competition on the field as “pure” as possible. If the NCAA doesn’t do everything in it’s power to make sure the game is a fair athletic contest, we are left with nothing more than an exhibition like the World Wrestling group.
Also, the NCAA doesn’t like to admit it, but this game will have hundreds of thousands of dollars wagered on the outcome by gametime. The integrity and validity of the NCAA as a governing body has to be maintained.

As far as interviews with Golden and Harbaugh go, it isn’t a bad idea for Guerrero to take advantage of this search to learn as much as possible about individuals in the coaching profession. He is building a knowledge base, establishing contacts, nurturing goodwill, etc. These lesser known coaches know they do not realistically have a shot at the job. Guerrero knows it, as well. But, I would expect a good AD to want to know more about coaches in the pipeline than what he can read in the newspapers. Remember, AD’s converse with one another. This is how professional relationships are developed. The next time Golden interviews for a job, for instance, Guerrero can expect a call from the AD of that institution asking his impression. The AD network has a life of its own.

Nice as usual ATP, the West Virginia situation came to mind when thinking about the integrity of the bowl game. Those poor kids lost their coach before what may be the biggest game of their lives. What about the integrity of that bowl? I realize it’d be a long wait until after the bowl games to make the announcement, but we’ve considered during our coaching search that we might have to wait until after the bowl games to announce our new coach.

Sorry for the off topic, I think you’re right, we’ll know on Sunday or Monday. Sounds like it’s probably going to be Rick.. Is Golden the “non-BCS” school coach that was referred to? I guess that’s non-BCS, that coach/school hasn’t touched the BCS in years, I was hoping they meant June Jones…

So why did DG go to Philly? Now, we know. Yes, he interviewed Eagles ass’t John Harbaugh, but the REAL reason was to interview Temple Coach Al Golden. He came to meet Chancellor Block yesterday. Yes, Golden, like Brian Kelly, is an up and comer. But, Al Golden was DC at Virginia for 5 years under Al Groh. Who hired Al Groh? Chancellor Block who was President of Guess Who? VIRGINIA. Hmmm…..Temple is the pits 26-128 over 13 years prior to Golden….5-19 since. He is a former LB for JoePa at Penn State and, along with Greg Schiano, are considered favorites to replace JoePa when in retires (if he ever does.)
Just a thought…Virginia is great academic school. So is UCLA. As I said previously, UCLA is very proud of the NINE academic All-PAC 10 players on this year’s squad. USC had only 2. Course they are in the Rose Bowl and you know where we are…they’ve won 8 of 9 over us on the field, but we’re kicking ass in class. I am hoping Golden is using this to get a better deal at Temple, improve the Owls and move to State College…..BUT then there’s those Virginia ties…hmmm..

Bruce, good point on that. When I read up on that, I saw the connection to Chancellor Block and instantly knew that must have been a huge reason for his interviews.

Also, that notion that he could/would replace Joe Pa is a considerable one. Joe Pa will coach until he dies, but that’s going to be sooner than later. If he has success at UCLA early, he can parlay that to go to PSU. Why wouldn’t he?