With the recent news that Rick Neuheisel will be given an oppurtunity to interview for the UCLA opening, I thought that it was time to look at how important being an alumnus of the school one coaches at is to the football success in this ongoing series about the characteristics and qualities that will be important for the next coach. After all, there's a popular groundswell of support for Neuheisel because he was the underdog, walk-on QB who led UCLA to a Pac-10 championship and upset Illinois in the Rose Bowl.
The way I see it, there are basically two possible reasons why a school would pick an alumnus to be its football coach: read more
We have been saying for quite some time that mediocrity in our football program costs the University money. We made it a key argument in our Dump Karl Dorrell petition to Dan Guerrero that has over 800 signatures (we will send it to him on Monday, so add your name). Now we have proof!!! Hard evidence from the Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education.
It will take weeks to go through all the data to glean from it all the value it has, but we start with this obvious yet eye-opening fact: Hiring Karl Dorrell as head coach of our football team cost the University $2.6 Million in lost football revenues in the first year alone. That is not including revenues from other channels directly related to the success of our football program. Keeping Karl Dorrell for 4 years has cost us far more!
Here is the proof: read more
In the Dorrell era, where not much is what it’s claimed to be, a myth prevails that this year’s team is young and that explains the awful season, despite all the claims that this year’s team was Dorrell’s best yet. Anyone remember the bracelets the team wore at the beginning of the season with the inscription, ‘Pac-10 Champions’? Those were cut off in mid October! And what about those “Champions Made Here” shirts? We don’t see KD wearing those anymore either. They’ve been replaced with the steely determination to “finish strong” and to “go 3-0″ to end the season in 6th place in the Pac-10.
The excuses for this year’s season, like the team being young, never showed up in those glowing early days when prognostications of a big year were certain. Now the excuses are repeated like spiritual mantra for the foresaken. The youth myth is an especially hallowed one. It’s a myth pushed by Dorrell lackeys and apologists on the bulletin boards as comfort food for those who are content with lower standards. It’s the source of the greatest elixir for the brainwashed fan and the greatest tranquilizer for the enslaved fan that ever existed … wait ’til next year!
The truth is read more
