Dump Dorrell

Hard to believe but we are about to say something good about Karl Dorrell. Don’t blink though because we are going to quickly wrap it up. According to the LA Times, Dorrell named Ben Olson the starting QB earlier than expected. Just last week, Dorrell said he was going to push back naming the starter until June, after originally saying he would name the starter before the end of Spring Practice, which ends tomorrow. Despite the back and forth, this is the right decision and its very good for the team that Dorrell named Olson the starter this early, as he originally stated. Now with the uncertainty in the offense cleared up, Training Jay and the weak side of the ball can focus on getting the new offense down. Repetition and execution is the name of the game now and through the Summer.

This is good news, finally.

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Spring football has been grinding along apparently … with the usual suspects of weaknesses getting the attention of the press. Here is our Monday post:

• As we said would happen, Dorrell is pushing back the QB decision from “the end of Spring Practice,” as he originally stated, to now June. Why is it that we at DD can predict KD’s moves you ask?? Do you we have an insider in the program?? We’re not going to answer that, but it’s easy to predict his moves because this guy is that bad. It would not be at all surprising for Dorrell to push that decision back even more to Summer practices. Actually, it would make sense that he would, since both QBs are still learning the new plays, formations, etc., and these 4 weeks are simply not enough for either to be evaluated in the new system. But thats the problem … we shouldn’t be in this predicament and BO should be named starter. More reps ensures that at least one QB gets the offense. We see many mistakes happening offensively to start the season. Hopefully, we won’t stumble against an inexperienced BYU or more seasoned Utah.
• As many of you have been reporting to us, beat reporters are saying the offense is stalling in the red zone again and again (only 2 TDs in 10 trips on Saturday according to the Daily News, the OC Register and the LA Times). Training Jay Norvell’s new offense is doing no better than the offense of quickly scapegoated Jim Svoboda, his predecessor. Obviously, it will take time to learn his plays so we will give the guy some slack .. but seriously, this is about what we expect. If the offense chokes in the red zone like last year, Training Jay will get the blame .. but it will Dorrell that will have to finally fall on the sword.
• Dorrell’s use of cliche’s for non-speak continues. Here is Dorrell on focusing on red zone offense: “It was more just trying to get our team used to playing in this area,” Dorrell said. “Understanding the restrictions this area has offensively, and defensively how those restrictions are to your benefit. Know how you can utilize the field to cover space and make things very hard on the offense.” You think after all these years they would know how to ‘play in this area.’ Ridiculous. We can see it now … early offensive problems will lead to this quote: “The offense is getting used to playing in the red zone and are growing and learning the new plays and formations. We are making progress.” Change the effing channel KD.
• Great new RB recruit from Houston, Texas. Nice commitment from Aundre Dean … comes out for Spring Break … what do you expect is going to happen? That’s going to have an impression on a young man! Nestor at BruinsNation has all the news.
• And from the STFU department, Dorrell lets the cat out of the bag that faking injury is part of our strategy to slow down games at the end to win. Nice. Even if such clock management strategies at the end of games had to be employed this way, why announce it to league officials and opponents??! Way to go Karl. If this guy HAD any coaching skills he wouldn’t need to burn time-outs early and then resort to weak and cheap chicanery to win (HT to BruinEd03 on BruinsNation).

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Spring Practice has started and many of you have emailed us with your thoughts. Here are some notes:

• People are liking what they see on defense … speed, strength, coach Walker taking control. Looks good. There are questions about (more…)
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Ok, so we thought we had the site restored and everything working great, we posted that, then bam … another glitch. These internets can screw with you good. Anyhow, we figured out the latest glitch, the ‘popular post’ feature has been shut down … maybe we will reconstitute it for next season. The site should be back to speed, thanks for the patience.

We might roll out a new feature in the Summer that will allow YOU, the visitor, to write a post for the site yourself. Of course we have editorial control, but it should raise the stakes a bit. We are going to be testing it soon on another site and if it goes well we’ll put it up.

Onto some Spring Practice news: (more…)

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To get your mind off of basketball, UCLA will open its 2007 football Spring Practice on Thursday afternoon, April 5. All practice sessions are open to the public and weekday sessions are scheduled for 3:50 to 5:50 p.m. Get on out there!!

UCLA will host a Fan Appreciation Day, with players and coaches signing autographs and posing for photographs on Saturday, April 7. Practice will conclude on Friday evening, April 27, with a final scrimmage.

Following is the schedule (tentative and subject to change):

Week One – April 5 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 6 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 7 (11:00 am-1:00 pm).

Week Two – April 9 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 10 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 12 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 14 (10:00 am-Noon).

Week Three – April 16 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 17 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 19 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 21 (1:00-3:00 pm).

Week Four – April 23 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 26 (3:50-5:50 pm), April 27 (7:00 pm scrimmage).

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You read that bold bit of chest thumping correctly. It's on page 3 of the UCLA Football Spring Practice Guide, according to Howland-hater Dennis Dodd of CSBSportsline.com. Our Sports Information Director (SID) Marc Dellins, apparently peaved that Dodd left UCLA out of his preseason 2007 rankings, sent Dodd the glossy guide even before it was ready for publishing along with a note that informed Dodd that UCLA had 20 returning starters from the team that beat SC.

The Bruins are in! You knew that, and you didn't know that. Final Four? Sure. The Spring Top 25? Let's just say I am making Marc Dellins' day. Dellins is the UCLA Minister of Propaganda — they call him the sports info director in Westwood — who was quick to point out that his Bruins have 20 returning starters from a team that beat Southern California.  

This is an issue because the Bruins got, uh, well, somehow left out of my first 2007 Top 25 in January. Being the good MOP that he is, Mr. Dellins quickly shipped me the galleys of the spring guide. He apologized in advance for the typos (the bound version is coming). I didn't notice any except the bold prediction on Page 3 about beating USC. Again. By 20. To win the Pac-10. Now that's a good MOP.

Dodd, that perfectionist and detail-oriented nut, recalculated his high precision analysis and, presto, he now has UCLA ranked #9. But we digress. This is BIG. Morgan Center is stating in bold clear language, printed in a glossy media guide they will send out to journalists across the country, that Dorrell will take our football team to the Coliseum and beat USC by 20 points!! AND … and … in doing so Dorrell will have won the Pac-10 championship that he hasn't come close to sniffing as head coach. Well hello EXPECTATIONS!! Might as well call out Carroll and his thugs by name while you're feeling confident.  Heck, call out the (more…)

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