UCLA Loses Game, Finds Coach
UCLA almost won this thing, and I certainly didn't see that coming.
The beaten-down, banged-up Bruins who all but laid down vs. USC ... showed up at the Las Vegas Bowl and played hard and played well, and would have upset the 17th-ranked BYU Cougars had not Kai Forbath's 28-yard field goal attempt as time expired been deflected.
To me, this means one thing:
DeWayne Walker should be the next UCLA coach.
It was Walker who took over as interim coach when Karl Dorrell was fired, and Walker managed to pull together a messed up team and get it to perform at something close to its peak against BYU.
UCLA's defense was daring and imaginative, as it has been all along during Walker's two seasons here.
But his imprint also showed on offense, where the Bruins were careful ... but took chances when they needed to. Such as on their final drive, when McLeod Bethel-Thompson -- the redshirt walk-on freshman last seen giving up four turnovers in the embarrassing loss to Notre Dame -- led the Bruins from their own 2 to the BYU 11 with five seconds to play.
That's when Kai Forbath came on, a guy who already had kicked field goals of 22, 52 and 50 yards, for a 28-yard try that may have been just a smidge low. A BYU defensive lineman stuck his hand in the air, and got just enough of the ball to direct it wide of the goalposts. And there was BYU's narrow victory.
Walker ought to be the next UCLA coach, and he may now have a chance to be it. He is scheduled to meet with UCLA chancellor Gene Block this week, the last step before potentially getting the job.
It appears as if the only candidates now are Rick Neuheisel, UCLA alumnus and former Washington and Colorado coach, and Walker.
Neuheisel is dogged by character issues and a couple of programs that he left worse off than he found them. But he has name recognition ... far more than does Walker.
That doesn't mean Walker shouldn't be the next coach. He should.
What we're about to find out is if Block and athletic director Dan Guerrero have the wit and wisdom to hire the best candidate -- who happens to be right under their noses.
Comments
Paul, take a look at Brian Dohn's blog to see the ruckus you started. The Dumpdorrell crazy-person thinks you are the anti-christ for sharing your opinion on Walker.
Makes a laughable charge that you violate journalism ethics (apparently he can't figure out that this was an opinion piece.
Posted by: BruinWood | December 23, 2007 9:08 PM
I had a peek, and it was fun.
Yeah, the willful ignorance of the dumpdorrell guy was amusing. (I feel kinda bad for the sane people who try to argue with him.) It all hinges on one phrase at the top of the column (and only on the web): "Staff writer."
I'm listed on the L.A. Daily News site as a columnist. That is what I do 98 percent of the time. And the DeWayne Walker piece very very clearly was a column, and I have to assume presented as such in the various L.A. News Group papers -- including the Daily News.
I like DeWayne Walker. AND I am masively underwhelmed by the other candidates -- the ethically challenged Rick Neuheisel and the 5-19 Al Golden. I think eveyone around UCLA football needs to grasp that the Bruins football job is not a particularly attractice one. And also, DeWayne Walker is NOT Karl Dorrell.
Posted by: Paul Oberjuerge | December 25, 2007 1:22 PM