UCLA Football Fans Agitated; What a Concept
For Sunday's newspapers I did a column suggesting/demanding that UCLA hire DeWayne Walker as their next football coach.
The key thing here ... is that the UCLA job is not one heavy-duty candidates want. That's why they have been ignored or spurned by all the folks with really impressive resumes. The Bruins have trouble paying top dollar, they don't pay their assistants particularly well, their facilties are second-tier, their admissions standards are starving them of talent, they play a few miles from the most powerful program in the nation ... and other than that, it's a great job.
So, they're down to three candidates, from what we can tell, and I like DeWayne Walker lots better than the fairly sleazy/cheesy Rick Neuheisel or the utterly anonymous (Temple coach?) Al Golden.
What surprised me is ... that people actually reacted to a column on UCLA football.
The most violent semi-informed reaction I know about ran on dumpdorrell.com ... where the anonymous writer suggested I don't have the journalistic right to make such a declaration. Clearly not understanding that I write columns, which are opinion/analysis pieces and, thus, not subject to the usual journalistic "fairness" concepts.
Anyway, people agitated about the Bruins' next FOOTBALL coach? I didn't know they had it in 'em. But go look at dumpdorrell.com, and you can see some.
The Bruins figure to finally fill this job by the end of the week. I sense Neuheisel is a slight favorite, mostly because I sense UCLA administrators fear the reaction from alums if they hire another guy with no history as a head coach (Walker, after Dorrell). A reaction they feel will be more extreme than if they hire a guy (Neuheisel) who left both Colorado and Washington under clouds of controversy.
Golden ... I don't think he's a real candidates. That would be an even tougher sell, with his 5-19 career record, than Walker or Neuheisel.
Comments
That is a great take on the search for a UCLA Football coach and DeWayne Walker's candidacy.
I take exception to the characterizations of Neuheisel as the favorite among UCLA Alumni. I can attest that in speaking with many fellow Bruin alums and fans that he has many non-supporters who dislike his reputation, baggage and style. In short, he is a highly divisive candidate.
At UCLA, the #1 prerequisite for any coach is character in the form of integrity, honesty, respect for others, humility, dignity and class as well as an overriding sense of wanting to do the right thing. Why? Because it is the core of what UCLA stands for. Sadly, these traits are all too often lacking in college football and society at large. The good news is that we need to look no further than Coach Wooden for guidance. His life and philosophy as seen on the Pyramid of Success almost provides a checklist of characteristics for coaches at UCLA. UCLA needs to continue to build on their recent successes in cleaning up the image of the athletic department and football programs.
Thoughtful UCLA fans, want to let Dan Guerrero do his job and conduct a thorough search without undue outside pressures. This is an important hire, and UCLA needs to take its time to try to get the best person for the job who will represent the university with distinction. DeWayne Walker can be that person.
Posted by: Anonymous | December 26, 2007 6:09 PM