PROFILE

This is Brian Dohn's fifth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
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« Answers, Part II | Main | Answers, Part IV »

Answers, Part III

Here is the third grouping:

With the growing concern in the general population about health privacy, do you foresee any changes to the way injuries are reported in the sports world? …Since UCLA is on the forefront of many academic and social issues, not to mention being the first to 100 championships, could it be that they are also becoming aware and proactive about a looming issue in sports health privacy?
No, actually I don’t see it going that way. I think it is a football-specific thing, and is generally related the paranoia many football coaches have. It is rarely an issue with basketball coach Ben Howland.

If Utah's game plan was to cover Ben's first passing option, was this recognized immediately? If so, was Ben instructed to look off his first option and focus on his second and third options?
Every defensive game plan is to cover the quarterback’s first passing option. That is how you get sacks. And it is not as if defenses are saying, ‘ok, let’s just cover the first and second options of a route, and let the third guy go free.’ Defenses are trying to cover everyone on every play. As far as looking off a first option, that is not how routes generally work. A quarterback looks at the first option, and if that is not open, he goes to the second option, which should be opening in a progressive manner.

Also, as a follow up to my previous question regarding timing patterns, why is there a trust issue at this point in the season? Shouldn't spring and fall practices be used to build trust so that the QB & WR are on the same page once the season starts?
It is different having trust in a receiver during a game, and during practice. If the ball is dropped, or a pattern is run improperly in practice, the only ramification is some yelling, maybe some running, and perhaps doing the play again. In a game, it can result in a change of possession.

have the coaches indicated why they continue to play players that are unproductive in a particular game? I would think if a WR is dropping passes, they should give the other WRs a chance to make some plays, considering we have some depth there.
I agree with you whole-heartedly, but I do not see that always being the case on the field.

How aware/concerned does Dorrell seem to be about his rapidly warming hot seat?
He knows he has to produce wins or he could be in trouble, but I will ask you this. Who says his hot seat is rapidly warming? Fans, boosters or administrators?

If Dorrell is let go at the end of the season, how much will that impact the recruits that have signed?
Who the heck knows. Too many variables to play with that hypothetical. Who’s the coach coming in, Bill Parcells or Joe Bruin (?), and so on and so on and so on. Not to mention, the recruits have not yet signed. They cannot sign until Februrary.

Do you think Dorrell will ever realize that his offense is made to fail with the players we currently have? Do you think he would ever change things up, or is he going to stick with this even if he gets fired?
I think Dorrell is bright enough to say if he didn’t think he had the players to run a system, he would not run it. I think this is the offense he will live and die with.

Since our coaches and players must watch other games (and teams like Florida, Louisville, Texas Tech, Hawaii, etc. who typicall run up 400+ yards of offense on a BAD day), without naming names, do you personally believe there are members of the coaching staff and at least some players (if not many) who don't believe in the UCLA's version of the WCO and that its complications make it doomed to fail at the college level?
I think some of the players have questions about using this offense on the college level, but I don’t think any of the coaches have a problem with it, or they would not be at UCLA.

Any word on recruits' reaction to that debacle on Saturday?
I’m told it’s not a big thing right now.

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Comments

You may know something I dont about with regard to the administration and Morgan Center wanting to keep Dorrell, but I dont think you have your finger on the pulse of the average Bruin fan.

I think you are underestimating the deep disappointment and disenchantment among a huge portion of Bruin fans with the job Karl Dorrell is doing. Last year it was barely on the radar for the average Bruin fan at the beginning of the season, but then people began to talk about it towards the end. This year, average Bruin fans are talking about getting rid of Dorrell already - it is a main topic of conversation. We feel the tide is about to turn ... if Dorrell loses a shot at the Pac-10 title early I think you will see a tidal change.

Agree. Another early, devastating, or unacceptable loss and the sleeping giant will awaken and will not lay back down. KD's head is already on the chop block for the rest of the season.

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