Quite a difference
One thing I noticed during the first two months of UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel's tenure is how different he is, not to mention comfortable, in the public spotlight when compared to former coach Karl Dorrell.
When not out recruiting, Neuheisel is at every basketball game, chatting with fans, shaking nearly everyone's hand and holding court with a group of people. During halftime of Saturday's game against Oregon, Neuheisel was along one of the baseline chatting with a close circle of boosters.
By contrast, I rarely saw Dorrell at basketball games, could never remember him holding court with people nearby and rarely was approachable for interviews in the offseason.
That is all well and good, but right now the slate is clean. It will be interesting to see what happens when UCLA starts to lose some games and the shine is off of Neuheisel. How he reacts then will be even more telling than how he acts now in the honeymoon phase.
While Neuheisel and Dorrell have very different personalities, I think this particular comparison about attending basketball games is really unfair at this point in time.
Karl Dorrell was a family man with a wife and two small children to go home to.
On the other hand, Rick Neuheisel just started his new dream job, lives in a hotel across the street from UCLA, and his entire family is still back in Baltimore. Hardly the same situation.
Lets see if Neuheisel is still at "every" game and approachable 24/7 this time next year.
lets hope that charm rubs off on the recruits he visits...
Couldn't agree with you more, Brian. I was at the game and watched CRN interacting with fans and recruits alike. He's very engaging and one can see how comfortable he is and how others respond to him.
After the game my son and I went up to introduce ourselves and say hello. In spite of the importance of the day relative to the recruits on-hand, he was very gracious in chatting with us.
Well, Karl was an introvert and Neu is an extrovert, so this non-display v display of socializing should not be surprising.
That said, there was nothing wrong with Karl's personality; the world probably needs more introverts.
That's a sign of someone truly happy to be back home...