FanPost

How to Build a Great Conference by Lute Olson

Reading through the news coming out of Pac-10 media day, I was a little surprised, but nevertheless pleased to read this from cbssportsline.com's writeup:

"It's far and away the best conference in the country," said Arizona coach Lute Olson, beginning his 25th season in Tucson. "It's going to be an exciting year. A lot of Rolaids for the coaches."

Olson attributed the league's resurgence that began last year to the addition of Ben Howland at UCLA, Tim Floyd at USC, Herb Sendek at Arizona State and Bennett at Washington State.

"When I first came in, when somebody had an opening they usually hired an assistant from some other program," Olson said. "Now the schools are hiring the best available head coaches they can get. It's the quality of the coaches that have come in and the recruiting ability of those coaches."

Now, we all know Lute Olson is more than willing to rip the Bruins, and I'm sure he's burning inside that UCLA is on top of the Basketball world.  However, I give him a lot of credit for correctly recognizing why the Pac-10 conference is at the top of the heap:  Good coaches.  Sure, there is a lot of talented players in the Pac-10, but is there any question that we have some decent coahces in the league?

Lute's Comments come at a particularly important momment in the life of UCLA fans, and obviously transcend just basketball.  Why?  Because the UCLA Football Program is on the cusp of the most important decision in the last two decades:  Who can we hire as our next head coach so that UCLA Football contends for national titles.  In my opinion, we cannot make that decision, or even begin to think about that decision, UNLESS and UNTIL we think about, reflect on, and 100% embrace Lute Olson's comments.

The truth is, UCLA's Football program has in the past "hired an assistant from some other program," as opposed to "hiring the best available head coaches they can get," and as Lute Olson correctly pointed out, it isn't until you choose the latter option that you can expect consistent and great success.

So I have this to say to Dan Guerrero.  Dan, listen to Lute Olson, and remember:

Olson attributed the league's resurgence that began last year to the addition of Ben Howland at UCLA, Tim Floyd at USC, Herb Sendek at Arizona State and Bennett at Washington State.

"When I first came in, when somebody had an opening they usually hired an assistant from some other program," Olson said. "Now the schools are hiring the best available head coaches they can get. It's the quality of the coaches that have come in and the recruiting ability of those coaches."

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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