FanPost

The Perfect Fit

From the diaries. God the weather at home is amazing. GO BRUINS. -N

UCLA will hire a new coach this year.  It's going to happen, and it means that UCLA is, or shortly will be, on the road to recovery.  Say what you want about the current state of our football program, but looking to the future, it is nice to have hope.

I think and believe that UCLA will approach the decision to hire a new head coach seriously and professionally.  I think they already are behind the scenes, and I believe the school will hire the best available coach who is willing to take between $1.5 and 2 million per year.  However, there is one thing I am nervous about.  I am nervous about comparing and expecting a Ben Howland type of hire.  In other words, I don't think we can expect the same kind of "Perfect Fit" that Ben Howland was.  Howland was once-in-a-lifetime.

Ben Howland was the homerun hire of all time.  He loved and revered UCLA, he dreamed of being its next head coach.  He had roots in Los Angeles, and everyone knew it.  He was also a tremendous talent, who twice had brought no-name programs into the spotlight, and at Pitt, created a Big East Power.  You simply couldn't question Howland's credentials, his work ethic, or whether he would succeed.  He was destined to succeed, and he was hungry.  At UCLA he had the opportunity to be at the best program in the country, and to win national titles.  He had the opportunity to be a legend.  A risen star who was still rising, Ben Howland was, in sum, a slam-dunk who wanted to be dunked, and he was hired because it was the easiest smart decision that any athletic director could ever have to make.  

Now I've heard a lot of names going around as UCLA's next head football coach, and I like a lot of them, particularly Chris Peterson and Steve Spurrier.  However, there is one thing we cannot control, and that is who is available, and who wants to come to UCLA.  And that is why the Ben Howland hire was so extraordinary.  In Ben Howland, UCLA ousted perhaps the top coach in the best or one of the best conferences in the nation.  We took the Big East Beast and brought him West, primarily because, it was his dream.  (see also, Roy Williams to North Carolina).  But remember, what we did in nabbing Ben Howland is extraordinarily rare.  You don't generally get coaches from one of the top two or three conferences, who are rising stars and very successful, to leave very often - because they are already at or near the top of their profession.  It's just incredibly difficult.

Chris Peterson would be a great hire.  He has proven he can win, and has shown that he is a good coach.  I think he is the most practical and wise of all the choices (esp. considering his likely price), and I would be very pleased to call him our next coach.  However, I could not compare him to the Ben Howland hire because Uncle Ben was so much less risky and such a unique opportunity.  Peterson isn't a once-in-a-lifetime type of hire.  However, he might be the best candidate this year, and that is all we can ask for.  

To nab somebody like Howland would be like nabbing the best rising star from the SEC, Big 12, or Big 10.  In other words, almost impossible, and arguably crazy, unless some set of stars align and the moon is just right.  That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, but it does mean we shouldn't necessarily expect it or be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

My point is this.  I'd like a "Perfect Fit" just like everyone else.  However, I think we need to be wary of expecting a Ben Howland like "fit," cause that simply may not be available.  Howland was Armani-or-Versace-like tailored for our job, and he fit like the tightest pair of jeans on the most attractive model.  That will be hard to replicate.

That does not mean we shouldn't aim high, and go after the best.  We should expect that, and I think UCLA will follow through there.  However, if we come up with a coach, we shouldn't be disappointed if he doesn't fit as snugly as Ben Howland did, because in my opinion, that may not be possible.

Go Bruins.

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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