A Word to UCLA Football Commits...

With the recent change of leadership in UCLA's Football Program, all that any prospective UCLA student-athlete needs to know is this:

"When it comes to NCAA competition, the University of California, Los Angeles is 100% COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE." If the dismissal of Karl Dorrell should signify anything for incoming student-athletes and their parents, it's that UCLA's quest for superior coaching talent is a clear and unmistakable sign of that Commitment."

Even before Monday's press conference, there was the talk: Talk of what possible damage firing one of (what some consider anyway) UCLA's most prolific recruiter/coaches in recent history might mean for the incoming class; talk of the dozens of high-school recruits whose current verbal and national commitment letters might seem to carry a slightly lesser value.

Well talk, as they always say is truly cheap.

See, if UCLA was a school that just "talked" about winning national championships, we wouldn't be the first and only University with One Hundred NCAA Championships... right? Right.

If the Bruins of Westwood were "all talk" when the time arrived to dig deep and restore The Most Successful College Basketball Program in America to its proper place on the national stage, our coach's name wouldn't be Ben Howland... would it?

If Athletic Director Dan Guerrero was a man who just "talked" about excellence in football, "talked" about winning PAC-10 Championships, "talked" about playing in BCS Bowl Games and "talked" about regularly contending for National Championships, fact is, our football coach would still be named Karl Dorrell.

And, if UCLA was an institution that just "talked" about offering one of the most enriching and sought-after university experiences on Planet Earth but couldn't actually OFFER IT, our Admissions Office wouldn't be flooded with over 50,000 applications a quarter... now would it?

So, to the hundreds of young, talented and truly LUCKY student-athletes who will soon have the privilege of calling the UCLA campus home -- we say:

"Welcome aboard. Big Things are Bruin."