Bumped from the diaries. GO BRUINS. -N

Trust and patience.  Two things I would love to have with this coaching search, but both are being put to the test this week.

Most people have this inkling about UCLA, in general, that we are the nice guys (and with 100 national championships, clearly nice guys don't always finish last).  Stereotyping is often a bad thing, but stereotypically speaking, many people view the UCLA vs. USC rival as good vs. evil.  Even Cowherd a couple days ago talked about UCLA needing to hire a coach who fit the upstanding, good moral qualities typified at UCLA over the years in order to fit in.  USC can hire the outlaw, the guy with a mean streak, the guy with a sketchy past, but not UCLA.

Live in SoCal long enough, and you will end up with many friends, co-workers, and even family members who are Trojans.  Even my Trojan friends embrace the evil side of that good vs. evil comparison, and acknowledge that those general feelings are out there.  

I can remember when the handicapped parking scandal broke, and being amazed at the fervor of backlash from the Bruin community.  Not that I support what the students did, but I was amazed at the ferocity of the response.  People were outraged how athletes, UCLA athletes, could do such a thing.  We are supposed to be the good guys.  Toledo took a lot of heat for that, and it was a big part of his lack of support when he stopped being part of the national championship picture.  People pointed to that as a reason to fire him.  Admittedly, that scandal was pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, but at UCLA it was magnified.

Yesterday I was discussing this coaching search with a Bruin colleague, and I brought up how this Dohn report was disconcerting, even considering how unbelievably unreliable that source is (it's like trusting Fox News to be "Fair and Balanced").  I could go off on a diatribe about Dohn, but I am going to resist the urge to go off on a tangent on that piece of crap.  Piece of crap or no, his post about Leach and the money issue touched a sore spot -- my ability to trust in our administration where UCLA football is concerned.  My friends response to my feelings was, "We are UCLA.  We are the good guys.  We are supposed to uphold good values.  We need to be patient and trust in our athletic director."

He came just short of saying Bruins are paragons of virtue.  It was a bit much, but it is certainly a sentiment many share -- although maybe not to that degree.

Trust and Patience.  I have seen those things flying around the message boards this week.  Forget about what Dohn said, we need to trust DG.  So what if some coaches are being hired and off the market, we need to be patient.  

Do we?  Do we really?  Are those really "good" qualities all the time?  I actually don't mind being branded the good guys, but are trust and patience really something to blindly do?  NO!!!

Trust needs to be earned.  And damned if UCLA football has screwed with us so long that pardon me if my trust is being strained.  I remember being so hopeful after Toledo was gone, and that I needed to trust this new AD.  He was supposed to be so much better (and he is so much better than his predecessors).  But I can remember the absolute deflation I felt when I heard the three finalists for the job, and the absolute dejection at hearing Dorrell had been hired.  

I was supposed to trust.  I did.  I got burned.

And after that dejection, people came back again (again!?!) saying to trust.  Trust in them.  They know what they were doing.  Dorrell will turn out well.  And damned if I didn't watch that Colorado game the first year, and see that all my fears were realized.  Dorrell was an absolute deer in headlights.  Train wreck.

So people changed tunes and started preaching to be PATIENT!  Give Dorrell time they said.  GAH!

And now I am back to hearing how I need to trust again.  Seriously?!?!

Fool me once...

Too bad it has been far more than just once or twice.

Guerrero HAS earned some respect with me.  Many things he has done very well -- even beyond Howland and Savage who people keep bringing up, but football is still a major issue and a sore spot with me.  I still don't trust UCLA where football is concerned.  I'm sorry if that flies against what  many think, but they haven't earned it.  Period.

And I won't just sit by and blindly trust that things will be ok.  Screw that.  I want everyone to know that I want this done right this time.  And I am glad for this website, where people who think like this can make that sentiment known.  

I want this done right, and I realize patience is often a good thing, but holy hell is this pushing that limit.  I do NOT want a quick hire.  I would actually have been a little scared of any hire already (recruits be damned -- leave the incoming class out of this discussion!).  Texas A&M and Ole Miss can do that all they want, but I want to be thorough.  I want this done right.  But only NOW are we getting a search firm finalized?!

Seriously?!  

Guerrero is losing trust points quickly with that one.  Thorough is one thing, but that smacks of being unprepared and unorganized (and actually hints that he might not have been committed to getting rid of Dorrell until really recently).  And for someone with trust issues, that is scary as hell.

We might not have gotten Paul Johnson, but I would have at least liked to have a shot at him.  An interview if nothing else.  Let him know we are interested.  Being patient has cost any shot at that.

I actually am very proud to have such athletic and academic excellence overall while generally doing it the "right" way (for the most part).  I have no problem being the "good" guy.  However, patiently sitting by and trusting blindly are not "good" qualities, despite what many of my fellow Bruins seem to think, and I am going to let my tiny voice ring out proclaiming that I am not going to take it anymore!  I am not settling for mediocrity!  And maybe my voice combines with other tiny voices around here, and together we can make our opinions heard.  We want a national championship caliber football program.

We are so good at everything else, maybe that makes me greedy.  Maybe I am not such a "good" guy after all for being "greedy".

Fine.  So be it.  I am greedy.  Sue me.  I WANT IT ALL!!!