Welcome Back Coach Palcic - New OL Coach

Bumped. CRN nabs arguably the greatest OL coach ever to teach at UCLA. If you can't remember, just dust off the tapes from the 1993-94 UCLA-Southern Cal game, and watch how Ogden and co. annihilated the TrOJans. Yeah, it was Coach Palcic who was in charge of that line anchored by Ogden, Parker et al. Welcome back Coach Palcic. GO BRUINS. -N

Apologies if posted already. Okay, so this hasn't been confirmed by Coach Neuheisel himself or the local papers but...

According to this article, Bob Palcic has agreed to be the new UCLA OL coach. I don't remember him from his time at UCLA, but I'm sure there are plenty on this board who do and can fill the rest of us in.

Some excerpts from the Capital Times at Madison:

It was a natural fit for Palcic, 59, who will coach the O-line for Neuheisel. "We've been friends for a long time, and he wants me to go out there and help him resurrect the UCLA program, and I thought that's what I should do," Palcic said Sunday. "We've stayed in touch over the years. And he has always asked me if I would go with him if he ever got another head coaching job, and I always told him that I would. So when he called me up and offered me a substanial raise, I just thought it felt right. This is really the first opportunity we had to get back together."

"I'm happy that Rick has another opportunity at his alma mater," Palcic said. "He's well-liked in the UCLA community. And he's learned from whatever mistakes he's made in the past. I know he's intent on putting together a good staff, and we'll all roll up our sleeves and see if we can turn things around. I know Rick well, and I know what he wants to do offensively. He's a very intelligent guy, and I've always been impressed with his offensive mind. Having already been there (UCLA) for a year, it will be much easier going into the situation."

"Initially, it won't be easy for us. But the last time I was at UCLA, we were the best team in town, and I believe we can do it again."

UPDATE -N: The Palcic file courtesy of BadgerNation (from 2006): The Bob Palcic file
2000-05: tight ends, New Orleans Saints
1999: offensive line, Cleveland Browns
1997-98: tight ends, Detroit Lions
1994-96: offensive line, Atlanta Falcons
1993: offensive line, UCLA
1992: offensive line, USC
1986-91: offensive line, Ohio State
1984-85: offensive line, Arizona
1982-83: offensive line, Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
1978-81: offensive line, Wisconsin
1976-77: offensive line, Ball State
1974-75: linebackers/offensive line, Dayton
1973: graduate assistant/linebackers, Ball State Yeap, a TrOJan assistant who helped us win the Pac-10 in 1993. GO BRUINS.

UPDATE II -N: From Wisconsin's official site: Among the college players Palcic has coached are: current Baltimore Raven All-Pro tackle Jonathan Ogden, third-team All-American and NFL veteran (Green Bay and Houston) Mike Flanigan and first-team All-American and 11-year NFL player Vaughn Parker (all of UCLA); All-America tackle Tony Boselli (USC); first-team All-Big Ten offensive linemen Bob Maggs, Jeff Uhlenhake, Joe Staysniak, Jeff Davidson and Alan Kline (all at Ohio State); All-American Ray Snell (Wisconsin). Not bad at all. Well played Coach Neuheisel. Keep it coming. GO BRUINS. -N

UPDATE III - N:Interesting article from local Wisconsin paper - the La Crosse Tribune - on what kind of job Coach Palcic did with the Badger offensive line: When Bob Palcic arrived as the University of Wisconsin offensive line coach before the 2006 season, he inherited an all-world left tackle in Joe Thomas and not much else.

Thomas, who was coming off major knee surgery, and Kraig Urbik were the only returning starters. Urbik, who started every game at right tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2005, was promptly moved to right tackle.

''They were a good offensive line here the year before I got here,'' Palcic said. ''They lost some key people. We had to pretty much start from scratch. We had Joe Thomas, but there were a lot of holes in that offensive line, with not very much depth.''

Palcic has done a commendable job of patching things up, and for the most part the line has been solid in his two years. But it won't be until next season that Palcic will get what he wants: Depth and competition at every position.

''Next year, we'll be the strongest line in the three years I've been here,'' he said. Well, I know there have been some concerns (based on CRN's Washington experience) about CRN's ability to develop (and bring in) a good OL. I'd say this is a solid start. GO BRUINS.

UPDATE IV -M: It's official. From the formal release: Bob Palcic, who spent the last two seasons coaching the offensive line at the University of Wisconsin after 12 years in the National Football League, has agreed to join the UCLA coaching staff, Bruin head football coach Rick Neuheisel announced today.

Palcic brings over 30 years of experience to Westwood, where he also coached in 1993. UCLA won the Pacific-10 championship that season and played in the 1994 Rose Bowl. The Bruin offensive line featured seniors Vaughn Parker and Craig Novitsky, both of whom earned All-America honors and played in the NFL. It also included sophomores Jonathan Ogden, 1995 Outland Trophy winner and NFL All-Pro, and Mike Flanigan, who has been an NFL star for over a decade. Neuheisel was also an assistant on that Bruin staff.

"Bob is one of the top offensive line coaches in the country at any level," said Neuheisel. "The young men in our program will be able to draw upon his wealth of experience to assist in their development as players on the field and men off the field. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to bring Bob back to UCLA."

GO BRUINS.