if he wasn’t feeling the heat on the recruiting trail.

Note to Cheatey: You will never transcend beyond being nothing but a coach. PERIOD. Your PR stunts in the inner city are not genuine in my eyes and stop trying to be Coach Wooden because you ain’t and you’ll never be.

This makes things so much more clearer. It’s all about RECRUITING, RECRUITING, RECRUITING. Everything I’ve said about Kenny stands. He’s always been 6 feet underground for all I care. Lets put everything that has transpired since CRN’s arrival into context.

suc has been dominant, no question about it. They not only owned the city but the Pac 10 and was a juggernaut on the national stage. Their dominance began with the deteriorating Toledo’s years and through the KD years. Cheatey never had any competition nor was there such a credible threat such as CRN. It’s like Auburn (6 consecutive Iron Bowl wins) before Saban got to town. Tubberville was dominating the series and in state recruiting. Now that Bama has a name coach, the script has been flipped. We’re not as psycho (unreasonable) as the southerners who fired Tubberville, but the Auburn boosters who spearheaded the ouster were feeling the “heat” from Bama’s rise. I don’t agree with their decision and I question Chizik but that is a different topic.

Now comes CRN who is a proven winner and who also spanked Cheatey while he was at UDUB. A coach who is intelligent, charismatic, PR saavy, has local ties, way better looking :P, etc. A coach that doesn’t have that deer in the headlights look but can make the necessary adjustments in the heat of battle. Add to this CRN’s ability to convince DW to stay on as DC although DW wanted the HC position. DW is not perfect but he has made our defense relevant and he has been a very good recruiter as well. Kids like to play for him. If this wasn’t enough, CRN reels in NC who has tutored a laundry list of Hesiman QB’s who continued off to the NFL. Not to mention somebody whom Chetey knows wants to kick his arse and who was the true reason for their success. All this adds up to “Instant Credibility” for CRN and the UCLA Football Program. Cheatey is scum but he isn’t stupid. He saw the writing on the wall. He now knew that recruiting would no longer be a walk in the park but a battle in the Octagon. Then we come out with the ad that the “Dynasty is over” (I personally loved it). This was something that we would have never done in the past. Something this confident and fearless that you’re time is slowly coming to an end. Cheatey and scums laughed it off. Rightfully so because we have yet to prove anything nor provide the type of results to justify such. But……..

So Cheatey is feeling safe because scum was still getting the top guys while we were struggling to establish the foundation of our program. But the face of recruiting started to changed and in less than a year since CRN has arrived. Pressley who I believe orally committed during the summer before his jr year saw the light and switched. Carroll and Flourney are openly looking at us as well as other schools. We’re in a dogfight for Manti, Martinez, etc. All guys that scum targeted and I’m sure they believed they were going to get. CRN is making inroads at programs that have tranditionally been strongholds for scum (Mater Dei, LB Poly, Oaks Christian, etc.). Players at scum are telling recruits on their official vists that they regret going there because they are sitting on the bench. In the past, if recruits wanted to stay local, they really had no choice but to go to scum. Even with full depth charts, nobody in their right mind was going to put their future in the hands of KD. But not anymore. Recruits now have a legitimate and viable option at UCLA. Playing time is available, top notch coaching is available, top notch education, a campus where you’re not going to get mugged, etc. Especially if you’re an offensive recruit, who would you rather be coached by? CRN (Rose Bowl MVP/coached College & NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman/NFL experience) & NC (Too many Heismans/QB friendly offenses/NFL experience) or some guy named John Morton. The answer is easy and the recruits are beginning to see this IMO.

During a time where their sole focus should be on a very good Penn St. team, they’re wasting their time & energy on something so fickle and unsubstantiated as this? For real? It’s the Dead Period so maybe this is scum’s way of letting the recruits know that their staff is intact since Kenny’s main responsibility is the LA area. Oh, they’re definitely feeling the heat and tide turning. The logical thing for them to do was to contact CRN and then hash this out. But of course, that would mean that they had class or integrity. Remember, this is the guy that unilaterally decided that scum was going to wear ketchup jerseys although both coaches were discussing this. Cheatey really loves the spotlight. If indeed recruits were being told things about Kenny (no way this happened), something so trivial like this should have been left up to Kenny to address privately. Cheatey will never say it, but reading his comments, he may not be shaking in his boots but he definitely feels the threat that CRN & UCLA Football has become already.

I’m lovin every single minute of this because not only do we feel the momentum, but so does the Humanitarian at Fig Tech. CRN will get the job done. I’m ABSOLUTELY sure about this. Why? For CRN, this is a labor of love. For Cheatey, this is for his own personal glory. People achieve much more when they believe and enjoy what they are doing. The Dynasty is not over but you can be damn sure that it will be over sooner rather than later.

If Carroll and Norton truly were concerned about how UCLA and CRN were misrepresenting them to recruits and simply wanted to “clear the air,” Carroll should have attempted to resolve the situation the “character way” by contacting CRN directly, personally, privately. Instead, Carroll “advises” Kenny to air his concerns in the media, thereby igniting a public skirmish between Norton and Neuheisel and UCLA and USC.

This accomplishes two of Cheatey Petey’s objectives, from his vantage point: One, he undermines UCLA and Neuhesel just when USC finally is receiving some real competition in the recruiting wars; and two, he poisons the relationship between Kenny and CRN, thus reducing the odds of Norton joining the UCLA staff and bringing the keys to USC’s success (and alledged misdeeds) with him.

Now THAT’S what I call slick…