Chow Afterglow: Stability In Westwood
by Nestor on Jan 15, 2010 7:42 AM PST
in Football
40 comments
We still have ways to during this off-season. We have learned in last few days how everything can be turned upside down in the world of college athletics thanks to rumor mongering in traditional media. That said as the Chow related euphoria settles in and we get through the signing day next month, it appears that UCLA football program is about to achieve something it hasn't had in years: stability. This might be the first season in a long time during which UCLA will not be making any major changes in its key coaching personnel.
Here is what I can point off the top of my head re. coaching changes from last few years. It looks like we have had turnover at the top of our coaching staff every year since 2006:
- 09: Dewayne Walker leaves as DC, Chuck Bullough takes over
- 08: Rick Neuheisel takes over as head coach and brings in Norm Chow
- 07: (Training) Jay Norvell takes over as
DOC, replacing Svoboda - 06: Dewayne Walker takes over as DC, replacing Larry ("You Are Killing Me") Kerr; Jim ("Fired By Text") Svoboda takes over for Tom Cable as the OC
I can't think of any changes that took place at the end of 2005 season which interestingly was followed with that "10 win" season which a number of Bruin fans "celebrated" while many of us weren't impressed with given the disgusting results in the games that really mattered at the end of the year. Still even before 2005 season, Dorrell's staff was shaky as he had to fire his first OC - Steve "Architect Of WSU Choke Of 88" Axman - at the end of his first year to bring in the over-rated Tom Cable (plenty of posts on him pointing out how he was kind of a joke).
Plus before Dorrell arrived, Bob Toledo was getting into a disturbing habit of scapegoating his DCs by going through Alliotti (for good reason), Bob Field and ending up with Phil Snow. I mean it wasn't a pretty picture at all.
As I have maintained all along, I think we would have been all right even if Norm Chow had made a decision to take a huge raise and go work even at a place like Southern Cal, if they were smart enough to hire a head coach with credible track record in the mold of Jeff Fisher, Del Rio, Riley or someone else. He of course made the reasonable decision by not expressing that much interest (remember he ended up not even having a phone conversation) at that toxic position. I think one of the most important benefits of Chow's decision, is not just the fact that we get to hold on to perhaps the most prized assistant coach in the game, but we also get a measure of stability we haven't had in this program in years.
Kevin Prince talked about the mutual "excitement" Chow and UCLA players are feeling about the team (emphasis added throughout):
"We all feel the same way Coach Chow does. We're all very excited on the offensive side of the ball in terms of where we're headed, what we can accomplish. We haven't lost too many guys, but for the most part, our offense has stayed intact. It helps so much to have the experience. But it definitely gives us a boost of confidence that he wants to see this program progress."
It is pretty interesting to read through Kevin's words. It's clear that the guy is starting to have total command of this team (playing with a sore/banged up shoulder in 15 degree weather and gutting your team to a second half come back win will have that effect). He also brought up how he team held together tightly during the media generated roller-coaster of last couple of days:
"For the most part, as Tuesday progressed, hour-by-hour, sports stations, news things, they (Trojan shills such as Shelley Smith, BN Ed.) all started backing away and backing off their earlier statements. As the night progressed and into Wednesday, I think guys weren't as concerned. There was still a possibility, but I saw everybody at school and we had breakfast as a team, and I feel like everyone wasn't as concerned. Everybody still had that lingering question, but we just had to wait it out."
Well we all made through it and came out more than fine. This is going to set up an awesome recruiting weekend in Westwood in couple days and in the following weeks. While the coaches are out putting the full court press to gather another great recruiting class, Prince and his team-mates can keep their minds on school and off-season to prepare for a spring camp with stability in their coaching staff.
I will end with the following from Prince summing up his reaction to last few days:
"I'm just really grateful. I've learned how much I value coach Chow and what he brings to the table and has taught me. I really would've missed working with him."
We all owe an incredible amount of gratitude and appreciation for the way Coach Chow handled himself in last few days. We should also say the same about our current head football coach, who was cool, composed with the right touch of grace and humor, while coming out looking like a winner. Guess it's kind of natural at this point considering he is now the only head coach in the Pac-10 who has the experience of leading his program to a Rose Bowl victory (in addition to doing it as a player). As I said, things are looking pretty stable in Westwood. It's a comforting feeling.
GO BRUINS.
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say what you like about Tom Cable
but no-one could call those “3rd and long, how about a screen pass to future NFL talent Maurice (Jones-)Drew?”
and
“Hmmm, red zone… jump ball for future NFL talent Marcedes Lewis in the corner?”
like he could…
Oh, wait. Anyone could do that.
LOL, Scott Wolf
is trying to do damage control over for $C, reporting that kitten never wanted Chow in the first place.
The kitten may not have wanted Chow
But SC clowns wanted him BADDDDDD
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Jan 15, 2010 8:13 AM PST up reply actions
Actually, I bet this is true
It seems like the whole “Chow to USC” meme was pushed by Garrett, and any ‘interest’ that Chow had was likely before Kiffin was named head coach. I would doubt very highly that Kiffin would have wanted anything to do with Chow.
The big lie
It started in the Garden of Eden, when Satan said “Did God really say not to eat the fruit of that tree? He really didn’t.” That was a lie, and an attempt to rewrite history, even though there wasn’t all that much in terms of actual history at that time. Since then, liars have continued to do what they do. Cheatie’s lies are manifold, and well-documented. As but one example, the asterisk on “just$c*” is a revision of history in connection with the number of national titles.
This latest Wolf-ism (make that wolf-ism — no more capital letters where undeserved) is another attempt to rewrite history, and another lie. What’s so remarkable about it is that wolf was one of the principal people who was the recipient of that lie (assuming he didn’t just make the story up, which would of course be yet another lie.) One of his “sources” at just$c told him something about Chow. If it was that just$c* was going after Coach Chow, then what they’re telling him now and what he’s telling us now is a lie. If what they told him then was that they never really wanted Coach Chow, then what he’s telling us now is a lie.
The insulting part, of course, is that he expects us to believe each of the contradictory statements. scott, we may not be big time journalists, but we did go to UCLA so by definition we’re not totally stupid. Maybe the big lie will work over at Figueroa JC, but it doesn’t work in Westwood. And one other thing, scott, if you ever do decide to print the truth, put it in some sort of distinctive font to distinguish it from the total BS that you usually print.
+100
here here! well said Fox!
W.S. Montano Class of 1994
by wsmontano1994 on Jan 15, 2010 9:34 AM PST up reply actions
++
I think you can simplify things, take the “if” out of it, and just assume that everything that comes out of their mouths is a lie.
But, to be consistent, shouldn’t you insist on capitalization here? Wolves don’t need to be dragged into the muck any more than kittens do.
Even with Norm, O-Line needs to big-time improvement
Obviously pleased that NC is back, but let’s face it, the inconsistent play of our offensive line for, frankly, much of the decade, needs to improve BIGTIME. I don’t care how creative you are, can’t do much without an O-Line. In the first game I ever saw at the Rose Bowl on Labor Day weekend 2000 vs Alabama, Ryan McCann got sacked in the Opening Series and separated his shoulder. And I always wondered how great DeShaun could have been if he had holes to run through.
The Bruins offensive lines have just never been physical enough. They have also had bad luck with injuries and lack of depth. I thought this year’s line did show a lot of improvement in pass blocking. And, at times, the run blocking showed promise. But then what happens, our starting left tackle goes on his Mission (God Bless Him), Maiava go on academic probation and more injuries. I do feel bad for Palcic.
Our QB’s may not be the most talented in the city, but their courage can’t be denied. Kevin Prince and Craft, Cowan, The Olson’s, Moore, Paus and McCann have taken poundings that may well affect their bodies in their senior years. Let’s hope that stops in 2010 and Prince and Brehaut truly have a “Happy and Healthy New Year.”
I concur...
We hit a horrible spell there for a while on our OL. I would give a lot of kudos to Palcic thus far.. he’s one of the saltier coaches on the staff and for sure has brought a good mindset with him and taught this corps of linemen some pretty good fundamentals. I think for a handful of years there, however, probably due to Dorrell’s inexperience (and to some degree, Toledo’s oversight or sheer bad luck), we had kids, as you point out, who were totally injury-prone, and I would even say, simply NOT big enough or athletic enough. Something was amiss.
the last two POWERFUL, and utterly dominant Bruin OL-men were Ogden and Farris. Ogden is possibly a Hall of Famer in the NFL who had a kick-ass career, and Farris was a total bust in the pros, but certainly one of the better OL-men we’ve had at UCLA. Mike Flanagan, would probably be the other — prior to Ogden and Farris — who had a solid career at UCLA and a pretty notable career in the NFL. Other than that, we struggle to name any other Bruin lineman with any degree of achievement. I am not questioning our guys’ work ethic, but only their raw talent. Clearly we haven’t been recruiting (prior to last season) the best consistently enough.
I’m sure Chow doesn’t have to be reminded of what a take-no-prisoners OL means, hopefully his decision to stay locks in a decent handful of solid o-linemen who’ll remain in our ranks for the next few years…
We need to focus on those high schools where the Nebraskas, Oklahomas, Floridas, Miamis, etc. all recruit from. We need the corn-fed/meat-eating HOG who stands at 6-6 and weighs 330 lbs. We rarely recruit any 18-year old of that size and stature. Hopefully that changes. That will make a HUGE difference in our running game.
W.S. Montano Class of 1994
by wsmontano1994 on Jan 15, 2010 9:13 AM PST up reply actions
Ogden = Lock for NFL Hall of Fame
Would be surprised if he was not first ballot.
by orlandobruin on Jan 15, 2010 10:57 AM PST up reply actions
Ogden - 11xPro Bowl, 4xAll-Pro
The only reason Jonathan Ogden doesn’t make HOF on first ballot would be if the votings were done by people at SUC
thanks for clarifying
I slightly overlooked his NFL #s and his UTTER dominance of d-linemen across the NFL. Obviously, not surprising in the least. Yes, he was THAT good.
W.S. Montano Class of 1994
by wsmontano1994 on Jan 15, 2010 11:47 AM PST up reply actions
It's not just the individuals but how they work together
Farris anchored those OLs protecting McNown, but you also had solid guys like Chad Overhauser and Andy Meyers who worked well together as a unit. With the OL, it’s a combination of talent and coaching and continuity. And it helps if the line avoids major injuries, as was the case with those 97 and 98 squads.
As far as dominant OL guys, you forgot about Vaughn Parker. Probably the 3rd best OL for the Bruins during the 1990s, behind only Farris and Ogden. Paired with Craig Novitsky (less physically gifted, but still an All-American), they anchored the line for the 1993 Rose Bowl squad. Ogden was also on that line, but he didn’t emerge as a dominant force until the following year.
I think the issues with the OL actually started with Bob Toledo bulking up the line with huge linemen, many of whom were slow and injury prone. That created an immediate problem when Dorrell came in with the WCO, because the types of OL guys recruited by Toledo were not as well suited to the offense Dorrell wanted to run. Dorrell was recruiting smaller and more mobile guys, but the main problem is that he did not bring enough of them in year in year out. And even when he did have a well regarded group of linemen, that doesn’t mean that they will develop in the end. Just look at the group from four years ago.
P.S. Ogden is a HOF lock. He’s pretty much the best offensive lineman of his era and a rare athlete — size, strength, mobility, and skill, he had it all along with a great work ethic and intelligence.
Indeed, there's something to be said re. stability...
Locking in Coach Chow for at least two or three more years is enormous… that means not only Prince and Brehaut get tutored by one of the masters of offense (of our time), but that our incoming recruits will receive the proper tutelage as well. This is a huge victory for Neuheisel’s recruiting. The fact that Chow seems a bit excited about it all (and he doesn’t often seem like the most excitable kind of guy — not knocking him, but you know what I mean) is also enormously encouraging.
There is something to be said about maintaining some degree of stability and equilibrium… Oregon has had Aliotti (former Bruin DC) for nearly a decade at DC and they’ve had the same system in place for years, thus their recent success. Even though we all loathe $C with a passion, one of Cheatie Petie’s trademarks was the stability he brought to the program, as he was there for nearly a decade as well. Riley at Oregon State also comes to mind… think of Don James and Jim Lambright all those years at UW…
We’ve simply had entirely too much turnover in recent years, and many of our assistant coordinators were less-than-stellar coaches. They may have been passionate about the game, but they weren’t cream of the crop. Chow is cream of the crop, as is Neuheisel (I think we all agree)…
If you do a bit of research on our recent coordinators, however (Cable, Svoboda, Kerr, Norvell, etc.) a lot of them were journeymen coordinators (most of them are, I know) who never had stability or a long tenure elsewhere. Most of them, minus Cable and Norvell, are in small programs today… and Cable, as we know, remains with the Raiders because Al Davis is senile (and who else would ever turn down an NFL post??) and Norvell somehow manages to get jobs at decent schools with little to show for his work.
I wish Chuck Bullough luck… I would say he has a lot to prove this year… I hope to god, however, that our D heads toward some stability as well, with the help of recruiting, solid coaching, and maturity I think it can/will happen. We need consistency throughout our entire team and the coaching staff, and we definitely need our D to pick it up this year despite losing a few key names. But we’re on the right track, I think we can all agree on this.
The evidence? a bowl game win, we keep Chow and lock him up for a few more years, and our recruiting, I would say, will also benefit from this nice start to the 2010 campaign.
That being said, there is more turnover and instability at $C than they would ever have imagined a mere 10 days ago, not to mention this cloud they have over their head with the NCAA committee and their array of violations. It’s almost as if $C has to start from scratch in some ways — I for one would not bet $$ on these guys this fall…
Other than Mike Garrett, I don’t know who else has THAT much faith in Lame Kitten… He’s a disaster waiting to happen. The Condom Faithful are also not exactly elated either, so it’s not like Bruin Nation is being all that biased. They are clearly moving in one direction and we’re heading in another…. I would say for sure, that their ‘monopoly’ is OVER!
Go Bruins.
W.S. Montano Class of 1994
Both coordinators staying and...
(knocks on wood) a starting QB returning with a year of experience working in the system – whether it’s Prince or even Brehaut.
picky edit
Norvell was OC, right? You have him down as DC. Good post though, stability is very much a good thing especially with talented coaches.
by RealisticBruinFan on Jan 15, 2010 9:28 AM PST reply actions
I think its hilarious that SC d'bags run around calling Rick Neuheisel "Neuweasel"
and now everyone else in the world views their new coach like this:
by Karl II on Jan 15, 2010 9:38 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
It really looks like him.
It’s remarkable. It’s a perfect likeness.
No Doubt About It....
Stability and continuity mean A LOT when it comes to making that next big step as a program. And I think we’re now primed for just that!
God, it is GREAT to be a Bruin!
Los Angeles Rams and the UCLA Bruins!!!!!
by Minnesota Bruinfan on Jan 15, 2010 10:42 AM PST reply actions
Say what you like about Tom Cable
but he helped me experience what it can be like to cheer on a high scoring, exciting, UCLA football team my freshman year as a Bruin. That was awesome.
by inhowlandwetrust on Jan 15, 2010 11:10 AM PST reply actions
Umm
It wasn’t him. That high scoring team only magically appeared in the last desperate minutes of the 4th quarter, when Drew Olson, MJD and Marcedes Lewis took matters into their own hands.
Tom Cable helped you experience 3 quarters of futility in each game, except against Arizona and U$C*…where he gave you 4 quarters of it.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
yup
always more effective running a hurry-up offense with limited OC input.
by britishbruin on Jan 15, 2010 11:33 AM PST up reply actions
Cable
Anger management issues aside, he was one of the better assistants of the Dorrel era. At least his guys played with passion and energy. MJD was a huge advantage, but the offense was setup for his talents. I know any idiot can call a screen play 3rd and long with MJD, but everyone still needs to put their heart into the play for it to work. Execution was also decent.
Now the funny part is, I like Cable with the Raiders. Al Davis knows, given his crappy options Cable is the perfect fit. That dysfunctional bunch played hard for him late into the year. Which is better than what most coaches can say. Given his situation, not bad at all.
19-66, humiliation in the desert
desperate come from behind wins against mediocre to awful teams like Northwestern, WSU and Stanford with DO, MJD and Mercedes = not our standard for “awesome”
We have spelled it out number of times here on BN.
What would be “awesome” is if Lamey hires him as his OC. That would be perfect.
+10 re OC
was there much discussion of him as an OL coach (before my BN time)?
by britishbruin on Jan 15, 2010 11:34 AM PST up reply actions
I'm not goning to argue with you
my only point was that being around school for those games was really fun. The Cal-UCLA game that year is second to 13-9 in my book. Going crazy when be Stanford in the fourth quarter was fun. That was season was fun for me, and Tom Cable may have had a small part in that, even though he was blessed with a lot of talent to work with. Also, I didn’t read Bruins Nation during the Dorrell regime, so I don’t have a firm understanding of the Bruin argument against Cable. That is all.
by inhowlandwetrust on Jan 15, 2010 11:52 AM PST up reply actions
No worries
I hear you where you are coming from in terms of those games being exhilarating. We got caught up in the emotions too. Anyone can look up the posts. lol
However, at the same time we took analytical/big picture looks at what was happening under Dorrell and Cable. It wasn’t pretty and set up for the program catering into the sorry state CRN found in when he took over. So we are not willing to give him any credit in terms of his coaching abilities. Credit really goes to the incredible talent and effort of the 2LIVEDrew.
OL
Cable was the culprit for the crappy line? I thought it was Dorrel that didn’t recruit? Didn’t Cable leave the year after?
Isn't it nice
to have PROFESSIONALS heading our team?
No coaches-in-training here, thank you very much. We mean business.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Yes.
Having every position coach be solid is a huge advantage. Now to see those results on the field with more talent. I wish we had MJD and friends now instead of that wasted 10 win season.
OT
Dooley has been hired over at Tennessee
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news;_ylt=AmZqi4wCu7OtbAxuxYzfOsg5nYcB?slug=td-newsflash011510&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
William Doolittle at your service, a.k.a. will do.
Aristotle
wrote that in order to achieve happiness you should not strive for happiness but you must seek virtue. That’s Norm Chow.
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