We Now Need Relentless Support of Bruin Football
by Kirk 71 on Jun 13, 2010 9:17 AM PDT
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PrintBumped. GO BRUINS. -N
Photo Credit:AP Photo/Evan Vucci
All of us are enjoying (in my case, extremely enjoying) that the NCAA has finally come down hard on the bold, arrogant, open institutional flaunting of NCAA recruiting standards by USC, Carroll, Garrett, Kiffin and SC alums. We all look forward to their imminent 5 year demise. But now, let's turn our focus on the restoration of the UCLA football program that to me is obviously well under way under CRN. We all love the Bruins. In our family we live and die with Bruin success and failure on the field, diamond and on the court.
In my view, it is fine fun to enjoy the long overdue agony of the $C fan, but it is more important to provide overwhelming support to our own program so that it equals and exceeds the SC programs perceived former stature. As Bruins, we expect our programs to be above reproach, while achieving excellence on the field and in the classroom. Our long list of National Championships combined with academic excellence speaks for itself. Last week's 11th Softball National Championship is a case in point. We don't have to make excuses or apologize to anyone. We are the premier athletic institution in the NCAA.
However, I do believe that in order for us to return to the Football glory years, (and we had them despite only one National Championship) and to compete in the newly formed Pac-16, we need to strive for and achieve higher levels of excellence on the field and in the stands. In addition to reading Bruins Nation every morning for its excellent reporting of sports news and ideas, we all need to support the team at a much higher level.
Attendance at the games should increase to above 70,000-80,000 every game. Tough in a town like ours with all of the options on Saturday, but our teams deserve that support. Travel to out of town games so a large Bruin contingent is present wherever we go. I can't help but shake my head when teams like Washington, Fresno State, etc. fill the visitors section and the end zone in the Rose Bowl. I'm as guilty as everyone, traveling only once every couple of years to an away game. Travel to the Bowl games so we lose the tag that the team doesn't travel well. That impacts bowl selection opportunities that lead to exposure, reputation and aid recruitment. Get involved with the local Bruin clubs. Answer the call for support from CRN. Pack spring and fall intersquad games. Terry Donahue had the Bruins competitive in nearly every season he coached, including our glorious pounding of $C year after year in the 90's.
Rather than having our focus on the much deserved failing of $C, we need to focus on the future PAC-16 Championship runs, victories over $C, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon and all of the other excellent University programs that will now be our challenge. For the next 5 years it is going to be the Pac-15 plus the embarrassment that is the $C program. I hope we all enjoy it, but I also hope we all pick up the level of support we provide CRN and the players that proudly wear the uniform and give us their best every day during the off season, in the training room and in the classroom, to prepare so that they can give us their best every Saturday during the fall. Remember these are the guys that selected UCLA for what we stand for, and rejected programs like $C. They deserve our appreciation.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Channeled my thoughts exactly
This is a crucial time for our program, and we need to make strides in the win/loss column. Whether we like to believe this or not, wins = fan support. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to make it fan support = wins. Simple as that.
great post
Completely agree. And it starts not only with us but with our university putting out all the resources necessary to get our fans more enthusiastic. As stated in numerous posts here previously The Media department Athletic department etc. Are doing better but need to continue to step it up! Great post. Go Bruins!
by westwood12003 on Jun 12, 2010 10:31 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Here! Here!
We all need to support ALL BRUIN sports. It does look bad when visiting teams’ fans outnumber us. SUPPORT UCLA!!! GO BRUINS!!!
by Forever a Bruin on Jun 12, 2010 10:47 AM PDT reply actions
Bumped your post but I will add one caveat
I think for the long term readers of BN it is well known we are not fans of Terry Donahue. He is not our standard. Donahue had a great run in the 80s and started that streak against southern cal in the 90s. However, his last five seasons at UCLA were under-achievements for reasons we have chronicled in detail on BN. We want CRN to end up at a higher level. We are hopeful he will get there.
Kirk, excellent post!
Thank you for bringing up the name of Coach Donahue. A wonderful man and HOF coach.
During his tenure at head coach, Terry recruited and developed 139 players who went pro (and at least another dozen who came in as Freshman when he was a UCLA assistant under Dick Vermiel and Pepper Rogers). Roughly 6 a year while an assistant and head coach at UCLA (’71 to ’95)!
I think we can consider CRN carrying on that tradition with the same eye for “talent in the rough” that Donahue had. It would be wonderful to get back to the consistency of Donahue’s reign!
To that end, I offer the “elephant in the room” question to all readers - in pursuit of the team’s return to consistent prominance, should UCLA consider going after any of the USC players eligible to transfer without having to sit-out? Especially Jrs and Srs, are they too tainted by the SCum philosophy, or is there a possibility they could turn from the darkside?
Donahue was an above average coach
He was not a great coach. He is certainly not the standard of excellence here on BN. Please look through our archives to read our thoughts on him.
lol
Guess some NFL fans could look at it that way.
Honestly, I understand why some UCLA fans have fond memories of Donahue. I enjoyed those Rose Bowl appearances and victories over southern cal. We (as in BN) happen to believe UCLA’s ceiling is much higher and Donahue created a culture where folks were just happy with those.
Obviously it is all about baby steps. We need to get back to Donahue level of “success” first before we shoot higher. However, that doesn’t mean we lose track of what is our ultimate standard of success in FB. It’s the same as the standard in all of our other sports: national championships.
I wasn't alive for most of the Donahue years
so I can’t really comment on his coaching stint. I hope we can return to a Red Sanders/Tommy Prothro type consistency where we rank in PAC-10? titles and NC’s
RESCUING DANCE MUSIC FROM THE BLAHS
I would love to read posts from Bruins
who were around during Dick Vermeil era. I think if Vermeil was around UCLA football would have been in a different trajectory during the 80s. I see certain signs in CRN that reminds me of the enthusiasm and tenacity of Vermeil. We will see I guess. We will know the answers in next 2-3 years.
I remember Coach Donahue's first game quite well.
Note that I use the honorific “Coach” with Coach Donahue, which I don’t use with certain others who were in charge of the program.
Coach Donahue’s first game at Arizona State. They were ranked number 1 by someone (don’t remember who), and we won handily, 28-10. I watched that game at The Red Log with a big group, and we were pumped.
We had a good run with Coach Donahue. There were a lot of good wins, but there were also some very disappointing losses. My criticism of Coach Donahue (shared by many, I"m sure) is that he ended up going way too conservative, and coaching not to lose, which of course doesn’t work.
Vermeil
My freshman year at UCLA was the 21-20 loss to USC in the Simpson-Beban showdown. Vermeil came along after Pepper and restored a sense of purpose and accomplishment. His assistants, including Donahue and Carl Peterson (who went with him to Philadelphia as director of player personnel and then became President of the KC Chiefs) were adept at evaluating and recruiting top players in the teeth of a very successful $C Program. Vermeil left after only a couple of years and directly after our 23-10 victory over Ohio State in the Rose Bowl after the 1975 season.
The knock on Donahue was that he wasn’t exciting. Three yards and a cloud of dust, grind it out program. But his approach identified and developed solid players. He was competive against $C every year. The games were competitive and often was decided a last minute drive or field goal. We had teams that took us to bowl games every year, and we had the very satisfying run against $C in the 90’s. Once Neuheisal reaches that standard, I will be happy to jump on the bandwagon and desire much more, but in the meantime he needs to build a Donahue like dynamic UCLA program. I think he is on his way, but he has work to do.
UCLA football
Should be lot more than just being competitive against southern con. We don’t really care much for boring and underachieving Donahue football resulting in pathetic losses against Kansas in bowl games. We are all for getting Bruins fired up for football. We are not going to be doing that pimping a mediocre coach who played a big role in giving our most mediocre decade in football. BN is not the place to pimp Donahue.
by Nestor on Jun 14, 2010 7:02 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Same Goal
I’m too old to pimp anyone. We have the same goal. I hope that what CRN is able to achieve in the future will make Donahue seem mediocre, even in my eyes.
Thanks Nestor
Thank your for promoting this post. It was very interesting to read everyone’s comments. I am very anxious for the new season to begin.
Nice read!
Coach Donahue is a good man and one of my favorite bruins. I have no doubt CRN will not only get us back to that level of greatness and consistently but will far exceed it…
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
Uh
Donahue didn’t reach any “level of greatness.” See the links above. If you are satisfied with Donahue’s “level of greatness,” this is probably not the place for you.
Certainly Donahue was not Woodenesque
If we measure UCLA football by UCLA basketball standards, we have never reached that level of greatness. No other institution ever has. I hope that we achieve Nestor’s measuring stick.
What are you referring to?
Who asked Donahue to be Woodensque? Where did I suggest Donahue should have performed like John Wooden?
Oh and one more thing about Typhoid Terry
CRN is too classy to mention this now but Donahue went out of his way to backstab Neuheisel after 1994 Rose Bowl and bring in Bob Toledo as the OC, when it was obvious to everyone that Neuheisel should have been promoted to OC (after Home Smith left Westwood).
Uh well
I enjoy reading and commenting on the post here at BN. I don’t fully understand the level of hatred leveled at some X Bruins here but it is what it is. I will agree i was disappointed at TD for not giving the job to CRN but i still appreciate what TD meant to me as a Bruin fan and what he did for our program. I think CRN will take us to an entirely different level but i will always be a coach Donahue fan. Go Bruins…
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
It is not "hatred"
Donahue, Dorrell … and some of those Bruins were directly responsible for the most mediocre decade of UCLA football history and the heartache of last few seasons. They with their lack of vision and desire played a huge role in diminishing our program.
There is no problem with “rooting” for “all Bruins.” However, that kind of kool aid drinking doesn’t mean we forget the mediocrity and the root of problems CRN and current UCLA coaches have been dealing with since they arrived in Westwood. If we don’t recognize it and make sure our coaches don’t fall into those traps of malaise and lack of bold, aggressive thinking (while playing within the rules), then we would be accepting mediocrity.
It is going to take a while for CRN to get UCLA back to where it needs to be: competing for NCs (not just Rose Bowls). However, that doesn’t mean we need to lower our standards and be content when we just get to Donahue level of “success.”
WERD
TD was emblematic of the Pete Dalis era of being “just above average”, but of course who are we to say, Dalis is in the hall of fame?!
As a die-hard niner fan, I see parallels with the state of niner football with UCLA football. It will take a while for both to recover.
Terry Donahue was a mixed bag
I remember we’d be behind at halftime and Donahue almost always regrouped during the half and pulled something to pull it out. The problem was twofold. We were usually behind at halftime. Anmd “almost always” doesn’t give you national championships. But winning 7 straight bowl games was fun.
Donahue was the kind of coach who went for ties. My belief is CRN is the kind of coach who goes for wins.
Bleeding powderkeg blue and gold for 55 years. Go Bruins!
It is a great sentiment Kirk71
And I think it is one that has been echoed here on BN over the years.
I think the question of how to bring the masses to a fever pitch of enthusiasm is a delicate one. Rallying the troops here on BN is much like preaching to the choir. But, how do we get the casual fan to buy in completely?
We have to win. On of the big reasons I became as fanatic a devotee to UCLA football was I watched us beat big team after big team in the late 90s. Michigan, Alabama, Texas, they all went down. Since then we have lost to Utah and failed to beat Notre Dame when we had them up against the ropes. While it kills me to hear current students or recent alumni state that our team sucks, it is hard to dispute.
We are returning to winning ways and many Bruins will return to the Rose Bowl and support their team. But, in the meantime, I think the University itself could do better to teach school pride. The exact details are something we can argue over for years to come.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
For starters, WIN
You’re right that winning football teams put a lot more fans in stadiums than losing teams. I don’t know how you “teach school pride,” though. I think students and alums are proud of UCLA whether its athletic teams win or lose, because of the quality of its academic programs. Pride for the football team will require the same level of quality on the field. Talented athletes coached to near-perfect execution. Winning seasons. A clean program. Humility in victory. Attributes of UCLA basketball in the Wooden era.
by fanoverboard on Jun 13, 2010 11:49 AM PDT up reply actions
I think you teach by repetition.
My High School produced CIF championships in Football and Basketball while I was there, and played for a number of others. Yet each pep rally prepared the students as if none of that was happening.
By contrast, when I arrived at UCLA I remember one pep rally that introduced us students to the 8 clap and the Alma Mater. It paled in comparison to the pep rallies we had in HS. The difference was enthusiasm. You felt it and wanted to be a part of it. Whoever organized the one at UCLA put it together with all the enthusiasm of a dental appointment. You could feel it.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
It's up to the students
Not everyone here is a geezer, Mexi. There must be one or two students, and they need to take action to stir things up.
Ironic
Back then we were hoping TD would retire so Rick (the hottest coaching prospect at the time) would take over. We were pretty angry he waited until after Colorado snatched him up. TD was a good coach and honorable man who deserves respect but we never competed at the highest levels under him.
Timing
Exactly. Everything I know about TD (knowing a lot of guys on the football team when I was a student) is that he was a straight shooter and a first class guy. He never promised anything he couldn’t deliver to recruits. The players I knew respected him because he gave them the straight truth, even if was something they didn’t want to hear. Again, a good coach not a great one.
In actuality, we might be fortunate that Neuheisel didn’t take over the program immediately after TD retired. Yes, TD did screw RN when he brought in Bob Toledo. At that time, RN was about the same age as TD when he took over for Vermeil, yet TD wouldn’t give RN the opportunity. The Toledo hiring was in line with TD’s conservative nature. The biggest risk that TD took during his tenure was when he brought back Homer Smith to switch the offense from the veer option to a pass-oriented pro style. And that only came after the disastrous 5-6 season in 1979, and his job was clearly on the line.
At the time that Toledo was brought in, UCLA had just gone to the Rose Bowl, so TD’s job was secure. He went with the safe option (and keep in mind that Toledo had a very good reputation as OC at Texas A&M), rather than RN. At that time, I was pissed that TD let RN get away.
In retrospect though, I totally think that if RN had taken over in 1996, UCLA probably would have contended for a national championship or two, but the program would have also landed in the NCAA’s crosshairs. When RN took over at Colorado, he was a brash young hypercompetitive coach. Nothing wrong with those qualities, but with his law background, he also ventured into some questionable gray areas on the recruiting front.
No doubt that he was looking for an edge as a young first time head coach in the Big 8/12. But, think about how he might have blurred the lines as a young first time head coach with SC right across town. SC right now is dealing with questions about whether national championships and a dominant run achieved via unethical means are worth it in the end, if the program burns to the ground years later. Those are the same questions that UCLA likely would have had to deal with if RN had come on board immediately after TD retired.
By most accounts, RN has learned from his past mistakes and time in exile. The CRN that we have right now is (hopefully) not going to put the integrity of UCLA in harm’s way. He’s building the program the right way, and with SC imploding, he now has a huge opportunity to take the program to the next level.
Agreed
Bypassing RN at the time seemed disloyal and a missed opportunity. But we were probably very fortunate it went that way.
At that time, CRN was young and completely inexperienced as a head coach. I don’t think he was ready to lead a national program, and his first HC job demonstrated that. Partly from enthusiasm, and partly from his need to fill big shoes at CU, CRN crossed the lines and got himself and his program into trouble, establishing a reputation that dogs him today. Also, while he recruited some good skill players to CU, he neglected the OL and DL and didn’t build a complete team. Though he wasn’t the program killer CU fans make him out to be, he certainly wasn’t ready to maintain a top Div 1 program at the time. Maybe TD suspected this. Maybe we just got “lucky”.
We are lucky now, though, that we got a CRN with the benefit of experience and hindsight and maturity, and an understanding of how to do things the right way. The CRN of 2009 was far better prepared to lead a college team than the CRN of 1995.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
I see it different way guys
First of all note Donahue backstabbed bypassed Neuheisel by not promoting him to OC. At the time Neuhiesel was working as a WR/QB coach IIRC. It wasn’t about promoting Neuheisel directly to head coach. Neuheisel was learning under Homer Smith. Donahue screwed that line up by bringing in Bob Toledo.
I am one those who thinks history would have been different if Neuhiesel became the HC at UCLA. He would have been operating within the parameters laid down by a tough compliance office. Moreover, being at UCLA he wouldn’t be under the same recruiting pressures at a place like CU given the access to talent at our own backyard.
I think if Neuhesiel started at UCLA he probably would have been successful right away and be off to NFL within 5-7 years and we would bring in another good coach. Of course Donahue was so freaking insecure that he didn’t have testicular fortitude to promote Neuheisel to OC.
Neuheisel has too much class to be so effusive in Donahue’s praise. I wouldln’t have been so forgiving.
I agree
The replacements we hired back then left a lot to be desired. Coach Neuheisel should have been named our head coach, just as Coach Crum should have been named to replace Coach Wooden.
General Lee should have bypassed Gettysburg and made a dash for Washington DC to force an armistice.
Lots of things should have been done but weren’t.
As far as Donahue is concerned, Nestor, I think you suffer from the same disease as I do. You see the negatives and basically only the negatives. I can’t see him totally in that light, because I remember him as a player, too, when I was a student. I also remember a lot of good times and good wins. I don’t want to focus on the bad losses, of which there were plenty, so I’m not going to offer an opinion as to whether the good days outnumbered the bad. I think you believe that the bad days clearly outweigh the good. I’m on the other side of that fence.
P.S. The worst call ever? Sending Theotis Brown up the middle on 4th and 8 in Stanford territory with only about a minute to go and no timeouts left. He gained seven yards and we lost 28-24. That’s when I became convinced that Coach Donahue’s future should be steered away from the sideline. But that said, I don’t think view him in a totally negative light.
College Football Hall of Fame
The greatest coaches in college football history are enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Red Sanders, Tommy Prothro and Terry Donahue are among those coaches. I hope to see Rick Neuheisel added to that list one day.
We're close to your attendance goal Kirk 71
You stated we should draw 70,000-80,000. Well, during the two seasons of the Rick Neuheisel era, UCLA has averaged 69,000 per home game.
Yeah, well, I don't mean to belittle the marketing efforts of UCLA...
but on an average weekend, 15,000 or so of those tickets have been free tickets for youth organisations and what not. I’m not arguing that those people count as butts in the seats, but it’s a little different than having 75,000+ season ticket holders on the roster or individuals who actually, y’know, pay to attend the games.
As someone said, there’s one way to solve this problem, especially in LA: Win.
Not suprising the one game
that didn’t include free tickets, vs. ASU, a pitiful 40k showed up.
RESCUING DANCE MUSIC FROM THE BLAHS
I think it's absolutely fair to belittle the marketing efforts of UCLA
The object of the game has got to be to get students to make the 30 mile trip to their home stadium on the other side of town. (Instead of walking across the street to get to the on-campus stadium, but that’s another story.) If the school is going to give away freebies, they should give them first to the students.
Agreed, but they also need a way to get there
It’s no secret that parking is a beyotch for students living on campus. It’s very very hard to qualify for a parking permit, so most students in the dorms don’t drive. I bring this up because UCLA students are now guaranteed on-campus housing for THREE years. Over the last 20 years, UCLA has more than doubled the amount of on-campus housing. This is a huge change from the old days when even freshmen were not guaranteed housing.
I know that there are shuttles from the dorms to the Rose Bowl, but my understanding is that they fill up quickly. So, you have a larger contingent of students living on campus, which basically means that there are now fewer UCLA students with cars. This is not an issue for schools with an on-campus stadium, but with the Rose Bowl about 30 miles away from campus, it’s definitely an impediment to increasing student turnout.
I think this is on the students, too
It’s on the students to force the issue with the administration.
When a student enrolls at UCLA, there is an implied covenant that he will not be deprived of everything he or she bargained for. The degree requires X units of a particular subject. The university at least impliedly promises to make it possible for the student to get the degree by offering X units in that particular subject.
(Now get ready for a little stretch of the logic muscle.)
I think part of the university experience is going to sporting events. If it’s a swimming event or a track meet, kids can and do and should walk there. But the school was chose not to put a baseball or football stadium on campus. The decision to have home games not actually at home should mean that the school should make it possible for students to walk to Jackie Robinson Stadium or to the Rose Bowl. That means the school should bus people to the parking lots of those places and let them walk in.
We have smart kids. A smart kid could do the analysis, look at the costs, the demand, etc., and figure out how many busses would be needed per home-game weekend, and explain to the administration how it is in the school’s best interest to (a) give each student a free ticket, and (b) give every student free transportation to the Rose Bowl. After all, it can’t be a revenue thing – we’re supposed to be getting an extra $20M a year.
Anyway, student BN-ers. Get energized and organized, and make it happen.
GET OUT THERE!
Great post…and I can’t begin to tell you all how cool it is to get out on the road to see the Bruins! Some of the best experiences I have had since college have been road trips to places like: Bama, Ohio State, ND and Illinois, Boulder, Austin, Knoxville, Norman. It almost always ends up being a small college reunion every year.
this is Los Angeles
and unfortunately you have to win to draw a huge crowd. I’ve had my season tickets for a long time and we always talk about what can be done to get the bruin fans who don’t want to sit in the sun at the rose bowl to show up – and the answer is win! The return of the prodigal son will change that for all of us very very soon! Go Bruins…
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
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