The Morning After, Part 12: Southern Cal

and I’d add that all those comments (just re-read ’em) still ring true – if not more. Sadly, our Football Program, (and now even Basketball) are Learned Helplessness, Mastered.

Rick Neuheisel: Go to Dan. Get your check worked out. Then make your This Is It announcement, today, or Monday morning. If you love the school as much as you say you do, you owe at least that bit of motivation to your kids for Friday. Give us a fighting chance to not get slaughtered back to back. C’mon, Rick. Do it.

You don’t have to work with Trojans.

Dan Guerrero doesn’t have to work with USC grads.

I DO.

Thanks for insuring another year of hell for those of us who live and work in the real world. Clearly the UCLA administration no longer understands the importance of beating USC. In fact, I don’t think this administration even understands how important it is to just not be humiliated by USC.

Thanks a lot.

What makes me really sad is that DG has lost nearly a generation of UCLA students who properly identify UCLA with excellence in both sports and academics. I’d be curious how many alums post here on BN who graduated in 2000 or later. DG has done an excellent job of dramatically lowering the expectations of these new alums…perhaps that’s the master plan…cruise through the rest of his life making $600k/year with no expectations.

You’re a dispirited Bruin, but a terrific dad. Take comfort, gb, in knowing that, even if last night’s blow out were reversed and we were on our way to a top-tier bowl, your presence at your son’s 9:00 am hockey game is far more meaningful.

May wholesale changes mean that you and your son can watch AND ENJOY replays of bruin contests when you get back from hockey games.

Thanks for your moving obituary. We share your misery.

of wise people (no one who works in Morgan Center) to hire a football coach — before Leach and Pertersen are gone. We cannot trust DG to do that.

At the same time, he should fire DG and bring in another executive committee to hire DG’s replacement.

We cannot waste time on either front. Firing RN without firing DG and allowing DG to make the replacement will fail.

Firing both at the same time without a committee in place to hire the new football coach will also fail.

And, he might want to put together an outside group to figure out what is going wrong in basketball — because even at his worst, and his teams’ worst, BenBall has never been like this.

I’m not a big fan of outsourcing, but in this case, even the guy in that credit card commercial — the over seas guy on the phone bank — would make better choices than DG has and is making.

Who hung each person (organizationally below them down through the athletic department) out to dry by firing them, in order to protect their jobs, reputation in order that the trustees looked more like the solution and not the cause of the problem.

I’ve written the Chancellor a few times, starting after last year’s sc game. Here is the one I just sent:

“Dear Chancellor Block,

I’ve written before asking that you replace the athletic director and football coach; so, I will make this note short.

I am a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Law School and a UCLA graduate.

As an academic, I know that mediocrity has no place on the campus of a great university. We would not tolerate it in any department or classroom and we ought not tolerate it in any program on our campus.

Sports are a part of the university; they enrich the student experience and draw attention to the university in ways that a Nobel Prize winner cannot. It’s a shame but it’s true.

The “First to 100” glory is being lost, buried under the demise of the football program. The costs to the university are great — and not just financial. Our reputation as a first tier university is being damaged — maybe wrongfully, but damaged nevertheless.

I know that this is a time of great challenge for you. I have a daughter at UC xxxxxxxx and know the financial issues you face in trying to maintain, if not improve the University during these hard times.

However, just as we replace professors with hiring committees, we need to replace our athletic director and football coach. I suggest you form a blue ribbon committee of outside people to do an immediate search for both positions. In that way, you will not divert resources or time from your other duties.

Why immediately? Because, the best candidates for the football job are already “in play” and running a late and weak search process, as we’ve done in the past couple of years will result in another mediocre hire.

I’m afraid that you will have to face this issue in the immediate future. Please, deal with it now. Lead. Get ahead of it. Do it right and you will not have to focus on these issues again.

Sincerely,

UCLA Class of 1966"

My signature line and the reference to the UC are complete in the version sent. Why they are deleted here is a tale for another time.

Mine:

Chancellor Block,

As a UCLA graduate in 1968 and longtime fan of UCLA football, basketball, and her other sports, I would respectfully request that you and your administration relieve Rick Neuheisel of his responsibilities as head football coach, fire/disband his entire staff and – most importantly and in light of her decade-long downward trajectory of athletics – fire Dan Guerrero and replace him and his incompetent staff with those who know and appreciate how to successfully grow these programs.

Until such time, I really cannot see spending any of my entertainment money attending or supporting UCLA events. As you are no doubt discovering this morning, I am not alone ion this sentiment.

Regards,

WHP
UCLA ’68

Quite simply, what Dan has been doing is not even close to good enough. Sad sad sad.

Our Chancellor does not read our letters or e-mails. He does not take our calls. He just ignores them because listening is not within his job description. It appears that his job performance just doesn’t matter because (like tenure) his job is not at risk if subordinates perform below standard.

Can any fellow Bruin explain to me why failure to meet performance standards are not grounds for termination in the UC system but a breach of moral turpitude, however slight or severe, is? Has California become that ignorantly PC?

Ineptitude has no place at UCLA. The heat will rise on you next if you don’t find a competent person to take over the Athletics Department. I’m sure you’re getting a flood of angry emails now – believe me, they only represent a tiny fraction of the sentiment of Bruins everywhere. Don’t blow it and stain your own legacy in the eyes of millions of UCLA fans and alumni.

Sent twice, one with my undergrad email address, the other with my Anderson address. Sorry UCLA, but I’m not giving you a penny until this …… is fixed. Perhaps I’ll bring it up with the Dean of the business school, maybe she can give me audience in front of this guy.

Thanks for the statistics for the records under Donut Dan and the 20 years before him.

Chancellor Block,

I am sure you are getting a flood of emails after the horrendous performance by the UCLA Bruins against Southern Cal last night, and you should be. The most important take-away from that performance is that you need to fire Athletic Director Dan Guerrero and Head Coach Rick Neuheisel.

I am not a UCLA graduate. If that causes you stop reading this email I understand. However, the fan base of all things Bruins is not only constructed of those who have graduated from the UCLA. No sir, there are hundreds of thousands of us who did not attend UCLA but bleed the blue and gold as if we did and we are just as frustrated.

I’m sure there are plenty of us who donate to the school. I know that we all buy UCLA gear to show our pride in a university we did not even attend. The money we spend on those items has a direct impact on the UCLA bottom line in terms of royalty fees and brand awareness.

Sadly, actively supporting UCLA is now a decision that large chunk of your fan-base has to consider due to the absolute failure of the athletic department. Non-revenue sports have had success, and continue to do so, but they exist only because of the revenue generated by the football and basketball programs. Two programs that are 1-17 in the last 4 years of basketball/football games in November with the one win against a division II basketball team this year.

As further evidence of the futility and mediocrity of the current leadership in the athletic department I offer you that Dan Guerrero, as the 16th highest paid public school Athletic Director, has managed to allow the following to happen on his watch:

UCLA Football under Athletic Director Guerrero:

64-61 (.512, 0 Rose Bowl appearances, 0 notable bowl wins).

The 20 yrs before Guerrero:

149-79 (.654 – 3 Rose Bowl wins, 5 appearances).

UCLA Basketball under Athletic Director Guerrero:

200-102 (.662)

The 20 yrs before Guerrero:

444-185 (.706)

Those records are atrocious for what is supposed to be the most successful athletic department in college athletics. Throw in the mind-boggling decisions to wear those white uniforms in the ONE game where the True Bruin Blue needs to be represented and you have nothing short of a complete failure of the athletic department.

Make no mistake, graduates and non-graduates alike will continue to love and adore UCLA, but their support, whether by donations, season ticket purchases, or purchasing apparel and other UCLA emblazoned items will, and should, be withheld due to a lack of success on the football field and basketball court.

I am not saying that football and basketball is the be-all-end-all of UCLA, but as the most readily accessible faces of UCLA they are what the vast majority of the country knows about UCLA in the here and now.

My group of 4 people is seriously considering not renewing our football season tickets next year due to the inexcusable and continued underachieving performance of the football team. While a loss of our 4 tickets is not going to be felt by UCLA there are thousands of others just like us. Help us avoid making that decision.

Please do the right thing for UCLA athletics and UCLA as a whole, replace athletic director Dan Guerrero and football coach Rick Neuheisel.

Respectfully,

XXXXX
XXX, CA
Football season ticket holder for 18 years

I love the depth of approach. This makes clear that this is not some automated “write the chancellor by clicking here” response.