Spaulding Roundup: The Only Movement Is A Transcontinental Flight
by Patroclus on Dec 8, 2011 6:03 AM PST
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PrintAs the LA Times noted this morning, Wednesday saw little movement in UCLA's coaching search. The Daily News is reporting that Chianti Dan has talked with Jim Mora Jr in the past few days about the head coaching position, but will not fully re-assess the coaching market until after his return from New York. Our fellow Kraft/Coachless Bowl participant, Illinois, also has seen their coaching search drag out. The Chicago Tribune has reported that the university's formal application period for the head coaching position has been extended by 2 days. At least their AD is known to be currently interviewing candidates.
Elsewhere on the coaching carousel, ASU's pursuit (and near-deal) with June Jones fell apart late yesterday. While Jones had gone so far as to call his assistants in from recruiting trips to brief them on his negotiations to leave SMU, unsettled issues regarding payment of the $2 million buyout from his SMU contract together with pushback from influential boosters and dissatisfaction by the greater Sun Devil community torpedoed the deal. Meanwhile, North Carolina has reportedly inked Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora, last seen punking former Chianti Dan favorite Kevin Sumlin in last weekend's C-USA title game, to a deal. In coaching news less likely to resonate in Westwood, Memphis is set to announce the hiring of TCU Co-Offensive Coordinator Justin Fuente as their new head coach.
That is 2 head coaching hires and a near-hire coming to fruition in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, Chianti Dan concludes his trip to New York.
In an ESPN Insider post, Brock Huard wrote that despite the recent dominance of the SEC in the national championship picture as well as the more widespread aspects of college football, the Pac-12 is on the verge of upsetting the status quo to become the top football conference in the nation. Out of deference to the subscription firewall, I'll leave out the specifics but for the clear key factors; the new flow of money into the conference's athletic programs thanks to the new media contracts, which has allowed schools to invest in their football programs, in forms including stadium renovations and/or the construction of new football facilities at UA, ASU, Cal, Washington and Wazzu. The flow of money has also allowed schools like Arizona and Washington State to spend $2 million-plus on head coaches. As fellow ESPN blogger Ted Miller sampled in his own column yesterday,
The fundamentals are in place for tremendous growth in the Pac-12, led most importantly by a forward-thinking commissioner unwilling to settle for second. Larry Scott brokered the richest television deal in the history of collegiate athletics for his conference, one that not only ensures tens of millions of dollars annually for all of its members but also allows for the type of visibility and exposure necessary to get into every recruit's living room.
In his firewalled column, Huard specifically called out UCLA along with Arizona State as the 2 Pac-12 programs with strong pasts that need to demonstrate that they are willing to take advantage of this new opportunity, with their current coaching searches serving as an early answer. ... So much for our future.
In general football news, one of Yahoo Sports' CFB writers published his end-of regular season team rankings. UCLA placed #64 of 120 D-1 (FBS) teams. But hey, that is good enough for one of this year's 35 bowl games.
And in closing, Oregon State University announced that Fred Thompson, a freshman football player from Richmond Ca, died last night after collapsing while playing basketball on campus. On behalf of Bruins Nation and Bruins everywhere, our condolences to the Thompson family and to the Oregon State community for their far-too early loss.
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DG is waiting for the anger and distain to subside.....
….while he wines and dines in NYC. Then he will take the opportunity to announce the retread Mora Jr. as the HC and Tressell as some kind of adviser.
Unless alumni and boosters keep increasing the pressure and vocalize their disapproval of Mora Jr. – UCLA FB program’s fate will be sealed.
forms of protest
I know attendance in the garbage arena is already pitiful, but if UCLA fans boycotted games in protest, do you think Gene Block would put a hold on his campaign to put a gold leafed dome on top of the medical center, force Dan to put down his chianti and sign a resignation letter, and actually hire a real athletic director? We are looking so foolish nationwide with our amateurish football coach “search” and high school JV basketball team. Why is Dan so eager to “not make any decisions until x, y, and z is over”. Like his idiotic decision to not fire rick midseason. And now his idiotic decision to wait until his NYC trip is over. It’s probably because he doesn’t like making decisions. He wants to sit on his hands until a resolution is forced upon him. It’s working. We are going to be the new whipping boys of the PAC 12, Wazzu made a strong decision to change their fate.
by Strathmore&Gayley on Dec 8, 2011 6:56 AM PST reply actions
At this point.....
…. i don’t know. The only thing that seems to matter to Block and DG is money. All we can do is choke UCLA and, potentially, supporters of DG’s reign (aka sponsors) of our donations and money.
Nestor and others have posted elsewhere that one of our only hopes is the involvement of key boosters (like Wasserman) in the search for a HC. Maybe if there was a way to reach out to him (I don’t tweet or facebook) – DG could be marginalized and eventually removed while we get a HC that meets the criteria set out by BN earlier. Otherwise – Mora Jr.? Just another disaster.
Name another school that wants him. I can’t.
But...but...
no one wanted Pete Carroll either!
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I am surprised that ....
…of all of the NFL coach-loving bloggers – no one threw out the name of Fox’s Jimmy Johnson! He was terrific here at the U….lots of swagger, lots of wins, championships…even escaped without too many violations from the NCAA.
sorry about that
I’m just so deflated now. How such incompetence is allowed to make such important decisions baffles me.
by bruin578 on Dec 8, 2011 7:55 AM PST via iPhone app up reply actions
Totally understand
And we ourselves are sometimes guilt of it (including yours truly). But let’s all make a collective effort to keep it together. Hang in there everyone.
Keep calling / emailing to voice your disapproval!
I’ve just emailed Chancellor Block again asking him to take a more active role in the coaching search. This follows my email to Casey Wasserman, proud UCLA alum and prominent booster, asking that he do the same.
The clock is ticking and great candidates are still being snatched up (Fedora to UNC). My favorite candidates of those that remain:
Proven Program Builders
1. Art Briles
2. Gary Patterson
Coaches that do more with less
1. Troy Calhoun
2. Dave Christensen
Coordinators ready for the next step:
1. Dan Mullen
2. Manny Diaz
I’d be happy with any of these choices and they should all be receptive to an offer. We just need the offer to come from someone other than Dan Guerrero, who seems to be a bit light in the people skills and relationship building area.
What does it say about DG if Chris Petersen is considering a move to Penn State but will not consider UCLA? That sounds like a problem with our Athletic Director.
GO BRUINS!
yep, of course you're right
i knew that!…my bad.
hash tag
anybody come up with a good Jim Mora Jr. campaign slogan akin to #vetoseto?
#nomoramediocrity
#moratorium
#we’dratherhaverickback
by South Campus is for Lovers on Dec 8, 2011 8:38 AM PST reply actions
wedratherhaverickback
I certainly would. I don’t think Guerrero can make a good hire at this point. Better to wait until next year.
And to think we could have had Leach. Top-tier coaches don’t spend a lot of time knocking on your door looking for a job. That’s not going to happen again in my lifetime.
Talk about the one who got away.
by Seth Chandler on Dec 8, 2011 10:33 AM PST up reply actions
Not to nit
But I think the headline should read ‘transcontinental’…if he only flew to NYC.
I only bring it up because these articles get picked up in google news alerts. :)
by Scotucla03 on Dec 8, 2011 9:03 AM PST via mobile reply actions
The longer this search goes on, the more DG's incompetency is exposed - good for show cause
The key issue here, Bruins, is for Guerrero to show cause why Block should dismiss him. UCLA, being a state institution, has strict procedural rules that must be adhered to when dismissing employees. It seems unlikely, with Block’s lack of prior experience in athletic department oversight, that Block has given DG any warnings in performance reviews that his job is at risk. Should Block dismiss Guerrero without prior warning and cause, the university would be open to an expensive wrongful termination lawsuit and an even bigger PR mess.
While it may be harmful to the program short-term if DG cannot find a satisfactory football coach quickly, personally, I’m hoping that this process drags on. The longer it does, the more likely Block will have cause to dismiss DG. With many attractive candidates already finding new programs within the last several days, the damage to the program from this point is incremental.
To attract a new high-caliber coach, we need a new, high-caliber AD. Any attractive candidate coach will analyze this situation and not want to work with DG – our program is in shambles. We need Block to articulate his vision for the football program, commit the resources of his office to the vision and hire a new AD who can execute. The problems can be overcome, but the big problem starts at the top. Keep up the pressure on Chancellor Block, maybe someday he’ll see the light.
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