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Uninspired Hire: My Open Letter to Dan Guerrero #VetoSeto
by OswegoBruin on Feb 2, 2011 11:27 AM PST
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PrintThis is the letter I just mailed to everyone I could find in the Athletic department. I believe I sent 6 copies.
If you endorse this please let me know, and we can move forward with some solution to this fiasco.
Dear Dan Guerrero,
My name is -——-, and I am a proud alumnus of UCLA, class of 2005. I am an ardent supporter of UCLA athletics and one of the most stalwart and knowledgeable fans you will find anywhere when it comes to our beloved University. I don’t like to mince words, so I will get directly to the point: If Rocky Seto is in fact our next defensive coordinator at UCLA, I will boycott the UCLA football program and suspend any and all donations to UCLA.
I like to think we have a tradition of integrity at our University that applies to all walks of UCLA life. From Academics to Athletics, all the way through student services. However, if there is one thing I could not be prouder to NOT be associated with, it is Pete Carroll and his tenure at USC. He, personally, is one of the most distasteful people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, and his conduct on and off the field speaks for itself. The man is not representative of a University with integrity. This man you have supposedly hired, Rocky Seto, has been a part of Pete Carroll’s “team” since he wore diapers. He was a graduate assistant for Pete Carroll, and followed him to the Seattle Seahawks. HE NAMED HIS CHILD “TROY”. Beyond any USC considerations, this man has ZERO experience coaching a defense, much less any experience that would compare to a coach such as Teryl Austin or Randy Shannon. As such, I am inclined to think this was a hire of convenience, of monetary concern, as opposed to a hire that is right for our football team.
I want to support this University any way I can. I want to attend every single home game, and every away game possible. I want to cheer and I want to be a proud, upstanding alumnus worthy of UCLA. However, if this is indeed your choice, I am unable to do this. I cannot support someone who has been anathema to everything about the football program I know and love, with proud alumni such as Brian Price, Maurice Drew, and Marcedes Lewis. If you hire Rocky Seto, I will no longer support this football team, and I will do everything in my power to organize support for a change in admnistration at the highest levels of UCLA. I praised you upon your hire of Ben Howland. I was happy with your choice of Rick Neuheisel. But I promise you, if this man is your newest choice, I will not support you anymore, and will convince everyone that will listen that the athletics department is more interested in how much money is being spent than how many football games are being won.
Football, successful football, creates revenue, Mr. Guerrero. If we win, we can provide not only for football, but for our other programs as well. For our beloved University. We can sign lucrative TV deals such as the one just signed by University of Texas. We can boost our national and international prominence and make our beloved school a more attractive place to all types of prospective students. However, Mr. Guerrero, this is not the way to have a successful program. At very least, it is not one I will support. I’m very sorry to say that this is my decision. I strongly urge you to desist in hiring this man who has built his entire life around our rival program and who has been a part of a football organization that has mocked everything that UCLA stands for.
Rethink your decision, Mr. Guerrero. I am not alone, and I guarantee you will regret it.
Sincerely,
-----------------
Class of 2005
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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Where is the...
“Like” Button…Great Letter OswegoBruin!!
BiggPoohBruin
by travislmarshall21 on Feb 2, 2011 11:50 AM PST reply actions
Yup
Instead of falling in line, DG needs to spearhead the fight to discard the impotent culture at UCLA and to get the Athletic Dept autonomy in making athletic decisions.
Well Said!
I hope CRN/DG/Morgan Center get the message and look for another DC rather than hire an unproven Pusc! (I am disgusted by the thought). As die hard fans we waited patiently and had blind faith that the UCLA would hire the best person for the job. We suffered through months of letting great recruits get away because we were hopeful that the powers in charge were meticulously interviewing candidates and looking for the right choice. Seto’s hire is just the opposite; an uproven cheater who we got only becuase he is cheap. If Seto is hired it’s time to change the administration, not just the coach.
Boy, it's like a laser guided bomb that hits the target right on !
I might also add PS: All those words mean one thing and one thing only. Mr.Guerrero, you turned your back on the Bruin family of which you are a member.
Turned his back
and raised a finger, if this is all true.
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
Really Oswego (and the rest of you)? You're argument is 'we at UCLA discriminate based on prior association with USC'?
Consider the following:
Would it be wise for you, as an partner in a law firm comprised of pretty much all UCLA alums, to not hire a guy based primarily on the fact that he’s a born and bread SUCker? Would we deny a professorship to a leading researcher who got his undergrad & graduate education at SUC? Does anyone care that CRN is also an SUC grad? Or that CNC will always be known for his work at SUC?
And would you, if the positions were reversed, do any less than your best, knowing that the trajectory of your career (and thus your ability to send your kids to college) likely depends on how well you perform, simply because performing well equates to helping SUCkers?
The rationale argument generally prevails, and a job is a job. If you automatically disqualify people with any ties to SUC, then you’re excluding a lot of qualified people and handicapping yourself right of the bat. Seto is gonna do his best because he wants his kids to eat. Thus, it’s unpersuasive to argue that Seto is a bad hire primarily because of his ties to SUC. It’s more persuasive to put those arguments aside and point out actual merit based material flaws in his coaching that lead you to believe he is a bad hire. Therefore, the letter is likely to be more effective if it didn’t focus on pointing out Seto’s ties to SUC and instead just focused on the material issues, e.g. lack of experience, etc.
I mean, that’s just if you want this letter to be taken seriously. However, if you’re sending it just for therapeutic purposes, then by all means rant away and rest assured that DG will never actually read it.
When it comes to football
these things absolutely matter, don’t kid yourself. Do not equate football to the corporate world, that is simply silly.
CRN is not a U$C grad, he went there for law school. We have discussed at length on this site, that unless your undergraduate school is simply nonexistent on the athletic landscape, your allegiances are forever tied to that school. Many here went to U$C for grad school but their allegiance (and especially their sports allegiance) is to UCLA without a doubt.
Yes, I would question whether Seto would be able to give his best when he was brought up a Trogan and, as a Trogan, was conditioned to hate our colors and our school. And we cannot point to flaws in his coaching because he hasn’t coached. Chuck Bullough had more experience than he does.
This isn’t just a rant, this is the culmination of years of frustration brought on by bad decisions by our athletic department. The list would get too long with this hire.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Sorry Tass
I for one am not happy with this hire, more based on the pathetic process and hiring of an unproven candidate. The fact that he is a trojie is just rubbing my nose in shit, adding salt to the wound if you will. Gotta disagree Tasser, he was not raised hating our colors. You see this intense hatred is a one-way street. Bruins hate trojans, not necessarily the other way around. They think of Bruins as insignificant, never much of a threat to their football prowess. Furthermore, the sport we kick their ass in (until recently, basketball) they don’t care much about. I am more pissed about this whole process and how it may have affected us with recruits. I, personally, would prefer a DC who calls an agressive scheme over a base defense guy. When I heard Shannon was the lattter, I was not thrilled. If this guy succeeds, then I am ok with this hire. I hope he does and UCLA becomes relevant in football again. I will not hold my breath though.
Simply not true
Their hatred is laced with arrogance, that’s why it seems they think we are insignificant. Trust me, their hatred runs deep, and Ogre even brought it up when he was at Tennessee and they were getting ready to play us.
From your comment, you’re neither here nor there. You don’t want an unproven candidate, but you don’t mind if he’s aggressive. Well what is that? I can go on the interview and tell them I have an aggressive scheme, what the hell does it mean when you haven’t coached squat?
If this guy succeeds, then I am ok with this hire.Sorry, but LOL! Way to take a stand.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Don't be too hasty, Tas
If our new DC, not the trogan guy, succeeds, then I’m OK with the hire.
But I want to go on record right here and right now as saying if our new DC totally sucks, whoever he is, then I’m against the hire.
Not just that he's a trogan -- he was a big part of a regime that cheated
and, that’s the key to my opposition to him.
Well, that and the fact that he’s really never been a DC because Cheety was the DC when Seto was there.
sjh
And those are legitimate concerns – my point is that to make the letter more persuasive, those legitimate concerns shouldn’t be swallowed up by what seems to be a dislike for the guy PRIMARILY BECAUSE he’s a trojan. As it is, the letter reads like “but for the fact Seto is a Trojan, we’d be open to giving him a fair shake.”
Let me be clear, I’m as against the hire as anyone; I just think that the letter could argue against the hire more persuasively.
I think you can legitimately discriminate against someone who has character flaws that are inconsistent with who you are
The face of our university is Coach. The face of that place across town is OJ1. That is the single, fundamental difference between us and them. I know nothing about this Seto guy other than his pedigree. He was not some anonymous undergrad who went to just$c*. He was a member of the athletic department leadership which not only chose not to see all the cheating, but gloried in that fact.
A guy with that pedigree would and did fit in just fine with OJ1. We will have departed irretrievably from the legacy of Coach if we allow that sort of person to be a leader and authority figure for our athletes. If we get people with the Cheatie Petie mindset, then we have lost. We will be just like them, but without the money to hire athletes. We’ll have really good cheaters, but with no money. We’ll be the new Sam Houston State: an athletic irrelevancy who gets sanctioned for cheating but still goes 2-10.
Count me out. I prefer integrity.
by Fox 71 on Feb 2, 2011 9:42 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Nothing but his pedigree huh?
Do you also judge the character of a kid based solely on that of his parents?
The argument is based purely in emotion and is completely fallacious. The letter would be more persuasive without it.
Now, if you could show that Seto actually has these character flaws, instead of imputing them from his associates, then put in the letter.
CRN is a trained attorney and one smart muthaf*cka. He absolutely bleeds blue & gold and wouldn’t hire anyone who he thought would jeopardize the program’s integrity. Do you think that in an interview, CRN wouldn’t probe into Seto’s involvement in the activities that led to sanctions at ‘SC, AND that he wouldn’t be able to sniff out any bullsh*t excuses Seto might offer? I don’t think so.
Again, I’m not saying I agree with the Seto hire, but ‘pedigree’ really has no place in a well reasoned argument against it. Substance, not puffery.
I stand by what I said.
I refuse to believe that anyone on that coaching staff was unaware of what was happening over there. Or to put it another way, if they were not aware of what was happening, then they are too dull-witted to be worthy of consideration for a job at UCLA.
You also need to create a better straw man argument than “do I judge the character of a kid based solely on that of his parents.” This guy is not a kid. He is not being judged by me based on what his parents or anyone else did. I judge his character by what he did (participate in the most corrupt program ever) and by what he did not do (resign in protest.)
I would take your remarks more seriously if you had chosen a better way to describe our current coach’s intelligence.
I think you're assuming
that Rocky is Rick’s choice. All indications are that Rocky was given an obligatory interview due to his interest and gave a great interview. However, it would not surprise me in the least to hear that he is the administration’s first choice for the position, likely because a) he’s cheap, and b)…….. yeah he’s cheap.
He has nowhere near the qualifications necessary to hold this position, and WE are not in a position to “take a chance” on an unproven guy. We have talent who needs a good, solid, PROVEN coach. Not Rocky Seto.
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
I'm assuming a lot.
I got on the thread last night and felt a knife go right through my heart. I thought the hiring of that trogan was a done deal. I don’t really know if it is or it isn’t.
That’s another problem. At some point, you have to stop thinking about hiring a million dollar guru if all you have is a buck and a quarter and a good parking spot. CTSS could “coach-speak” around that issue: “We think we have the best possible person to be our defensive coordinator. He has demonstrated insight and an ability to teach everywhere he’s been. His quality of character is matched only by his command of strategy and his ability to quickly adjust to what the offense is trying to do. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce ….” Then some guy who coached JV football at a middle school steps up. But that sort of speech will do.
Anyway, I’ve settled down a bit from the shock of last night, when I thought we had hired a cheatie petie wannabe.
I can’t understand why that guy would even have been given an interview. (By the way, CTS apparently gave a great interview, wore a really nice suit, and we haven’t recovered yet. I can only hope that the trogan showed up in something really crappy.)
It's our admins.
They are willing and able to be dazzled. They want “high character” guys. Maybe Seto came off like that. He might be a high character guy. But he certainly worships the opposite. All indications are that he had a hell of an interview, and Shannons was not very good. We just have to keep up the backlash to make sure the right decision is made.
Keep up the pressure!
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
Someone else who gave an "Incredible interview"
Josh McDaniels.
Consider the body of work, the entire resume, not just the 3 hour sales pitch.
greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com
@ Oswego
This “open letter” lacks substance and any form of a cogent argument. An AD is not going to base his decisions on threats of boycott. Threats are a weak tool to use. If you want to convince someone, provide a substantive reason other than "…I will boycott the UCLA football program and suspend any and all donations to UCLA". Frankly, UCLA will carry on with or without you (or anyone else for that matter).
Frankly, if I got this letter, I would give it zero credence as it reads like the rant of a child who is not getting his way.
I am sure you mean well and I am sure your reasons are valid (I don’t know enough about this Seto guy) however, you have failed to express your thoughts in a manner that demands you be taken seriously.
NYC Bruin Alum
Well thank you for that
Perhaps you could provide substantive reasons why my arguments were not “cogent” and why I sound like a child not getting its way? Instead of just labeling me as such, perhaps you could provide a better argument?
I provided an argument as to why I believe he was not qualified. What more substantive reason do they need other than my proposed actions if they actually hire him? If they don’t respond to that, what other options do I have? I can’t curse them from on high. I can’t smite them. I can’t propose a hostile takeover with my massive business assets.
But thanks for stopping by.
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
Alright, in the spirit of being constructive rather than combative here are issues with your letter “…However, if there is one thing I could not be prouder to NOT be associated with, it is Pete Carroll and his tenure at USC” – now how can you or anyone at UCLA claim that when we have had Norm Chow on our staff the last few years? Norm is the man behind Palmer’s & Leinert’s Heisman’s. If we can accept Chow, then why not this Seto Guy? Additionally, we offered Ken Norton jr a position on our staff but he publicly turned us down and stayed at SC. Why is that OK and acceptable but not hiring Seto? Isn’t Ken a part of Pete’s team?
You say that Seto has been on Carroll’s team since he was in diapers and followed him to Seattle – you follow that with “…Beyond any USC considerations, this man has ZERO experience coaching a defense” that’s disingenuous since working with Carroll is only meaningful if it includes the last 7+ years at SC.
Please provide an example of Seto being a cheat or Seto being incompetent or Seto being a liar or even Seto being a lousy coach. At that point you will have a worthwhile argument.
Implying guilt by association (he sucks because he worked for Pete) is not an argument and frankly is hypocritical considering we had Chow and went after KN jr. That’s just my 2 cents worth. Hope it is helpful.
NYC Bruin Alum
Welcome to BN, VCK
I know you’ve only been here for two days and have made only two comments, so you apparently didn’t see all the discussion (and there was plenty) about that trogan. Do a little research (and I can’t tell you how to do that, because I’m not particularly good at that sort of thing), but you’ll see the arguments against that trogan laid out over and over. In a nutshell, he had no qualifications (which obviously doesn’t disqualify anyone from any position on our coaching staff according to morgan center), but worse, he was a participant in Cheatie Petie’s corruption at just$c*. I have only circumstantial evidence to back that allegation up, but I think it’s goo evidence. He was there, and the cheating was obvious, and he didn’t tell Cheatie that either the cheating stops or he resigns. Or if he didn’t see the cheating, then he lacks the perception needed to work at my alma mater.
As to chow, I concede the point. Chow was there too. I think I was blinded by the credentials. In retrospect, we should never have hired him for that reason alone.
And it’s not guilt by association. It’s guilt by participation.
Thank you Fox...
I appreciate your response – you are right, I do not know the background. My comments were based SOLELY on this “open letter” which struck me as sloppy and somewhat slipshod. My goal was to point out to the author that substantiating evidence is worthwhile rather than alleging a complete breach of character without adequate support.
NYC Bruin Alum
Two things
For those who know the background of this issue well, and that includes both the author of the above letter and its addressee, the message is really very clear. It would be a waste of time and self defeating to rehash the already understood substantiating evidence. Personally, I would find it difficult to criticize a comment by one speaker when I openly admit I do not know the background of the conversation.
As for oswego’s threats carrying no weight, there is also the consideration that after numerous letters with similar “threats” were sent to Mr Guerrero and Chancellor Block, the decision to hire Mr Seto was rescinded. I suppose it could be a total coincidence.
greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com
not straw man - argument by analogy
you can replace “kid” and “parent” by “student” and “teacher” or whatever you prefer.
I don't want to argue with you, hwn
I don’t want to substitute anything for anything in your thesis. It’s yours and you’re welcome to it. I disagree with your views, for the reasons I expressed. I disagree with your resasoning for the reasons I expressed. I am unimpressed with your decision to use gutter vocabulary to try to make a point. And now I’m done with this. You may have the last word.
I must add that I am also unimpressed with the way I spelled "reasoning."
And now you really do get the last word.
by Fox 71 on Feb 3, 2011 10:23 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
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