ESPN: Rick Neuheisel Was Forced [By Dan Guerrero?] To Retain DeWayne Walker
by Achilles on Apr 22, 2011 12:38 PM PDT
in UCLA Athletics
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ESPN's Ted Miller writes about the Neuheisel being on the "hot seat". That is not news any more. What is news though is first public confirmation of a really disturbing speculation we have heard in the background for a while:
When Neuheisel was hired before the 2008 season, part of the deal was retaining Bruins defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker -- who was a candidate for the job Neuheisel got -- and hiring Chow to run the offense. It was sold as a coaching superteam. One suspects, though Neuheisel doesn't explicitly say so, that it was a condition for his being hired as head coach.
The celebrated arrangement, however, proved a failure. Walker bolted after one year to become head coach at New Mexico State, which is like saying he ran off to Hades to relieve Sisyphus. Chow and Neuheisel divorced this offseason.
"It was a different way of putting a staff together than I'd done at either Washington or Colorado -- this was the first time I ever worked with people that I didn't know," Neuheisel said of the ill-fated troika. "No bad guys. Just philosophy. You can sit in one room and agree that we are all together but when you splinter off, are you really?"
We have heard for a while that one of reason Rick Neuheisel ended up taking the UCLA job was because he was the only one who was OKAY with the "deal" of "retaining" DeWayne Walker as the DC. Miller doesn't say it, but presumably Dan Guerrero - as he was in charge of looking for a head coach - wanted Karl Dorrell's replacement to retain Walker in a bid to save UCLA's incoming recruiting class.
Norm Chow was Neuheisel's hire but you can't really blame him too much for that. Chow always had the reputation and given his firing from Tennessee he had a golden opportunity to bring him in and jump start offensive recruiting. It just did not work out. It will be interesting to see if it works for out for Utah. But the part about Neuheisel being forced to retain Walker - most likely against his wishes - is very troubling. It also gives us a window into dysfunctional management culture run by Dan Guerrero.
That was never a good idea and it probably discouraged coaches like Al Golden and John Harbaugh, who were interested in the UCLA position at the time for pursuing the opportunity. Neuheisel on the other hand was desperate for an opportunity and he was willing to do anything to get the job. UCLA as a result ended with a coaching mix which had an awkward chemistry from the very beginning.
If it was Dan Guerrero, who forced this arrangement on the new UCLA head coach - Rick Neuheisel - than this raises even more disturbing questions about his football acumen. It also raises troubling questions about his management skills. How could he possibly think that a football program which was badly damaged by years of below average leadership was going to function well in such an awkward arrangement?
Neuheisel is going to face a lot of pressure this season. I think he will give it his best shot. If he does not get the job done, I think it will make sense that UCLA makes change at the very top. That means changing the leadership of the entire athletic program so that we have people in charge who "get" college football and also have basic management skills. The overwhelming sentiment here right now is that Guerrero should not get the opportunity make next head coaching hire if Bruins are in that situation at end of this upcoming season.
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How did Guerrero handle the football coaching staff at his previous job?
Oh, yeah, right.
The volume and the variety of errors speaks for itself. The athletics program at our University is on a one-way course, and there appears to be only one solution.
greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com
To paraphrase Ben Franklin:
Those who would sacrifice success (see: a well thought out, well researched, honest and financially supported decision) to improve their image (see: perceived success via one Karl Dorrell recruiting class) deserve neither success (“wins”) nor a good image (see: now).
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
The more that comes out
The safer CRN looks, if for no other reason than the prospect of DG picking another replacement terrifies me.
I've heard before that Vic Fangio
was his first choice as DC when he was hired, but DG only hired him on the condition he held onto Walker. He then wouldn’t give CRN the budget to hire somebody like Fangio when Walker left, and could only afford to promote CB, who was already an assistant on the staff.
Mind you, this is nothing but hearsay, so I could be wrong.
We're havin' too much fun today. We ain't thinkin' 'bout tomorrow.
Not to mention
did the same thing for Defensive Coordinator search round #2
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
Questionable job performance again
If the Walker situation is true and why wouldn’t it be considering how well good old Dan has not performed, then he should be fired or recommended to the Dodgers. What info does he have that lets him keep a job he has shown no qualifications for having? Maybe we should bring back the tar and feather practice. Why not get someone who knows what they are doing and will not sell out the students?
Said it awhile ago: DG is on the hot seat
He decided to stick with CRN and CBH. If either one of those does not work out, then he has not worked out.
He not only hired those guys but has stuck with him through a lot of turmoil.
I hope both coaches work out. I really do. I think one is more likely to work out than the other. But either one fails, then DG has failed IMHO.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Apr 22, 2011 1:46 PM PDT reply actions
The sad part is
I dont think DG is on the hot seat at all. Yeah BN is certainly not satisfied with his job performance (to say the least). But I do not think the administration cares at all. The only way he will get fired is if donations and season ticket requests stop coming in.
Is anyone going to stop going to games until DG is fired? Will you do whatever it takes? It is a lot to ask.
A bruin is good forever, a Trojan is only good... ahh eff it, just use tin foil
+1 (especially the sad part)
If you look at DG’s ‘bio’ on the UCLA Athletics website, it is clearly a sales pitch (aren’t all bios?) and it paints a picture of success which is hard to fight. The fact that it was doing at least that well under Dalis & Morgan doesn’t matter to people with short memories.
BTW: Read his Bio, especially all of his ‘extra-curricular’ activities, and ask if you were AD and had to deal with the precarious state of three flagship programs: Football and Men & Women’s Hoops would you be spending so much time on all of those outside committees, groups, etc?
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 8:38 AM PDT up reply actions
Hold on a second
Let’s not forget that most of us were jumping for joy when it was first announced that our coaching staff would consist of Rick Neuheisel, DeWayne Walker, and Norm Chow. I very clearly remember the optimism surrounding the program, the campus, and, surprisingly, this blog. I even remember Neuheisel, Walker, and Chow speaking during half-time at a basketball game in Pauley Pavilion, and numerous students from the Den extending their arms into the air and doing the whole "we are not worthy" bow, causing the three coaches to laugh and chuckle. And I definitely remember Dan Guerrero getting at least some praise and credit for being able to grab and retain all three coaches, and creating, at least what appeared to be at the time, one of the greatest coaching staffs this University has ever seen. But that, obviously, did not pan out the way we envisioned it.
The proposition that I submit to everyone here is simply this – if those three coaches had remained together these past couple of years, and if they actually won something significant like a Pac-10 title, then we would be praising Dan Guerrero. His decision to hire or retain those three coaches has already been made. It’s in the past. What remains now is not to make a blanket determination of whether he made a good decision. Under that standard, the answer hinges on whether or not we win, and fluctuates with every winning or losing season.
The proper question to ask is whether Dan Guerrero made a good decision at the time he made it. I think there are very few people here that would disagree that at that time, we hired an incredible coaching staff. The fact that the coaches have not panned out has to be attributed to something or someone else.
I am neither a proponent nor a defender of Dan Guerrero. I am merely suggesting that he deserves a more thorough analysis of this situation than the ex-post facto treatment that he has been receiving here.
by DoubleBruin0711 on Apr 22, 2011 2:06 PM PDT reply actions
Lot of folks made that conclusion
Because they thought Neuheisel wanted to retain Walker. If Neuheisel was forced to retain Walker that changes the entire dynamics. I doubt many here would get on board if they had information that Walker was being forced on Neuheisel.
I remember the positive vibes
everywhere after the hire. However, I also remember plenty of posts regarding concerns about how D.Walker would handle working for Rick, and whether he’d even stick around for long.
Also, Some had concerns with Chow and Rick being able to co-exist since they were both offensive minded coaches. We were happy that the staff was assembled but there was always a bit of concern.
No HC of a D1 BCS school should be forced to take on any of the previous staff members. That was a mistake by DG. Rumors were that CRN wanted to bring in Vic Fangio instead of Walker and tried to hire him again and was sort of forced into taking the cheap option in Chuck "Base D’ Bullough.
Right
We took Neuheisel’s words on Walker to think he wanted to retain him. If we had the sense that Walker was being forced on him that would have been a huge red flag from the beginning.
Whether or not we were in favor of it
has nothing to do with how well it performed. We don’t have control over the process, DG did. The buck stops there.
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
+1
Also, DG personally met both of these men and did a lot of research into their pasts (if not, he should be fired for brokering million dollar deals without doing needed research). He should have seen that Walker wasn’t going to be too happy with the arrangement.
Also, whether or not CRN wanted to work with Chow … and in retrospect it doesn’t look like he did … DG should have evaluated whether this ‘dream team’ would work.
We were not privy to the hidden details so we can be excused for not recognizing that it was a bad decision at the time. It may have looked like a good decision to us, but how did it look to DG at that time?
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 8:45 AM PDT up reply actions
Good point.
Even though he was forced onto Walker, probably to save the recruiting class. The bigger blunder was hiring of Bullough, who was was under qualified for the job. I wonder how much if any say CRN had in this, probably not much if his hands were tied due to the budget.
I was one of those happy giddy readers here.
BUT
Forcing a hiring decision on someone is a classic example of bad management. If you were hired by your bosses boss for an important position how much would you respect your boss?
If Harbaugh and Golden were in fact interested in the job but scared away by Guerrero’s dubios management practices, he failed in recruiting the best man for the job. I love the fact that the Rick is a Bruin, but if there is a better man out there, you have to go with the best prospect available.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
There is nothing ex post facto
About forcing subordinates on someone. He either did or he didn’t, and if he did, then he is directly responsible for interfering with his new hire and introducing dysfunction into his new hire’s coaching staff. If DG wants to play General Manager and start micromanaging his coaches in areas that it’s becoming increasingly clear he knows little about, then why should he not take the heat for it?
Fair point.
Shared blame follows shared decision-making.
by DoubleBruin0711 on Apr 22, 2011 5:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Not everyone was enthusiastic about Coach Walker
I thought our defense had a bad aroma the entier time he was here. He will always be remembered for 13-9 and rightly so, but he will also be remembered for Notre Dame and for laying monumental eggs all over the place.
Perhaps
Not everyone was enthusiastic about Walker, true, but you’d have to agree that most people were. As for Notre Dame, I’m not so sure it was our defense losing that game as much as it was our offense, namely our third-string freshman walk-on quarterback in McCleod Bethel-Thompson throwing four interceptions. The offense had seven turnovers total. Blaming DeWayne Walker for Notre Dame that year is somewhat misplaced. But we have laid some monumental eggs. BYU 2008.
by DoubleBruin0711 on Apr 22, 2011 5:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Not everyone was enthusiastic about Walker, true, but you’d have to agree that most people were
I really don’t have to agree that most people were enthusiastic about Coach Walker. I’m sure there were some, but I don’t remember any. I think the enthusiasm for Walker was by a very distinct (and pretty noisy) minority.
It makes no difference, obviously.
Walker-mania
Started during the dark days of Dorrell. Walker was just competent but looked great in comparison.
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 8:51 AM PDT up reply actions
I think Fox is referring to the OTHER Notre Dame game. The one at South Bend.
The one where UCLA’s prevent defense allowed Jeff Smardja (sp?) to execute a catch and run for a TD in the waning seconds in a classic snatching defeat from the jaws of victory epic fail meltdown.
by orlandobruin on Apr 23, 2011 6:01 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah. That Notre Dame de Namur, in the Bay Area
Hasn’t beaten UCLA in football ever! ;)
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions
Ex Post Facto Nonsense
The fact is individuals were giddy based on an incomplete narrative of what was really going on. Now that we know more details, its not a superficial ex post facto analysis because we recognize a poor management decision was made. Furthermore, it’s true – we would be praising DG if UCLA had some winning seasons, but we didn’t. The lack of success is now driving us to ask tougher questions and investigate the context of the coaching super-trio that was put together by the genius DG. Maybe you’re right – maybe we all should have been concerned that an individual who interviewed for the HC was not hired, and then retained to be the DC. But at the end of the day, I don’t get paid half a million dollars to analyze, review, and make decisions like that. But DG is. That’s why the buck stops there.
Bravo.
Performance in the end is what matters, we are the face of fail for major college football programs given the resources at hand. DG, your tenure has accomplished nothing, your hires are medicore at best, please exit using the door on the left and never look back again.
"Your hires are mediocre at best" goes too far.
Ben Howland is not mediocre at best. He is a good, some say a very good, coach. But I should stop now. I might get hung for talk like that here.
by DoubleBruin0711 on Apr 22, 2011 5:42 PM PDT up reply actions
I've maintained that I do believe he is a very good coach
What we’ve also illustrated on many occasions is that being a good coach is not enough. It is the overall management of the program that is in question. Letting go of underperforming assistants is a good sign that perhaps things are turning around. Reports of him retaking his talent evaluation role is another. Landing Shabazz would be another, so let’s all cross our fingers. Lee’s departure, on the other hand, is not a good sign.
Good point about Howland.
Although, who knows what restrictions Howland has to put up with in regards to hiring his own assistants. Ok, but Howland aside, lets go over the rest of DG’s positives. Overall, his entire body of work hasn’t been inspiring is what I’m getting at.
Just read Ty’s post, “overall management” sums it up nicely.
There Was Very Strong Opposition to Walker Here
Go back and read the posts from the time period. He was not a good DC.
Even when CRN retained him — many of us still complained but said “He’s the head coach. If that’s who he wants, that’s who he gets.”
And, actually, many of us suspected Walker was forced on him.
Walker’s conduct during the hiring process, particularly the anti-CRN rumors allegedly circulated by his family, makes clear how terrible the decision to force him on CRN was.
sjh
This really pisses me off.
How do you not let a head coach choose their own staff? It’s not just about qualifications. It’s about shared vision and an ability to work together. I heard CRN speak this morning and the joy he showed while speaking of the interviewing process, confirmed for me what you wrote. That this was the first time he got to do that. He didn’t say it outright, but getting to do that made him feel overjoyed. He spoke about how carefully he interviewed 12 different men for the DC position. He spoke about the joy he gets from coaching the QB’s and how much he had missed that. He spoke about his prior working relationship with the new OC/receiver coach and how they had worked together as QB coach/receiver coach with the Ravens. I think he finally has the staff that he feels is his. He spoke about the joy of everyone sharing similar values and vision and energy. He said nothing negative about the other coaches. But I think his joy in his discussion about choosing his staff confirmed this blog, even though he never said he hadn’t gotten to to begin with. I only wish he had gotten to build the team in his image from the start. Who knows where we’d be now and who knows if it’s not too late.
By the way we were asked not to record or take notes but I can’t think impressions are a problem.
Go Bruins!
Was He Joyful When He Offered Seto the Job?
Sorry, but there have been a lot of bad coaches on CRN’s staff, and not all have been “forced” on him.
I can’t buy into his shared emotions. I frankly don’t care how full his passion bucket is, how relentlessly optimistic he is, or how joyful he is. If his end product continues to suck, he has to go.
sjh
Sorry, didn't mean to take a shot at you
Should not have nested my comment.
I’m just really tired of CRN’s rhetoric. I believe that he was forced to hire Walker and that was a bad deal.
But, he’s made so many bad decisions, on his own, that I’m tired of hearing from him.
The sc game was my last straw.
I want to see a team that plays to its potential. If it doesn’t, I want a coach that will get it to play to its potential.
sjh
by Class of 66 on Apr 22, 2011 10:51 PM PDT up reply actions
I remember how all the talk was
of his first successful recruiting job in convincing Walker to stay. What a load of crap! DG has to go!!!!
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that counts" - John Wooden.
Who knew it was Walker calling the shots?
I know many of us had our suspicions, but it still seemed far fetched. Now that it seems to be reality, it’s still shocking, because that makes the most likely scenario that Walker held his recruiting class hostage in his interview with DG, which reflects poorly on Walker’s character, and that DG caved to the pressure. Walker is a scumbag and DG is a bum.
Where do we think DG learned this maneuver?
From the Chancellor who forced him to hire CTS instead of Riley. This appears to be the way that things are done. DG is just following the hiring procedures set out before him.
Also... Bob Fields
I think that Bob Fields has played a big part in DG’s decisions regarding football and should be a part of this discussion.
by 3rdn2 on Apr 23, 2011 8:34 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
I have to say I am a little shocked
RN having to retain D Walker has pretty much been common knowledge.
Chow was not forced on Rick. Walker was.
RN is responsible for both however, just as Guerrero is responsible for hiring Dorrell. If your bosses make you do something you don’t believe in, you quit, or you don’t take the job.
Rick didn’t need the money, and he could have walked away rather than accept the position with that requirement.
by silverlakebruin on Apr 23, 2011 11:15 AM PDT reply actions
By Shocked I mean
shocked people weren’t already aware of this
by silverlakebruin on Apr 23, 2011 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions
We were all aware of it in the background
But we didn’t want to discuss it until we saw public confirmation of it. We usually leave the rumor mongering for message boards where you often hang out and accuse us of “over the top” posting.
Yeah. Who knew that this time the three wealthy and influential donors were right?
One of the problems with open forums such as BN, is anyone with an internet connection can post here – we don’t even have to be familiar with grammar or speling. Sports blogs get some insane posts (and the poor moderators pull their hair out trying to preserve this community).
That said. Certainly people were speculating here that CRN did not want Walker and had him forced upon him – but CRN did not openly admit to it (think about it: that would make him look weak, petty and resentful) and I can still hear echoes of the BN faithful asking for evidence. None came… until now.
That is why this post has generated so many comments.
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 9:03 AM PDT up reply actions
+1
“If your bosses make you do something you don’t believe in, you quit, or you don’t take the job.”
Could not agree more.
sjh
No so sure I agree
If I resigned over every disagreement I’ve had with a boss I’d never have held a job for more than a week or two. I have even stayed on projects which were clearly mis-managed because believed in the project and hoped to influence it – which I could not do if I ’took my ball and went home."
There need to be priorities – what really matters and what doesn’t.
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 9:14 AM PDT up reply actions
Oops Dammit ][
I’m about ready to toss this computer out of the window. My clicks seem to kill me.
(post instead of preview) and then posting to the wrong place.
The message belongs here:
My ‘punchline’ was this:
If DG told Neu to run a losing program, I’d expect not to take the job, but I can
understand if he told him he’d have to temporarily take staff forced upon him.
by KnudsenRockne on Apr 24, 2011 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions
I agree that isnt true, but Forcing coordinators on a head coach or a football coach rise to the level of Leaving. You can’t be successful as a head coach with a DC that isn’t any good. Unless you believe he is up to snuff, you are better off not taking the job than you are taking it and failing. That’s why I think although walker was pushed on rick, he was also acceptable to Rick
by silverlakebruin on Apr 24, 2011 12:22 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Oops. dammit
My ‘punchline’ was this:
If DG told Neu to run a losing program, I’d expect not to take the job, but I can understand if he told him he’d have to temporarily take staff forced upon him.
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