A State of Denial

by Nestor on Oct 27, 2006 11:12 AM PDT in Football Comment 22 comments

One of the things that struck me after last weekend was Dorrell's post game comments in which he actually had the nerve to comment that his players "didn't finish." I wonder why no one in the media pointed out his career record. Here is KD's record at UCLA broken up in W-L records in first 6 hames, and the remaining 6-7 games in his 3+ seasons:

Year	First Half Record	Second Half Record	Result
2003	4-2	2-5	6-7
2004	4-2	2-4	6-6
2005	6-0	4-2	10-2
2006	4-2	0-1	4-3
Total	18-6 (.750)	8-12 (.400)	26-18 (.591)

So, let me see, a coach who has a career winning record of .400 during second part of football seasons, compared to .750 in first part, was saying after the ND game that it was his players who "didn't finish."

What I find so hilarious is reading or hearing from Dorrell supporters about how his teams have developed in his coaching career in Westwood, when his record at least to date points to the fact no one should ever associate the words "growing" and "learning" with Dorrell's football team.

So, here we are again, with yet another "must win" game, a "cross roads" game or a defining game in Dorrell's career. At this point it is pretty clear that unless Dorrell wins 4 games rest of this season and beats Southern Cal, he will come up with yet another mediocre or less than average team in Westwood.

This takes me to another point concerning a timeline (I know a politically charged word these days). When Dan Guerrerro hired Karl Dorrell as the head coach here was the standard he was supposed to meet:

''My expectation for next year is to win the Pac-10 championship,'' Dorrell said. ''Winning the Pac-10 and beating our crosstown rival are the biggest things on my mind.''

That was the standard set by Dorrell himself and presumably also set as expectations by DG and other UCLA brass when they brought him to Westwood.

In fact, I heard from DG in person at an alumni reception in 2003 that he expected Dorrell not only to contend for the Pac-10 championships, beat Southern Cal, and finish in the top-20 year in and year out, but he was expecting Dorrell to have a NC caliber team in Westwood.

How long does Dorrell get to meet those goals?

Another hilarious argument you hear from Dorrell supporters is how Dorrell was pursued by the NFL last year. Uh, yeah, from what I have heard, it was not as much NFL teams pursuing Dorrell as it was the other way around, with the coach putting feelers out. Besides, one of the teams that apparently had some contact with Dorrell was the Oakland Raiders, which for all intent and purpose is not really an NFL caliber team (sorry Bruin/Raiders fans).

Then again, why would an NFL team be interested in a coach whose team not only melts down in the second half of the season, but also is:

5-14 against teams with winning record
0-9 against team with winning record on the road;
0-3 against Southern Cal

And probably the most telling sign of Dorrell's marketability as a head coach. Keep an eye out for the openings for head coach at various college football programs across the country in next few weeks. Can anyone with any shred of intellectual honesty tell me that any of those programs would be interested in hiring him based on his achievements in Westwood?

Not unless you are in a state of denial.

The question is how long the UCLA administration will be allowed to stay the course should Dorrell fail to meet the minimum expectations for this season?

GO BRUINS.

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I wish you would be as hard on the gutless, pathetic, fair weather UCLA fans as on KD. Other schools manage to sell out their stadiums no matter how bad the team is. Our fans would prefer to go have coffee in Westwood or lay out at Sunset Rec. The Rose Bowl is one of the most beautiful and largest stadiums in the country, yet last year, our best year in a while, we were barely in the top 25 in attendance (64k/game). I don't care that it's far from school. That's lost revenue that could go towards hiring an elite coach. Maybe with BenBall bringing in the dough, we can compensate. But for now, with what UCLA is willing to pay, whom would you suggest for the job?

by tasser10 on Oct 27, 2006 11:45 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Newbie

First post on BN by attacking "gutless" UCLA fans.

Did you note this is a UCLA fan blog?

And BTW don't whine about us not filling the stadium? We are showing up at a rate of more than 60,000 a game for this pos coach in a town where there are so many other options, and you have the nerve to come on here and attack UCLA fans?

by bluestreet on Oct 27, 2006 11:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tasser

if you are going to call UCLA fans names, find another blog. Don't bother posting here. There is plenty of diaries on coaching candidates. Use the search function to find them.

So before piping up with your first post attacking UCLA fans, do a little research based on the body of work we have putting been putting together for more than a year, which addresses attendance issues, coaching candidates etc.

by Nestor on Oct 27, 2006 11:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

econ 101

put a great product on the field you sell seats. Hiring and paying for a REAL coach will go a long way to putting a great product on the field. The results will pay for themselves. The Anderson School is steps away from Morgan Center, but they might as well be in different countries.

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 11:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

one more thing Tosser

I know die-hard Bruin alums who hold season tickets for 35 years who now refuse to go the game Saturday in protest. They will watch the game, they will never miss it, but they have a right to voice their disapproval any way they see fit. You wouldn't dare call them fair weather fans to their faces!

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

hi-larious

that KD would think he can coach in the NFL and that any NFL team, even the Raiders, would want him. It reminds me of Lavinistas defending a losing coach. If he was so great why has not one college program in the nation hired him?! NFL?! bwaahahahahahaha.

KD's now habitual late season collapses are part of his legacy. The evidence is irrefutable. Great post.

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 11:48 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

San Diego State

I believe before landing the UCLA job KD applied to be the HC at SDSU, and the Aztecs rejected him.

He wasn't good enough for SDSU yet he was good enough for Harvard Boy Carnesale.

by bluestreet on Oct 27, 2006 11:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

let's leave Harvard out of this :)

Im a UCLA grad and Harvard grad school grad. In fact, Carnesale was my Dean my first year at Harvard. I didn't like him then, by the way, and thought UCLA made a bad choice. Still, I would blame the man not the institution for his "leadership" of our institution.

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 11:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol

fair enough.

I don't think Carny was a Harvard Grad. Was he?

Carny gave us Dorrell. He is also the moron who protected Lavin. What a gigantic tool this guy is.

by bluestreet on Oct 27, 2006 12:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, Carny is not a Harvard grad

he got a little heady in his later years at Harvard and that rubbed people the wrong way. When he was Dean at the Kennedy School he was simultaneously given the Provost position at Harvard, basically VP. Many thought Carny had his eyes on the Presidency which was a bit like KD having his eyes on the NFL, so he was basically encouraged to take the UCLA job, or any other job.

My contact with him came at orientation week at the Kennedy School. My immedate impression was this guy was full of self-importance and was out of touch. It seems we never saw him again, which is why he had to give up his Deanship the next year. Maybe more than you wanted to know, but it was fun to reminisce.

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting info. DD

That's pretty interesting info on AC and I think somewhat relevant.

When were you at Kennedy? I lived and went to school on the other side of Charles from 96 to 99.

by Nestor on Oct 27, 2006 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was at KSG from 95-97

so you were at BU, we overlapped one year it seems. You missed one of the worst winter's on record 95-96, my first winter in Boston. Broke the record for snowfall that winter. You know I didn't mind all that snow being from So Cal, I loved it. It was a great time in Boston and Cambridge, even though grad school owns you.

A little more on Carny. He was Provost when Neil Rudenstein, President of Harvard, was having serious medical issues, due to stress of the job. It was looking for a while there that Neil would leave the job before the end of the traditional 10 year stint, which would have hurt his legacy greatly. Rudenstein was stressed because he was brought in to raise money (which he was good at) to take the endowment fund out of reach of Yale and Princeton and to fund new century predominance. But Harvard and the world was changing too fast for him to handle and there were academic and strategic issues pressuring Rudenstein to solve (something he had little apptitude for and wasn't brought into to solve). Well there was Carny looking in the mirror thinking that he should be President, thinking it was he should be asked to solve these issues. I think that was the tone, and it wasn't appreciated as you can imagine.

Anyhow, I have to admit I became a fan of the Red Sox that first year, even though my allegiance is first to the Angels (I grew up 10 minutes away from the Big A and went to their very first playoff game). I loved the history of Fenway and of Boston and New England. Some of my best friends are Massholes!

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

wait

I may have assumed incorrectly that you meant BU. Were you at HBS?? If so we may know some of the same people. I took a couple of classes there in 96.

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 2:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nope

went to law school at BU.

used to watch the UCLA games at Sports Depot (Allston) then later on over at Copley Marriott, where I was on December 5, 1998.

by Nestor on Oct 27, 2006 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

ah bad memory

Copley Marriott, isn't that the one next to KSG. I was at Yankee Doodles in Venice on Washington (no longer there) on that fateful day with my long time gf. That was a bad day, we never got married. Not sure those events are related but you never know.

I truly hope for a great season, but if we dont have one we must dumpdorrell.com

by DumpDorrell on Oct 27, 2006 3:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know what you mean!

I did have a lady friend who tried to tell me after 12/5/98 that "it was just a game."

I never went out with her again. The best decision of my life.

Go Bruins.

by Nestor on Oct 28, 2006 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I Have Always Maintained This is Our Only Way

to get rid of Dorrell: Pump him up as the "Answer" for another college or professional team. If I could, I would start a viral campaign to put Dorrell up for the head coaching job with the Redskins, Texans, Columbia, Chico's Bail Bonds-Sponored class 4 pop warner, whatever. Some how, some way we need to "promote" him to a job somewhere else. You know, kind of like sending your wife and her mother on a cruise during bowl season. He has one of the greatest jobs in all of college football and he knows it. Guerrero is too much of a pussy to pull the trigger for at least 2 more 6 to 7 win seasons.

by Koach Karl I on Oct 27, 2006 12:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

back in the day

I would pray to God someone, anyone would come by and take Lavo. No chance.

No chance here either. I am sure most of college ADs know Dorrell is a joke.

And as for NFL giving him a whiff ... that has more to do with NFL hiring policies which instructs all organizations to at least take a look or includes names of minority candidates than Dorrell actually being a serious candidate.

The idea that Dorrell is some hot NFL coaching canidates is as big as a joke as Lavin's name being included in some coaching "search process."

by bluestreet on Oct 27, 2006 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's too bad Dorrell's older...

then we could pull an FSU and send him off to retirement.

by CAJason80 on Oct 27, 2006 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Time out

Firestorm! Let me rephrase: if I am attacking anyone, it is exactly those people who don't give two cents about the program and DON'T voice their concerns! I interviewed a kid last year, who was IN SCHOOL and had NO IDEA that the football team was undefeated (7-0 at the time). So you're right, my comments aren't addressed AT ALL to actual UCLA Fans, but to those who should be and are not, so perhaps this was not the right medium. Yes, I am a newbie but I don't have time to go read all your posts for the past year. If you have links to your coaching suggestions, please post them! There is no reason, with the talent pool that we have, that we should not contend for the Pac-10 EVERY YEAR. I think KD is a nice dude, but wish he had started at a lower position instead of taking the helm of a school he claims to love so much. And I'm still pissed at him for rejecting Ken Norton Jr. But you've probably addressed that in the past too.

by tasser10 on Oct 27, 2006 12:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

Just use the search function which should get you to germane posts.

This is not my job. I am not writing here for a living. I am writing here with some other friends because we think its kind of fun to chat up UCLA sports and take mini breaks during some down time here and there. So I don't really have the time to look up all the relevant posts we have written up in the past. Like I said if you take the time you can find them using the tool available on this blog. Thanks for reading.

by Nestor on Oct 27, 2006 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right on

Thoroughly enjoy reading the posts, as every media outlet here on the east coast ignores our football team...well, that might be a good thing right now.
ps: we broke our halogen lamp, not our coffee table, when Edney went coast-to-coast to beat Missouri...also my last year.

by tasser10 on Oct 27, 2006 12:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs