Mandel's Verdict: Dorrell is the Worst Coach In The Country

by bruinmike88 on Oct 28, 2007 2:52 PM PDT Comment 22 comments

From the diaries. GO BRUINS. -N

The best national college football writer in the country, in my opinion, comes out and tells it like it is: Dorrell is the worst coach around:

UCLA is officially the worst-coached team in America. OK, Karl Dorrell -- I give up. You win. I’ve given you every opportunity to avoid this designation. I threw Al Groh to the wolves instead of you last summer even though Groh’s perennially middle-of-the-pack Cavs had accomplished no less than your perennially middle-of-the-pack Bruins these past few years. I included your team in my preseason rankings because I figured even you couldn’t screw up a team with 20 returning starters and an ultra-loaded defense. But I’ve gotta hand it to you, Karl -- you’ve outdone yourself this time.

Washington State 27, UCLA 7. Just stare at that score for a moment and try to make sense of it. Granted, it’d seem a lot more bizarre if not for two other scores -- Utah 44, UCLA 6 and Notre Dame 20, UCLA 6 -- that preceded it. Mind you, we’re talking about a team that’s talented enough to have beaten Cal, won 40-14 at Oregon State and be currently tied for second in the Pac-10. But talent alone does not a team make.

I can offer no logical explanation for why UCLA continually fails to show up for certain games (a trend that’s been true throughout Dorrell’s tenure). I find it hard to believe the Bruins simply aren’t "motivated." A possible Pac-10 title and BCS berth provide no shortage of motivation. The reality is, the Bruins are the definition of a poorly coached team, whether they’re going into games with ill-devised game plans or repeatedly making the kind of mistakes good coaches weed out. Of all the coaches on the hot seat right now -- Bill Callahan, Dennis Franchione, Houston Nutt, et. al. -- none has consistently done less with more than Dorrell. (And that’s saying something considering the competition.) Here’s guessing that notion will only be reinforced when UCLA, loser to 3-5 Washington State, turns around and beats 8-0 ASU or 7-1 Oregon in a couple of weeks, just to give its fans another temporary glimpse of what could have been en route to the Sun Bowl. We're officially a total and complete laughingstock if it wasn't the case before, the country looks at Karl Dorrell and finally sees him for the buffoon that he is.

GO BRUINS

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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Hey Mike

Wanted to give you credit for posting it first. So slightly edited to include the UCLA relevant excerpt in the blockquote. If you hit "edit" you will see the codes I used. Thanks again for bringing this over year.

Stu has been on board with us for a while. Good to see him now aim his fire directly at the main issue.

by Nestor on Oct 28, 2007 3:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Alright sounds good

Thanks Nestor.

by bruinmike88 on Oct 28, 2007 3:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't know how new this is

but Kemonte Bateman, previously committed to UCLA, is now headed to ASU.

http://ucla.scout.com/a.z?s=12&p=8&c=1&nid=2627194

So much for keeping this coaching staff for the recruits. I'd like to take this moment to weep over the state of our program while laughing my ass off at the myopic losers who used the recruiting excuse to try and prop up this regime.

by Tydides on Oct 28, 2007 3:02 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I wonder

If Perelman will have the balls to blockquote the Mandel piece on LA Times.

I am sure Dohn will dismiss Mandel's writing as just chatter on the interwebs.

by Nestor on Oct 28, 2007 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This could be

an issue of grades. People were always skeptical that he'd have the grades to get in to UCLA. I'm sure ASU's big win and the Bruin flop had something to do with it too. I want to hear from someone whether he concluded he didn't have the grades or did he lose confidence in the program.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 28, 2007 3:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think

its a combination of both. I am sure grades were always an issue. But why work hard to get into UCLA where the team is led by a clown, instead of not working so hard in classroom, and get to play at ASU, a program in the upswing.

by Nestor on Oct 28, 2007 3:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd heard about the grades too

I just think the timing (if this is as recent as I think it is) is conspicuous.

by Tydides on Oct 28, 2007 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

There's the timing

of our game as well as the ASU game, but there is also the timing of LAUSD sending out their midterm report cards this week. I'm not ready to conclude anything until I get something definite, but if I had to guess I'd side with N that it's a combination of thhe performance and grades.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 28, 2007 3:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually

5 week report cards were mailed two weeks ago.

by SuperBruinMan on Oct 28, 2007 3:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oops

I didn't mean sent out, but the 10 week grades had to be submitted by teachers this week.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 28, 2007 3:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know about LAUSD

I didn't come out of that system, and honestly I don't know (nor should I) how close he is to our cutoff mark, but in any case, the switch apparently was in an article dated to today.

I think it's safe to say that he feels no reason to bust his ass the rest of the year and get his grades up to play for a coach that loses to WSU.

by Tydides on Oct 28, 2007 3:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He could also regret this decision

if Erickson decides to bolt after 1 or 2 years.

editor, DumpDorrell.com ... formerly posted as DumpDorrell

by BruinCore on Oct 28, 2007 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Keeping CTS Not Helping to Keep Recruits

Several weeks ago, Fox and I were demanding that CTS be fired, immediately.

Some took issue with us saying that doing so would jeapordize our solid recruiting class.

We did not agree.

Neither side had empirical support for its position. However, it now seems that our soft commitments are turning to mush -- are looking around, and may be lost.

Fox and I also argued that even if we lost every one of them, KD should be fired -- for the sake of the players who are actually here and playing in their last Bruin season. We were right on that call.

We have no suffered embarrassing losses.

And, to make matters worse, a desperate coaching is risking the health and future of our student athletes in a pathetic attempt to win games to save his job.

For all current players and to ensure we get some future players, he must be fired, now.

Do those of you who opposed us several weeks ago still think we are better off keeping KD and firing him after the sc game? If so, why?

sjh

by Class of 66 on Oct 28, 2007 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"no" should be "now suffered"

sjh

by Class of 66 on Oct 28, 2007 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've asked the same question

in about 30 posts today. For anyone who doesn't think CTS should be fired today, please explain your reasons. Lots of people concede that it won't happen until the end of the season, but why? I won't use any more analogies. This coach is the worst in the country (and he was before Mandel tumbled to that fact.) He hurts the school, his players, the students, the alumni and the fans every minute he stays on the job.

The CAD could have fired him (or negotiated a buyout or whatever) any time in the 300 or so days following FSU. But he didn't. He had a bye week after the Notre Dame game to do something, but he didn't.

He could have met with the press in Pullman following the game but he declined to do anything.

So my next question is why should the CAD be off limits when we're talking about cleaning house in the Athletic Department. In my opinion, the CAD has abdicated his responsibilities as far as football is concerned.

If we can't fire a coach during midseason, then maybe we fire an Athletic Director and get someone in who will prune the diseased branches from the tree.

So my question is the same as sjh's, and you can add the CAD to the mix as well. Why should either of them keep their jobs. (If the CAD fires CTS, I will give him a pass, obviously.)

by Fox 71 on Oct 28, 2007 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Geezers In Ageezerment

There is absolutely no reason to let DG skate by. None.

He should be on the hot seat, now, too.

In fact, he has been on the Geezers' hot seat since FSU.

For the life of me, I don't understand all this deference to him.

Lay and Skilling were responsible for Enron. DG is for the sorry state of UCLA football.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Oct 28, 2007 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And I'm not all that sure

that CTS didn't have something to do with Enron, too.

by Fox 71 on Oct 28, 2007 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Either way, this is crap

I don't see why we should keep a clown around that will just continue to make our program look bad. I'm sure some of our other recruits are already considering going elsewhere. DG needs to grow a pair and get rid of Dorrell to show potential recruits that we're serious about football. I remember reading an article on BRO about one of our recruits and his trip to Georgia. One of the things he seemed to like about Georgia was the level of support and commitment to the football program. As far as KD is around, I don't see the same level of commitment to our program.

by OutOThsWrld on Oct 28, 2007 3:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Stewie sounds pissed

I don't know if it's just me, but Mandel seems downright angry about the situation. And who wouldn't be? UCLA is now THE sleeping giant of College Football, everyone can see what's going on.

Your move, DG.

Duke and North Carolina called: They want Steve Lavin back. GO BRUINS!!

by Allofmybros on Oct 28, 2007 4:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I declined to donate to the UCLA Fund today

I got a call from the UCLA Fund today asking that I continue my annual donation to UCLA. I declined and made it clear to the young man to tell his supervisor that Karl Dorrell has ran the football program into the ground and as long as he is the head coach I am not donating. He was pretty embarrassed as well having only gone to 2 games one of them being the P.O.S. ND game.

I felt bad because athletics doesn't have any direct connections with the academics, however it reflects the university as a whole. Just look at the U of South Central. I've read articles about how the rise of their football program has brought in more talented students from around the nation because of the interest it generated. When I was at UCLA, we had higher SATs than them. Now the SAT scores are the same due to the larger number of applicants to 'SC which is directly due to their winning football program.

And if Dan Guerrero doesn't fire Karl Dorrell by the end of this season then it's time we call for his job as well. Did he really go out and find Ben Howland or did Ben Howland actively seek out UCLA when the position opened up? I remember reading comments on Howland saying that there is only one university that would make him leave Pitt and that's UCLA.

by mark the bruin on Oct 28, 2007 4:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs