Getting Rid Of "The Dorrell Factor"
by Nestor on Oct 9, 2007 4:54 AM PDT
in Football
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PrintIt is Tuesday, yet the Notre Dame loss is still reverberating across the nation. The best thing about this loss it has made crystal clear at a national level what we have been trying to feverishly argue for last 2+ years: Dorrell is an incompetent clown.
Garry Parrish from Sportsline.com was at the game. He now knows about "the Karl Dorrell factor," something our Fox71 coined months ago on BN:
My bottom line: Notre Dame is Britney Spears.
"Yeah," said the Tuscaloosa News' Cecil Hurt. "But I bet Britney scores more."
Rimshot!
(Badump-bump)
And so it was with that train-wreck appeal that I found myself at the Rose Bowl Saturday, on the second level of the press box, window open, cool California breeze in my face. The plan was to watch Notre Dame lose again, write about it, throw in a Kevin Federline reference somewhere and call it a night. But in my infinite wisdom I somehow underestimated the Karl Dorrell factor, and boy did that come back to bite me in the you-know-what.
"There is some joy in that locker room," Charlie Weis said following Notre Dame's 20-6 victory over UCLA that pushed the Irish to 1-5. "It's been a long time since they've been able to sing the fight song."
So in that regard, it was a huge win for the Irish. But I wouldn't get too excited because in the end it was just a victory over an underachieving UCLA team coached by an always scrutinized Dorrell, otherwise known as Public Enemy No. 1 for UCLA football fans, the object of so much vitriol that it's difficult to imagine him surviving this debacle and living to see 2008.
Sure, he's 4-2 this season, and on the surface that might look OK. But the four wins are unimpressive and the two losses are embarrassing, and if the mood on this night was any indication, folks out here are tired of being the local punch line ... particularly when it didn't have to be this way.
Notre Dame fans who packed both end zones and celebrated the Irish's first win might not want to admit it, but UCLA lost this game more than Notre Dame won it.
The game turned late in the first quarter when Bruins quarterback Ben Olson left with a sprained knee. Because backup Patrick Cowan also was out with a knee injury, it would be convenient to say that Dorrell had no option but to turn to walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Except it wasn't true. Dorrell did have an option, he just chose to ignore it.
Osaar Rasshan is an athletic quarterback whom Dorrell moved to wide receiver earlier this season. Instead of moving Rasshan back to quarterback -- knowing that he was one play away from using Bethel-Thompson, who never had thrown a pass in a college game -- Dorrell stuck with his original plan.
It cost him the game, and it might have cost him his job.
"He does have some pain in the joint," Dorrell said. "We're trying to figure out what that issue is, and what the potential of that issue is."
We could only hope they told him to go away for good so that none of us had to worry about locating this clown when discussing UCLA football ever again.
It’d be nice if we could all get rid of the "Dorrell Factor" sooner rather than later.
GO BRUINS.
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"could not be located?"
I'm tired
I'm tired of Dorrell speaking in nothing but cliches except when he sticks a finger in the collective eye of the players and fans when he admits he sleeps well at night after humiliating defeats and, hey, it is what it is.
I'm tired of not having a head coach who clearly and unambiguously accepts fault or responsibility.
I'm tired of wasting years of my life supporting a team led by someone who clearly hasn't "learned" on the job.
I'm tired of Dorrell sleeping well at night with his cash in the bank. He hasn't earned it.
I'm tired of Dorrell and his bank of jokers not being prepared for games. Every player is one hit away from being knocked out of a game. Is that truth something new to these clowns?
And I'm tired of cheering for a team that is simply not very exciting or fun to watch, despite the presence of some hard-working and exciting players. The coaching staff has taken all the fun out of this team.
At least we don't hear much from the Dorrellians anymore. I guess the Kool-Aid doesn't taste as sweet after a couple of humiliating, unexplainable losses, a few unimpressive wins, and 5 years of crappy football.
I'm just tired of all this. Surely this is not the best we can be.
Has Guerrero said anything since this weekend?
It implies a total lack of regard for the football program, or at least a hope that by closing his eyes and singing, basketball season can start tomorrow.
Disagree
Agree
Either he's schizophrenic or he is sending a message. That's my feeling.
One thing is certain: if Dorrell is back as HC next year, DG and UCLA are admitting that they don't care about the program. They won't be getting a cent more of my money, if that's the case.
Dorrell
by infoguy on Oct 9, 2007 7:01 AM PDT reply actions
I don't blame guerrero
I have no doubt DG will pull the trigger at the end of this year.
by silverlakebruin on Oct 9, 2007 8:00 AM PDT up reply actions
Davis' Meltdown
2 field goals vs Notre Dame
This team, the one that all the KD apologists had pointed to -- this season, the long awaited culmination of KD supposed good work -- scored a grand total of two field goals vs ND.
On this Tuesday morning after the game, I am still finding this hard to digest.
The KD factor. Don't underestimate it. It is powerful -- it sucks the life out of every single Bruin football fan in the country. One single joker can do that. And he does it in his sleep.
What I simply can't get over
This is beyond Lavinesque.
How true!
I have said this before: There were literally hundreds of ways UCLA could have easily won the game. There was only ONE way to lose it. KD found that one way.
There has to be
A human being is not capable of being this f*cking stupid.
What Aren't We Seeing?
Where was the playbook?
Ironically (and by that I mean sadly ironic), had he used this past Saturday's play calling (passing) in the final drive of last year's game South Bend, the Bruins would have held on to the lead and won the game (again, at least on paper; same idea of numerous ways for KD to F-up would still apply).
This is like the college football version of 1984:
Passing is running.
Winning is losing.
Coaching is learning.
Is that George Orwell coaching the UCLA Football team?
"Oceania has no capital, and its titular head is a person whose whereabouts nobody knows."
While most of the country didn't see the ND game..
They know how truly awful ND is this year and how they were very likely not to win a game until the end of their season. That is, until we gift wrapped this game much like Oregon State gift wrapped that game for us. (So much for KD's "Snakebit" argument, as we played just as poorly in that game if it were not for Oregon State turning over the ball, we could have lost that one as well).
This game coupled with the ND game of last year puts front and center two of the most mismanaged games of KD's career.
The writers in the Midwest control much of the National take on whether a coach is doing well or isn't.
What's more, they also had to cover the firing of Ty from ND. Yes, ND took some heat for that, but remember, Ty was very successful at Stanford, something that is not at all easy to do. Not only has KD looked worse, but he had far less experience than Ty did.
When it comes time to fire Karl, I truly believe the writers of the Midwest, especially the Chicagoland ones, will have our back.
Game not shown any where
by Michelleucla69 on Oct 9, 2007 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions
Agree that virtually no one saw it on tv.
However my point was, the key people who needed to see the game, the sportswriters from the Midwest did see it and more importantly, reported about it pulling no punches on just how bad a job KD did in this game. And they were on point when we lost back there as well.
What I sent to the AD
I am a proud alumnus of UCLA and a thoroughly passionate fan of all Bruin sports. As such a person, I have to say that the past 5 years of UCLA football has been extremely hard to take. The strategy of letting Coach Dorrell grow in to the job has long since shown itself to be wrong.
By all accounts he is a fine person, and a decent human. One thing he is not, however, is head coach material, at least at the major college level. It is long since past time to concede that the experiment of trying to get a coach for less than market value and letting him take years to grow into the job has not worked.
I have donated money to the school in the past, I will continue to do so in the future. However, as somebody who has invested in the University, I have concerns when such a public part of the school is held up to national ridicule. There are many talented players on the team, and the fact that such inconsistent results are appearing consistently speaks directly to the head coach and his staff.
Please, for the sake of the players, students, alumni and fans of the school, replace Coach Dorrell immediately.
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