Football News & Notes

by Nestor on Jan 4, 2008 4:36 AM PST in Football

Okay, so Debbie Mallett poured a little cold water on all of our Mallett-to-UCLA speculation from yesterday. And, from what I am hearing, Mallet is nowhere close to deciding on where exactly he will be transferring yet. There are other schools beside UCLA in picture. And the resolution to this particular drama may hinge on where Scottie L ends up as an assistant coach. So we will have to stay tuned.

But that, of course, will not dampen the overwhelming positive vibes the arrival of Coach Neuheisel has generated in Westwood. Bob Keisser at the Long Beach Press Telegram serves up a delicious column yesterday explaining why Coach RN is the right the guy for Westwood:

He was the one guy out there who clearly wanted the job, the one guy who understands the job, and the one guy who can give the fans a sense of optimism on little more than faith. "This is home," he said.

Neuheisel didn't back down from any challenge. He knows the balance of power in town has tilted as steeply toward Exposition Park as any time since perhaps when Howard Jones was coaching USC. But having played and coached against USC 15 times (five years as a player, eight as a UCLA assistant, two as Washington's head coach; 8-6-1 record), he expects to compete right now.

"I know nothing happens overnight," he said, "but you fix what you can fix and prepare to compete right away. It's what is expected here. I look at UCLA and I want to reconnect to the city, because UCLA is the city's university. I want to take back the city the way Terry Donahue did in the early '80s."

The pure adrenaline could carry the Bruins of 2008 farther than anticipated.

Well, we are going to get to realistic expectations for next season later in the year after we are done with spring ball. As Coach Neuheisel said, the rebuilding will not happen overnight. It will require a lot of patience on our part as he works on rebuilding this program. However, that said, he is already off to an incredible start in terms of injecting life into what has been a list less program.

Speaking of rebuilding, Kesser threw out some interesting notes on coaching hires:

It won't be a surprise if Neuheisel makes a run at former UCLA assistant Eric Bienemy, too, who left after the 2005 season for the NFL and has a connection to Neuheisel through his Colorado years. He could even take a page out of the Norton-to-USC handbook - two of his former colleagues with the Ravens, now out of a job with Brian Billick fired, are former Trojans Mark Carrier, the Poly standout, and Dennis Thurman.

Hmm. I am not sure Bienemy is realistic. If I am remembering correctly, I thought one of the reason Bienemy left UCLA was because of a health condition affecting one of his children. And he moved to Minnesota because his family would have better access to treatment for that particular condition at facilities in the Twin cities. But, I may not be remembering this correctly, and have not found the link to back it up. So, if I am off on this, let me know. And if I am off, and it is realistic to get Bienemy back in Westwood, that’d be fantastic.

Also it would be hilarious to have Carrier on the staff.

One guy some folks are still dreaming about having on the staff is Norm Chow. Dana over at DumpDorrel.com makes a passionate argument for UCLA helping RN to reel in Chow by showing him the money:

Its time to put a stop to this at UCLA with a chance to hire Chow, with a chance at greatness. There were a lot of doubts about Chow as a head coach, most of them unfair in my opinion, but there can be no doubts that he is one of the greatest OCs in college history and would be a great boon to the UCLA football program.

With no NFL team in the LA region, this region is hungry for a successful football team to support. The increased turnout from excited fans would easily cover the money UCLA needs to start investing in this program. In 2000, before Carroll and Chow arrived at USC, UCLA averaged about 10,000 more fans each game than SC. But, last season, SC practically sold out its games at the Coliseum, which basically has the same capacity as the Rose Bowl, and averaged about 27,000 fans more than UCLA at each home game.

Don't be fooled by the increased turnout for this season's games which were driven by the multiple game package that people bought if they wanted to see the ND game as well as the high pre-season expectations. Instead, the average attendance over the past five seasons with Dorrell is basically around 64,000 fans, well short of the Rose Bowl Capacity of 91,136. If Chow is able to bring the same excitement and success to UCLA as he did to USC, the increase in turnout would easily cover his salary. UCLA stands to make an additional* 7.5 million dollars** in revenue each season with increased attendance.

A strong football program not only pays for itself, but it generates the revenue to support all the other athletic programs***. UCLA can no longer afford to be satisfied with mediocrity.

We will reserve the right to disagree on whether Chow would have been the right HC for UCLA. However, we cannot agree more on needing to pay up if there is legit interest on Chow’s part in returning to Southern California as the OC for Coach Neuheisel’s Bruins. If that’s indeed the case, and RN can make it happen and it’s a matter of $$, the Morgan Center should pay up.

That said, we are going to sit back and enjoy watching Coach Neuheisel put together this staff and wage battle on the recruiting front in the coming weeks. It has already been a lot of fun. And no doubt there is so much more to come.

GO BRUINS.

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SCARY ITEM: BOWL VICTORY EQUALS JOB

(N: I know am bucking for the non-sequitur post of the month with this, but I just had to share this chilling thought with BN.)

A blurb from this morning's OC Register sports page sidebar:

Colllege Football: Interim coach Bill Stewart, whose West Virginia team defeated Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday, was rewarded with the coaching job.

Now, I ain't sayin' nuthin' but what if BYU hadn't blocked that field goal?

by whp68 on Jan 4, 2008 6:27 AM PST reply actions

What if?

Then delusional Bruin fans would be having a love fest with DW as the HC and UCLA would head into another 5 or so years of third-rate football, all the while DW and his cronies pleading for everyone to be patient because turning the corner takes time.

KD=nightmare
DW=bad dream
RN=dream come true

by bluegold on Jan 4, 2008 6:44 AM PST up reply actions

Call Me Naive

but, I don't think the outcome of the game with BYU would have made a difference to the man making the decision. I have said since Dorrell was let go that Guererro was up to the task of finding the right coach for UCLA. He knew DW did not meet his minimum qualifications, but included him in the mix out of respect for what he accomplished with the defense over the last couple of years and becuase it was the right thing to do. I do not believe a two point win over BYU would have changed Guererro's mind. If a win by an interim coach in the Las Vegas Bowl was qualifications for the HC job, then Ed Kerzarian would be the coach.

by Bruin77 on Jan 4, 2008 8:26 AM PST up reply actions

Differences

BYU is not Oklahoma
Vegas bowl is not the Fiesta
Bill Stewart is not DeWayne Walker (Stewart has some HC experience, albeit distant and unsuccessful)
We are not West Virginia

That being said, I still think it's a mistake to hire off of the emotional high of one game.

Similarly, one game shouldn't SAVE a job either (see 13-9)

"This is not a place for just any coach" Dan Guerrero

by godblesstyus95 on Jan 4, 2008 8:32 AM PST up reply actions

My guess is he was their best candidate

with or without the bowl win.

Who was lining up to go to West Virginia? Do you think anyone thinks they can do as well as Rodriguez did? Its a three to five year gig, and then you will get fired for not doing as well as Rodriguez.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jan 4, 2008 8:52 AM PST up reply actions

I understand what you mean

While on an intellectual level I never thought DW was a viable candidate for the job, when I heard on the radio that Stewart got the gig at WV, a chill ran up my spine and said, oh man, thank god for the blocked field goal!!

by Herschy on Jan 4, 2008 11:06 AM PST up reply actions

Carrier is an interesting idea.

Carrier was a solid DB with the Bears and other teams, and apparently coached the DBs for 2 years with the Ravens, and 2 years before that with ASU.

If RN wants to give DW a DB coach with pro experience, well, there's one right there -- and smack dab off the Ravens' defensive staff, if we want to/ can get him.

"Because I'm tired of it. Year after year after year after year having to choose between the lesser of 'Who cares?'"

by Meriones on Jan 4, 2008 6:47 AM PST reply actions

Bienemy to UCLA???

Nestor, I seem to remember that Bienemy had access to the type of health care needed for his son, while on staff at UCLA. I think when he was offered the Minnesota job, he wanted to make sure that the same type of care was available there. I'm pretty sure that's how the story went. I don't think it would be a problem for him to come back.

by NickBruin on Jan 4, 2008 7:39 AM PST reply actions

How do we know if

the Minnesota excuse was not used for Bienemy to get the hell away from KD? I cannot believe UCLA would not have any medical care equal to Minnesota.

by bluegold on Jan 4, 2008 7:44 AM PST up reply actions

Mayo Clinic

in some specialties, best in the world.

I'll buy he was escaping KD.

And, BTW -- so may have been Colletto who chose to leave, too.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 4, 2008 8:59 AM PST up reply actions

Captain Oveur

"It's Mr. Hamm on line five."

by Fox 71 on Jan 4, 2008 9:09 AM PST up reply actions

Give me Hamm on five...

Hold the Mayo

(it had to be done)

by isodore on Jan 4, 2008 11:10 AM PST up reply actions

Yeah, Sounds Right......

Even though I personally have a big thing against Mayo for the way they're trying to derail my company's (Canadian Pacific Railway)plans to buy the DME/ICE railroads.

by Minnesota Bruinfan on Jan 4, 2008 10:59 AM PST up reply actions

Mayo politics

I'm with you on this one! We were one of the financiers vying for a piece of the DM&E project in the PRB...I don't know what's crawled up Mayo's butt...though I have a feeling it's the Union Pacific or BNSF...would love to see if there's any connection there, maybe at the board level...

Well, at least you got the STB approval, not a bad start eh?

by tasser10 on Jan 4, 2008 11:42 AM PST up reply actions

Nestor,

what are your thoughts on going after cable as OC if Chow doesn't pan out? I know he is KD related, but did have success, would be under RNs tutelage, and did a great job with the Oline everywhere he has gone. His job with the crappy Raider Oline this year was near miraculous.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jan 4, 2008 9:10 AM PST reply actions

Cable

I have mixed feelings about him.

I think he is a good OL coach. However, I am not sure about the job he did in recruiting OL talent to UCLA and I also wasn't impressed with his performance as an OC.

Our offense did well at times while he was here. However, lot of that can be attributed to the heroics of 2LiveDrew (MJD and the DO). Not sure how successful Cable would have been if he had to coach the team after they left (and he jumped ship as soon as they were gone).

That said being Coach Neuheisel's OC would probably amount to having the same responsibility of being the OC of Meyer. So I am not concerned about play calls and game schemes. However, I'd still be worried about his ability to recruit OL talent assuming he would be responsible for it.

Like I said I am planning to give RN at least 3-4 years of breathing room right now. So I am not trying to get all that worried about speaking up on every aspect of assistant coaching hiring. If some aspect of really stands out of course I will try to note it. But for now sort of in a sit back and watching mode and see how this works out. We should have data points in next 2-3 years to form our impressions.

by Nestor on Jan 4, 2008 3:14 PM PST up reply actions

Loeffler for OC?

Can everyone get excited about hiring Michigan's QB coach as our OC? Is this a budgetary thing...has he spent too much on retaining DW and the two defensive assistants? I'm all for Loeffler as an assistant but for the OC job he seems a bit green to me. I know RN will be intimately involved in the offense so perhaps he doesn't feel the need for an experienced guy.

by SinnerBoy 99 on Jan 4, 2008 9:50 AM PST reply actions

offense

I would be more than comfortable with RN playing a significant role in the play-calling. What other head coaches besides Spurrier and Meyer call their own plays? Richt? Rodriguez?

by ishXdavid on Jan 4, 2008 11:25 AM PST up reply actions

Johnson, Leach, Riley at Or St

off the top of my head. There are quite a few. Its not uncommon at all.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jan 4, 2008 12:01 PM PST up reply actions

Leach's QB's Call The Plays

True. There is no playbook.

Leach has it all written on a small piece of paper.

The QB goes to the line, makes a few key reads and calls the plays.

He really is an amazing coach -- way out of the box.

I'm thrilled with RN -- but, Leach would have been a trip.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 4, 2008 2:54 PM PST up reply actions

Rick's first shot at recruiting?

Looks like we have an uncommited recruit coming in next weekend in an area of need. Love to see Rick close the deal...

http://ucla.scout.com/a.z?s=12&p=9&c=6&dv=20080108&yr=2008

by Free the 16 on Jan 4, 2008 11:57 AM PST reply actions

Anybody get a phone call from Rick N. today??

I got a message on my answering machine and guess who it was?? Rick N.!! Very smart marketing on Rick's behalf.. His pre-recorded speech made me want to donate my entire bank roll to UCLA!!! Keep it up Mr. Neuheisel

goLA

by goLA on Jan 4, 2008 5:11 PM PST reply actions