Looks like the coaches are like to trying to put together a big effort to get their spin out on the state of imploding UCLA football program. LA Times has an article on how the players are supporting their coaches. Dohn went with the same boilerplate player supporting an embattled coaching staff narrative in his report as well. That is fine. We applaud the players for saying all the right things to the traditional media not to embarrass their coaches in public. However for anyone who has been following this program (or just UCLA athletics in general) on a day-to-day basis like us would know things are not fine. Dorrell is not the first incompetent UCLA head coach to get public support from his players. Even a dolt like Lavin got public support/sympathy from his players.
Moreover, despite their best effort to spin the picture of a program being united or whatever, it looks like not everyone is on the same page (a favorite Dorrell cliché):
"At this point, a lot of teams in our position would start to point the finger and split up, break apart. I just want to make sure we're not going to do that. And I know we're not," defensive end Bruce Davis said. "We've been through too much together. We're a family, and everybody's family has hard times, and the only way you get through them is to stick together and fight together."
But even that might not be going right for the Bruins, who have lost three games in a row for the first time since 2003, the first season under Coach Karl Dorrell, when they went through the motions in losing their final five games by an average of 15.2 points.
Before a practice last week, strength and conditioning coach Doc Kreis had a large group of players out on Spaulding Field to run sprints.
Two players came through the gate late, as everyone else was lined up and ready to start. One player in that line stepped forward and screamed, "I'm not running for you guys."
That could mean nothing, or it could mean something.
Whatever that reveals about the team, there is no question that the Bruins have a lot of work to do, particularly with an offense that produced one touchdown in the loss to the Cougars.
Uh yeah that's not a good sign.But even that might not be going right for the Bruins, who have lost three games in a row for the first time since 2003, the first season under Coach Karl Dorrell, when they went through the motions in losing their final five games by an average of 15.2 points.
Before a practice last week, strength and conditioning coach Doc Kreis had a large group of players out on Spaulding Field to run sprints.
Two players came through the gate late, as everyone else was lined up and ready to start. One player in that line stepped forward and screamed, "I'm not running for you guys."
That could mean nothing, or it could mean something.
Whatever that reveals about the team, there is no question that the Bruins have a lot of work to do, particularly with an offense that produced one touchdown in the loss to the Cougars.
We mentioned last week how we heard stories about players only team meeting after a practice where they talked about hashing out difference. Apparently one unit of the team felt like it was carrying more of the team's burden. Gee I wonder which unit that me? Could it be the demoralized defensive unit, which finally experienced a total meltdown this past weekend, by surrendering more than 500 yards at the Rose Bowl this past weekend?
Meanwhile, Dan Guerrerro is walking a fine line. He hasn't really voiced his complete confidence in the traditional media (yet), as he basically said to the papers yesterday that Dorrell will have to "right the ship," and "win some games" rest of this season. However, he is still going back to the boiler plate excuses of the team being young. Yes we have heard the "forever young" bullsh!t excuse before. DG tried to latch on the excuse of the team having to play with inexperienced QBs, but as you may have already read last week, Achilles shredded that excuse by pointing out to other D-1 programs, that are doing quiet well with their young pups QBing good to great teams.
So get ready. This should be an interesting week. Guess we will have to talk about Cal some point. But right now it's the big picture issues concerning Bruin football that should be the center piece of our discussion. One thing that is obvious from last weekend's game is the landscape has changed.
No longer can KD and his minions can argue that the dissatisfaction with Dorrell's incompetent and disgraceful performance as the UCLA head coach is no longer limited within the uber connected and well read members of Bruin online communities. No matter how much the beat reporters from the traditional media try to cover for Dorrell, it is pretty clear Karl Dorrell is under huge pressure to produce.
If you think the crowd at the Rose Bowl was foul mood, you can only imagine how the heavy hitting Bruin alumni donors are feeling this week. And they are letting Guerrerro and the UCLA administration hear it. I am sure many of them are reading Bruins Nation. They are conveying our message loud and clear. And it is getting through. Now there just may be a good chance that if KD doesn't produce in these last four regular season games (which probably means at least 3 wins and a victory over Southern Cal), Bruins just may jump into the market for a new head coach in December.
This will make next few weeks very interesting. So while that drama is unfolding we need to keep at it. We need to keep the conversation going on how hungry we are for the revival of our football tradition. Keep the organizing efforts (such as coming up with t-shirts) going strong online and offline and get the message out on how we need to save UCLA football from total implosion under Karl Dorrell. From dumpdorrell.com:
1. Tshirts - Many people have been asking for new tshirts. We have a Bruin tshirt manufacturer on the job and today his designer is going to come up with a few designs for everyone to vote on. It will be much better and much cheaper than what we have now. We will have more details on where you can see the designs and where you can vote by the evening. Check back then.
2. Petition - Thanks to Emily Y. we think its time for the petition idea. We are writing one and will have it up probably Monday night or Tuesday for everyone to view and sign online. We're making this easy. This petition will be sent to Dan Guerrero and other Morgan Center and Murphy Hall staff. We will be counting on everyone to viral the heck out of the petition to make sure that the administration knows that we want change. Check back again for that as well.
3. Get The Word Out - Thanks to everyone who is helping get the word out. By emailing this post or this post you have increased the number of Bruins who have found like minded people who want to change the direction of the football program. This weekend our traffic has more than doubled! More than 1,000 Bruins have visited this site yesterday alone! More Bruins than ever before are working on getting Dan Guerrero to act. Keep spreading the word, put the posts on your websites, your myspace pages, your facebook pages, anywhere. Get viral.
Yeap. You can also use the viral tools below to share this post with every member of your Bruin family and friends.2. Petition - Thanks to Emily Y. we think its time for the petition idea. We are writing one and will have it up probably Monday night or Tuesday for everyone to view and sign online. We're making this easy. This petition will be sent to Dan Guerrero and other Morgan Center and Murphy Hall staff. We will be counting on everyone to viral the heck out of the petition to make sure that the administration knows that we want change. Check back again for that as well.
3. Get The Word Out - Thanks to everyone who is helping get the word out. By emailing this post or this post you have increased the number of Bruins who have found like minded people who want to change the direction of the football program. This weekend our traffic has more than doubled! More than 1,000 Bruins have visited this site yesterday alone! More Bruins than ever before are working on getting Dan Guerrero to act. Keep spreading the word, put the posts on your websites, your myspace pages, your facebook pages, anywhere. Get viral.
At least this week it's clear the landscape of UCLA football program has changed. Dorrell may not be able to get out unscathed if he can't "right the ship" in these last few weeks.
GO BRUINS.