Dan Guerrero is completely botching the hiring process. He ignored Mike Leach, letting a conference rival snatch him up without any competition. Whether UCLA was serious about hiring Leach is irrelevant. At the very least, Guerrero should have drove up the price for Washington St. as well as used Leach as a negotiating tool with Petersen.
This error is magnified by the fact that UCLA has put all of its eggs in one basket. It is abundantly clear that we have no backup plan behind Chris Petersen. The risk of missing the target grew today, as Boise St. made a bold move today in hiring Mark Coyle as Athletic Director. Mark Coyle has been at Kentucky since 2005, serving as the Associate Athletics Director for Fundraising and Development from 2005-2006, the Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs from 2006 to 2010, and the Deputy Athletic Director in 2010. The word is that he is a friend of Chris Petersen. This is a shrewd move by the Broncos in an effort to keep Petersen.
Regardless of whether UCLA hires Chris Petersen or not, it is clear that Dan Guerrero is not capable of leading a multimillion dollar athletic department. He is failing at basic negotiation, setting UCLA for a failed offseason. We are bringing a knife to a gunfight, and unfortunately Guerrero doesn't even have sharp edges.