UCLA Coaching Hot Stove: Chianti Dan Flies to New York City & Other Notes

It appears that Jim Mora to Vestwood Westwood talk may have cooled just a bit. From what we have heard from different backchannel sources is that Mora is lobbying heavily for the job and Chianti Dan desperately wants to take the easy way out by offering the gig to someone who will say yes. Thankfully some of the big donors are not all that excited about him and given the sentiments here, it is clear that a Mora hire will result in a fragmented fan base at best or a demoralized and apathetic one at worst. Either options are not good ones for Chianti Dan.

So what is Chianti Dan going to do? Per the OC Register he is headed to New York City:

Mora, currently an analyst for NFL Network, expressed interest in the job last week and spoke with UCLA officials this week, it was reported. The two sides are expected to have further conversations, but UCLA will broaden a search that initially focused on two candidates, Boise State's Chris Petersen and Houston's Kevin Sumlin.

UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero is scheduled to attend the IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in New York City on Wednesday and Thursday.

We sure hope Guerrero has lot more on his NYC itinerary than pondering about "numerous and complex issues surrounding college sports." If he is so concerned about those other issues than saving our major revenue programs, he should then just go ahead and leave for a position in the NCAA now.

We think it is a good bet that Guerrero is going up to NYC so that the can have backroom conversations with coaching candidates as the City is serving as a gathering place for college football coaching market this week. Couple of additional notes after the jump.

If you have not read it yet, Guerrero emailed another ludicrous "blog" yesterday asking us to be "patient" while he makes a mockery out of UCLA's brand on the national stage. The message from this latest missive is bland bureaucratic speak, that continues to project the image of an incompetent and tondeaf athletic director, who is beyond out of touch with the greater UCLA community.

Speaking of damaging UCLA brand, the writers in the LA Times continue to have a field day at the expense of Chianti Dan's incompetence. Chris Dufresne, who never misses an opportunity to attack UCLA, poured it on this am, making a poignant observation (that we have been making for a long time):

For years it's been an insular, closed shop where people stay forever and are promoted from within. Every Bruins football coach since Red Sanders has either been a UCLA assistant coach or former player. Sanders died in August of 1958.

UCLA football looks like Miss America from 100 yards but more like Miss Piggy the closer you get.

You can't blame outsiders for being suspicious - few have ever been allowed inside the gates.

UCLA is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a months-old requisition order for new goalposts.

Okay, we agree with all of that Chris. Despite those observations, which we have been making for a long time here on BN, the Duffster suggest the Bruins taking a chance with Mora. Somehow Duffresne forgets to mention that bringing in Mora is not exactly some Mr. Outsider, given his clear connection to Terry Donahue from their 49er Days and that he were to emerge as the new coach in Westwood, it would be part in result of Donahue's lobbying of Morgan Center. So nice try Chris, but your conclusion is way off the mark.

Oh and one last note. If you really feel like you need to discuss the BS about Tressell and UCLA, you can do it in this fanshot. One fanshot is enough to talk about this nonsense. We don't have a lot of confidence in Chianti Dan but we don't think even he is that desperate and stupid to even remotely consider someone like Tressell, while never even bothering to pursue a guy like Mike Leach.

It is amusing to see a number of UCLA alums and fans being open to the possibility of Tressell after years of attacking Pete Carroll for being Cheatey Petey. We are certainly not planning to jump on that train of hypocrisy. Although the sense of desperation and dismay among UCLA fans to even ponder this possibility, should serve as another searing indictment of Chianti Dan's mismanagement of UCLA athletic programs.

GO BRUINS.