Coaching Profiles

The hot topic these days on pretty much every UCLA message board and blog is who might replace Karl Dorrell as the head coach of the football program. There's been a lot of names bantered about and everybody seems to have their favorite candidate. I thought I'd spend a little time over the next week and write some articles that look a little deeper into some of the coaches that seem to be drawing the most interest. But before we get into the details, let's first take a look at what Dan Guererro would be working with if he decides to replace Dorrell this off season.

Right now Karl Dorrell is making right around $800,000 - $900,000 a year. That's not exactly an enticing salary, especially if UCLA wants to lure in a coach with some experience. You also have to factor in the cost-of-living on the west-side of LA, so Guerrero is going to have to seriously up that figure. There has been talk on the Bruin Show that UCLA might be able to afford somewhere around $1.2 - $1.5 million for a new coach. With that kind of pay range, it opens up a lot more options.

The other thing to consider is that UCLA isn't the only team potentially shopping for a new coach come January. There might be at least one other PAC-10 team looking for a coach as Bill Dobba of WSU is on a very hot seat these days. Mike Stoops looks like he'll be back at Arizona next season, but things can change dramatically in just a few weeks, so you never know. There are also persistent rumors that Jeff Tedford up at Cal could be lured away to another big time program.

Those are just the changes in conference. Nebraska, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Indiana, and almost a dozen other schools keep popping up in the news of teams looking for new direction. Of course, if those jobs get filled by current head coaches then that leaves another opening to fill somewhere else. Last year close to 20 head coaches were changed in the off season. The Bruins will have to compete with all of those programs in their search.

So why would a coach want to take the job in Westwood? Well there are definitely some positives. UCLA is in a major media market and any coach with even an inkling of going to the NFL would jump at the chance to have major media outlets just down the road. The Bruins also play in a BCS conference, which might be a draw for an up-and-coming coach or coordinator. UCLA is also smack dab in the middle of one of the hottest recruiting areas of the country. You could field an amazing team without ever leaving Southern California.

On the flip side is the coast of living. You earn less, in spending power, when you have to live in the LA area. UCLA hasn't historically payed it's head coaches or assistants very well either, which compounds that problem. Along with that low pay comes very high demands from the fans and it doesn't help that the football program plays a distant 2nd fiddle to the basketball team. As much as we hate to admit it, the football program doesn't exactly have great fan support and this isn't a fanbase that really travels well outside of California. The other big downside is that you have to live in the shadow of USC, which throws almost all of it's athletic resources into it's football team.

Still, a head coaching change at UCLA will draw a lot of interest. Guerrero might have to go courting some coaches and others may be banging down his door, but there will likely be a pretty big pool of candidates to choose from. Let's see if we can narrow down that list during this next week. Look for a new article on a different coach each day this week. Also, shoot me a name if you're really interested in somebody. I'll do my best to include them in my analysis.