Bob Palcic New O-Line Coach

Yesterday, Bob Palcic was added to the coaching staff as the new offensive line coach. He's an experienced guy, who has coached at the collegiate and professional level for a long time. From my first impression, this is a good hire for a unit that struggled for much of the 2007 campaign.

Neuheisel and Palcic are old friends and the two coached together at UCLA in 1993. After that Palcic went to the NFL ranks while Neuheisel went on to a head coaching position. Bob is 59 years old and he brings a wealth of coaching experience. He has been coaching offensive lineman, almost exclusively, for over 30 years.

Palcic has coached the offensive line at a lot of different schools, mainly in the Big Ten and PAC-10. He did a long stint at Ohio State, a couple of short stops at USC, UCLA, and Arizona and a few tours at Wisconsin. That was his most recent stop until joining UCLA for 2008.

Palcic has coached a number of guys on to successful NFL and collegiate careers. All-Pro tackle Jonathan Ogden (No. 4 pick in the 1996 NFL Draft), third-team All-American and NFL veteran (Green Bay and Houston) Mike Flanigan and first-team All-American and 11-year NFL player Vaughn Parker. All of those guys were under Palcic's tutelage during his one season at UCLA. All-America Tony Boselli (USC), first-team All-Big Ten offensive linemen Bob Maggs, Jeff Uhlenhake, Joe Staysniak, Jeff Davidson and Alan Kline (Ohio State). More recently he coached All-American Ray Snell and 2006 Outland Trophy winner Joe Thomas (Wisconsin).

This is a quote from the Madison Capital Times:

So it was a natural fit for Palcic who will coach the O-line for Neuheisel. "We've been friends for a long time, and he wants me to go out there and help him resurrect the UCLA program, and I thought that's what I should do," Palcic said Sunday. "We've stayed in touch over the years. And he has always asked me if I would go with him if he ever got another head coaching job, and I always told him that I would. So when he called me up and offered me a substantial raise, I just thought it felt right. This is really the first opportunity we had to get back together."

The one thing that really jumps out at me is the part about a substantial raise. Not sure if that was said in jest, but if it was a serious comment, then we're talking about a new era in UCLA football. One where coaches get paid well and we can even lure top candidates to Westwood. Hopefully this means we can retain these guys for at least a few years to build continuity. There was talk soon after Neuheisel was hired that "the money would be there" for the right assistants. If Palicic is any indication then I think Neuheisel will be able to afford a top notch staff!

This brings up an interesting question about the current O-line coach, Bob Connelly. He hasn't been officially let go, and there is a possibility that he could coach another position (like Tight End), but will he stay at UCLA for 2008? I'm not going to shed a tear if Connelly is fired because our offensive line play was so inconsistent and maddeningly prone to penalties this prior season. With him being let go as the O-line coach at Alabama after a coaching change, you got to wonder if maybe that's not his best position. He sure doesn't look like an O-line coach as the players are twice his size.

Oh well, the Bruins have a good hire in Palcic and it looks like Neuheisel is forming a good mix of young, energetic coaches (Moore), the best of the Dorrell era coaches (Walker, Bullough, and Howard) and experienced veterans (Palcic). All have prior or current connections to UCLA and Rick is definitely working his contacts. The big remaining question is who will be the offensive coordinator? Maybe we'll have an answer soon.

(photo credit: Ghetty Images)