Coaching Staff Complete

This past week Rick Neuheisel hired his last two assistant coaches. Frank Gansz Jr., who spent the last two seasons on the staff of the Baltimore Ravens, has been hired to coach Bruin special teams. Tim Hauck, who has spent the past four years of the staff at the University of Montana, has been hired to coach the secondary. Now that the staff is complete, the Bruins can begin preparing for spring practice.

Neuheisel has prior connections with both coaches. Obviously, he knows Gansz from his time at Baltimore. Rick had Tim Hauck's brother, Bobby Hauck, on his staff at both Colorado and Washington. It was rumored that Bobby might be up for the job as well, but he is the head coach at Montana and taking a job demotion like that to an assistant job probably wasn't an attractive proposition.

Gansz is a great addition to the staff. He has coached nine seasons in the NFL as a special teams coach. That kind of experience and specialty should continue to keep the Bruins kickers, punters, and return teams performing at a high level. Gansz inherits probably the strongest squad on the team and they should be strength going into a what looks like a very difficult 2008 seaosn.

Before his NFL career, Gansz was the tight-end and special teams coach at the University of Houston. Since the tight-end spot doesn't have a dedicated coach, Gansz could help out in that capacity. Though it is thought that offensive line coach Bob Palcic will probably cover those responsibilities along with a graduate assistant.

Tim Hauck is a relatively young coach, but he had a very long and productive career in the NFL. He spent 12 years in the league playing for Green Bay, Seattle, Denver, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and San Francisco. He has spent the last four seasons coaching the secondary at Montana where his squads were some of the top ranked units in the D-1AA level. He'll continue to grow as a coach with the assistance of Dewayne Walker. The two will definitely have their jobs cut out for them, having to replace Horton, Brown, and Keyes this next season.

Wayne Moses New RB Coach

Wayne Moses, a veteran assistant coach, joined the staff on Wednesday afternoon. This is Moses' second tour of duty in Westwood; he was the the running back coach for the Bruins from 1990 - 1995. Most recently, Wayne was the running back coach with the Rams.

Moses has a lot of connections with Rick Neuheisel. They were both assistants at UCLA in the early 90's and Wayne was on Rick's staff at Washington for three years. This will be their third time working together and Neuheisel obviously has a lot of faith in Moses' coaching ability. Wayne brings 28-years of college coaching experience to the table, so that faith is definitely deserved.

Keeping true to the "SC Connection" that a lot of our coaches have, Moses was the RB coach under Pete Carroll in his first season with the Trojans. Like Norm Chow, Moses and Carroll aren't exactly best friends. Per Scott Wolf:

"[Mosese] was fired by Carroll after USC's first season (largely due to a falling out with Lane Kiffin) and pretty much became the first coach to become disenchanted and end their friendship with the soon-to-be successful Trojans coach."

Nice! This coaching staff definitely has USC locked into their sites.

Coaching Staff Getting Stronger

Mike Linn has been named the new strength and conditioning coach for the football team. Linn was a former offensive lineman at UCLA in the early 90's and the head strength and conditioning coach for the Bruin from 1999-2002. He comes back to Westwood after serving as the Vice President of Velocity Sports Performance, a corporation that develops training programs for hundreds of coaches across the country. Linn is linked to Neuheisel because Rick was an assistant at UCLA when Mike was a player there.

Another name being floated around the rumor mill is Mark Carrier. The former Trojan and Thorpe Award winner was the secondary coach with the Baltimore Ravens. After an 11 year career in the NFL, he spent two seasons with ASU before joining the professionals ranks. Since Carrier and Neuheisel were on staff there together, he might convince him to swing by Westwood for a season or two.

For those keeping score at home, here is the current coaching staff as of this morning:

Head Coach: Rick Neuheisel

Offensive Coordinator: Norm Chow
Offensive Line: Bob Palcic
Wide Receivers: Reggie Moore
Tight End: TBD
Running Backs: TBD
Quarterbacks: TBD

Defensive Coordinator: DeWayne Walker
Defensive Line: Todd Howard
Linebackers: Chuck Bullough
Secondary: TBD

Special Teams: TBD
Strength and Conditioning: Mike Linn

(photo credit: UCLA)

The New USC? Chow Now or Later?

It's funny, in an ironic way, that so many of UCLA's coaching staff has ties to USC. Rick Neuheisel got his law degree from USC. DeWayne Walker coached on the Trojan sideline for one season. Bob Palcic worked across town for one season. Even the guys we're going after, like Norm Chow and Ken Norton Jr., are current or former Trojan coaches. I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em... or in our case: get-their-former-coaches and beat 'em.

Speaking of Chow, I don't think he is coming to UCLA. At least not this year. I'm looking at the fact that he gets paid $1 million from the Titans to sit on his butt at home. If he accepts the job with the Bruins then he loses dollar-for-dollar what ever UCLA pays him. I'm guessing he'll want to take a year off to reflect and relax and send some time with the Mrs. before jumping back into the coaching ranks.

But I don't think all is lost. I'm sure Neuheisel will be courting Chow heavily. Even if he doesn't accept the job this year, he could be enticed to come to UCLA next season or the one after that. It would be a great job for Chow as it is back in the college ranks, he can compete against Carroll and Trojans, and it is close to home. He's been away from his family in Nashville while he was with the Titans and I'm sure he'll want to stay nearby during the last few years that he coaches (Chow is 61 years old).

Neuheisel is a good offensive coordinator in his own right, and I could see him picking up a QB coach and maybe having that guy be a co-offensive coordinator with Rick. That way, when Norm is ready to jump back into the game, UCLA has an open position waiting for him.

Then again, Rick might surprise us all and bring Chow in now. I guess there is talk of UCLA putting together a multi-year deal where Norm would get the bulk of the payments in year three since his Tennessee payout stops after year two. I don't know if he would go for it but we could maybe get Chow for a few years and not pay much more than what we payed our prior assistants.

UCLA could offer a deal with $1 million paid out in year three and basically no money paid in the first two years. From Chow's perspective he would get $1 million a year for the next three years just with the Titans picking up the tab for the first two seasons and UCLA paying for the last one. From UCLA's point of view, we get a fantastic offensive coordinator for three years for only $1million. That's just $333K a year, which is right around what Jay Norvell was making. That would be one heck of a deal for UCLA. Trading in Norvell for Chow for virtually the same salary. It sounds almost too good to be true.

Nigel Burton

There was an interesting post on Scott Wolf's blog yesterday. It was about Ken Norton possibly coming to UCLA but it ended with another coaches name: Nigel Buron. Now, normally, I disregard every rumor Scott Wolf publishes as patently false (he did say that Rick Neuheisel was definitely not going to be our head coach). But I think this one might have some legs. So who is Niguel Burton?

Burton is currently the secondary coach up at Oregon State. Nigel has been on the staff with the Beavers for five years and their defense was one of the best in the conference this season. He is considered a fantastic recruiter and an up and coming coach. Before OSU, he coached at Portland State for a few seasons and at South Florida. He did an internship with the Denver Broncos for a season to help gain some experience at that level.

The interesting connection, and why his name is coming up as a possible defensive assistant coach, is that Burton and Rick Neuheisel were both at at Washington briefly in 1999. Since Gary DeLoach, the current secondary coach is on his way out, Bruton could take over those responsibilities. If Norton gets hired on the staff then there might not be room (i.e. $$$) for another defensive coach. But if Norton does not come to UCLA then Burton could be a real possibility.

I like the idea of brining in Burton. He has proven to be a good coach for the Beavers and he fills an immediate need on the staff. If his recruiting prowess is that good then he could be a great addition. He would have connections to the Pacific Northwest to complement the recruiting of LA that Walker and Scott have covered. Of course, bringing in Norton has the added benefit of hurting USC. So both options are pretty attractive.

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)

Moore Coaches Added

There were some early reports today about Reggie Moore coming to UCLA as a wide receiver coach. I was trying to find some more information on it, but nowhere did it say he would actually coach the wide receivers at UCLA. He was the receiver coach at North Dakota State, and the report said he would take a "similar position" at UCLA. The official site is reporting that he will join the staff at a position yet to be determined.

This is a particularly interesting development because of how it will impact the current wide receivers coach, Eric Scott. Scott has also been instrumental in recruiting this last year and if he were let go by coach Neuheisel then that could potentially have an impact on the recruiting class. There could also be some options where Scott or Moore coach different positions and changing coaching responsibilities is a common practice at the collegiate level. We'll have to wait and see how this develops.

From the press release:

Moore has spent the last four years (2004-07) coaching the wide receivers at North Dakota State University. He spent the 2003 season as a graduate assistant at the University of Washington (he was hired by Neuheisel but coached for Keith Gilbertson), working with the wide receivers.

During his Bruin career (1987-90), Moore was a three-year starter at wide receiver. He ranks No. 18 on UCLA's all-time list with his 92 career receptions and with his 1,483 yards. He averaged 16.1 yards per catch and scored 10 touchdowns as a Bruin.

Following his collegiate career, Moore played in the National Football League for the New York Jets (1991-93) and the Los Angeles Rams (1993) as a wide receiver and return specialist. He then coached in the high school ranks at James Madison High School in Houston, Texas, for four seasons (1999-2002). He also served as a fire fighter and paramedic with the Houston Fire Department from 1996 to 2003 before joining the staff at the University of Washington.

Moore, 39, earned his BA in History from UCLA in 1991.

Since Reggie was a return specialist as well as a receiver in the NFL, he might be given responsibility over special teams. Gary DeLoach, the current special teams coach, wasn't one of those coaches retained with the Walker rehire, so I have a feeling he is on his way out.

(photo credit: UCLA)

On Neuheiel and NCAA Violations

(Ed Note: I started writing this article before Neuheisel was hired. Still, I think it helps shed some light on his past transgressions)

Another argument you hear against Rick Neuheisel is that he recorded over 50 NCAA violations during his time as the head coach in Colorado and Washington. That sounds like a shocking number and nobody wants a coach who is a cheater. But when you look further into the details, you'll discover that there is a whole lot of hoopla over some very minor rules violations.

The following information comes from a number of websites:

USA Today,
University of Colorado,
Seattle PI,
University of Washington Magazine

Compensation Violations

The first set of violations was due to over compensating recruits during visits. Here is the list:

1. Excessive reimbursement for mileage to recruits ranging from $3.20 to $35.76
2. $15 in excessive entertainment money to each of three student hosts of recruits
3. Use of a hotel game room at a cost of $3 over the limit for some recruiting week-ends
4. Provision of TV station tours and a gift of a mock interview tape
5. Allowing a newspaper reporter from a recruit's hometown to be present during a campus visit.
   
6. Failure to recover athletic apparel provided for campus visit week-ends and inadequate equipment room monitoring.
   

I mean, seriously, this is some rather petty stuff. A few dollars here and there for "excessive entertainment". Going $3 over the limit for playing on a Nintendo? My goodness, the humanity. Really, all of this is accounting problems, not problems with Rick, but because he was the head coach he gets the blame. Reggie Bush took over $300,000 from agents while he played at USC and Neuheisel gets run up the flag poll for recruits keeping Buffalo t-shirts after their visit. Mind boggling.

Just this year, Colorado got in trouble again for not charging walk-on players enough money for meals over the course of 5 years. Their punishment? They lost 3 scholarships and the school will pay a $100,000 fine. They also got two years probation. Now you have to ask yourself, is it Colorado that has a problem with keeping track of money spent on players and recruits or is it Neuheisel? Because it sounds to me like the University has the problem.

Recruiting Violations

The next set of violations were the more serious stuff. All related to recruiting:

1. A CU staff member phoned a walk-on player after he had transferred to a different institution.
2. Football coaching staff under Rick Neuheisel's direction regularly making in-person, off-campus "contacts" with prospective student-athletes outside of appropriate contact periods. The staff contacted 26 recruits.
3. Use of a private jet without proper documentation by then-coach Neuheisel for recruiting.
4. Attendance at a prospect's baseball game by an unauthorized athletic department staff member.
5. Neuheisel also made improper contact with several of his former Colorado players after going to Washington
   
6. Engaged one UW recruit in a a game of H-O-R-S-E, deemed an improper tryout by the NCAA.

These violations are all very minor. Rick gets 26 violations for calling recruits during a "silent period". This is a very common practice called "bumping". Basically the recruiter just calls and says what's up, just to keep in touch. It happens all the time. Rick just got caught. Still, it is a violation. A very minor, secondary violation... but still a violation none the less.

The improper contact with his former recruits when he went to Washington comes from him calling those players and "wishing them good luck". Was he also recruiting them to the UW? Maybe, but it is very plausible to think he also was honestly just wishing them well. Coaches get to know their recruits over the course of a few years. They build relationships and some even look up to their coaches as father figures. To just walk away without even a goodbye seems cold and heartless. But that's the NCAA rules.

Calling a game of HORSE an improper tryout is so ridiculous it is absurd. Attending a baseball game of a recruit is rules violation? I mean seriously. I understand that the NCAA is trying to protect the kids, but some of this stuff is so draconian. The private jet one sounds bad, until you read it closer. It wasn't a violation that he used the jet, just that he didn't have the proper documentation and approval.

Fallout and Sanctions

In the wake of these minor violations, the University of Washington self-imposed penalties including reducing Neuheisel's off-campus visits in 2000 from 29 to 9. They also agreed not to accept any of Neuheisel's former Colorado players as transfers.

When the NCAA completed its investigation of the violations at Colorado, they prohibited Rick from off-campus recruiting for a few months. For lack of institutional control, the NCAA placed the Buffaloes on probation for two years, reduced the number of scholarships by two and restricted off-campus recruiting by Colorado coaches. Neuheisel also got censured by the American Football Coaches Association earlier that year for "demonstrated lack of remorse for such violations" in the Colorado recruiting infractions..

Second Chances

At the end of the day, Rick did break some rules while he was a head coach. But let's put them in perspective. He was a very young coach, at the age of 34, when he took over the reigns at Colorado. He only had one year of experience as an OC before being pushed into the limelight of one of the best programs in the Big-8. Colorado had gone 11-1 the prior season and the Buffs were just a few years removed from a National Championship. There was immense pressure on him to preform and he probably felt that he had to work twice as hard to impress his critics.

He was an aggressive recruiter, no doubt. There is a fine line between been aggressive and violating the rules. Rick stepped over that line a few times. He didn't cheat, he didn't steal signals, he didn't break the rules of the game. No, he just went a little too far in trying to get the best talent into his program. In NASCAR they have an expression, "if you ain't cheating you ain't trying". In the same way, recruiting is a dance that has coaches going as close to the line as possible and finding "creative" ways to interpret the rules.

He was young and obviously didn't realize that, while each violation was minor, that as a whole it could hurt the University. If anyone in the college ranks understands the repercussions of pushing the NCAA rules, it is Rick. I think now that he is older and wiser, he'll learn form these mistakes. He has recently expressed that he is sorry for the incidents that occurred and he takes ownership of them. There isn't anything he can do now to make up for those mistakes, except run a clean program and stay out of trouble.

I'm all for giving Rick a second chance. It has been almost 10 years since his last violation was committed. He is, after all, a Bruin and member of the UCLA family and that should be enough reason to give him our support. He is definitely one of Westwood's wayward sons and It's time for him to come back home and prove that his past is just that... in the past.

Coach Profile: Mike Bellotti

(Editor Note: After sleeping on the news, I'm a little less bullish on Bellotti)

Wowza! Fresh off the press is a profile of the current Ducks head coach Mike Bellotti. Don't know much about him? Read on...

Background

Robert Michael Bellotti is 57 years old. He played his college ball back in the early 70's at UC Davis. Soon after Mike started his coaching career. He was a Junior Varsity coach (back in the days when they still had JV college teams) before jumping to the Varsity level in 1977 at Cal State Hayward.

After a stint as an OC at Hayward, Bellotti took the head coaching spot at Chico State (which no longer has a football program). In 1989 he took the job as the offensive coordinator at Oregon. After five seasons he was given the head coaching position and he has spent the last 12 seasons as the Ducks head coach.

Bellotti's current salary is a little over $1 million.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl
Chico State () (1984 — 1988)
1984	Chico State	4-5-1
1985	Chico State	5-4-1
1986	Chico State	7-3
1987	Chico State	4-6
1988	Chico State	3-7
Oregon (PAC-10 Conference) (1995 — present)
1995	Oregon	9-3	Cotton (L)
1996	Oregon	6-5
1997	Oregon	7-5	Las Vegas (W)
1998	Oregon	8-4	Aloha (L)
1999	Oregon	9-3	Sun (W)
2000	Oregon	10-2	Holiday (W)
2001	Oregon	11-1	Fiesta (W)
2002	Oregon	7-6	Seattle (L)
2003	Oregon	8-5	Sun (L)
2004	Oregon	5-6
2005	Oregon	10-2	Holiday (L)
2006	Oregon	7-6	Las Vegas (L)
2007	Oregon	8-4	Sun
Oregon:		105-50
Total:		126-77-2
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Bellotti has a wealth of college coaching experience. Of all the coaches mentioned, only his mentor Rich Brooks had more. All of that experience comes on the West Coast and he has spent almost two decades in the PAC-10 as an assistant and head coach.

He has won two PAC-10 conference championships this decade and put together a sensational 2001 campaign that saw the Ducks finish #2 in the country. He has taken Oregon to 9 bowls in the last 11 years. Mike has built a once dormant Oregon program into a contender on the national level. This season his team came within a torn knee of competing for a national championship.

Bellotti knows offense. This years Ducks team finished 12th nationally in total offense. The spread option up in Eugene absolutely decimated Michigan and it beat the Trojans. Teamed with DeWayne Walker's defense (and Bellotti is rumored to want to keep Walker) they could build a potent team in the next few years. The only question is how much of his offensive success was Mike and how much was it is coordinators?

All of Bellotti's success has come while trying to recruit kids to Oregon. Imagine what he could accomplish with the wealth of talent at his finger tips in Southern California. He also had that little incident two years ago with Carroll in the Coliseum. Don't you think he would love to stick it to Pete in his own back yard!

Negatives

Bellotti's team, over the last few years, have had some games they completely mailed in. Every other season his team performs poorly and they have faded down the stretch. All of that sounds awfully familiar to Bruin fans. There is a lot of critics of Bellotti who say he depends heavily on his coordinators for success.

They have lost four straight bowl games, including that embarrassing debacle to BYU in the Las Vegas bowl last season. His players were woofing and hollering before the game and then got completely owned. Is he losing his touch when it comes to motivating his players? Despite having superior talent to the Beavers, Oregon loses to them every other season. Is that just the nature of a rivalry game or poor coaching?

Going from Nike-U to UCLA's Spaulding field would be a huge downgrade for Bellotti. Is he really going to be happy moving from Eugene to Westwood? He is the toast of the town up there and he'll come into LA and have to play second fiddle to the program at Fig Tech. Could this be just a ploy to get more money from Oregon?

Verdict

Bellotti would be a solid choice for UCLA. Proven success, potent offense, and a guy you know is a good (though not great) head football coach. He hasn't had great success outside of a few seasons at Oregon... but common it's Oregon. They have very little in state talent and they have to fight with Washington and the California schools for their local kids. With Southern California kids at his disposal he should field a much better team.

He is getting a bit up there in age, but I like that Mike has been very loyal to his job. If he could come to UCLA and finish out his career (likely another 10 years) then he could pass the torch to an assistant that he has groomed. That would be a great way to establish a new dynasty in West LA. The question is can he do it? Oregon was great when they had Tedford but faded after he took the job at Cal. Can Bellotti attract a top notch OC to UCLA?

Holly Bellotti!

Wow. So, now Mike Bellotti is in the mix? Are you serious!?! There were rumors earlier today that an experienced head coach was still in consideration. I thought that was just idle speculation and wishful thinking. But now Bellotti is being reported by the beat writers as having "spoke with UCLA". Dohn is even saying that a decision could come in the next 72 hours on whether the Ducks coach would take the job. That's weird because Oregon still has a date with South Florida in the Sun bowl on December 31st.

Talk about last minute DRAMA!

Damn, now I have to write another coaching profile.

Coach Profile: Al Golden

With the rather unexpected news that another candidate had interviewed with the Chancellor yesterday, a new name has been thrown into the coaching ring. That name is Al Golden. He's been lauded as an "up-and-coming" coach. But who is this relative unknown that has made it to the UCLA coaching finals?

Background

Alfred James Golden played his college ball as a tight end at Penn State University. After graduation, he went to the NFL where he played one season with the New England Patriots. Soon after Golden jumped into the coaching ranks.

While getting his master's degree at Virginia, he served as the linebacker and special teams coach. In 1997 he moved to Boston college to coach linebackers there. In 2001, he became the youngest Div 1-A defensive coordinator when he accepted the position at Virginia. In his time withe Cavaliers, he took a team that ranked 108th nationally in total defense to 18th in total defense in 2004.

At the very green age of 38, Golden is the youngest candidate for the UCLA head coaching position. He has been the head coach at Temple for the last two seasons and his youthful attitude and energy have helped breath some life into a virtually moribund program. His four victories this season matches the win total from 2003-2006. That shows you how bad things had gotten for Temple before Golden showed up.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl
Temle (Mid Atlantic Conference) (2006 — present)
2006	Temple	1-11
2007	Temple	4-8
Temple:		5-19
Total:		5-19
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Golden is a young and energetic coach. He could relate well to the players. Even as a very young coordinator, he was able to command respect at his prior coaching gigs and Temple took a chance on him to give their program some much needed enthusiasm.

Al did a fantastic job turning around a terrible Virginia defense. In four years Virginia went from one of the worst defenses in the country to being in the top-25. He used a 3-4 scheme there and found success with his experience as a linebacker coach. He has coached a number of guys who went on to gain conference accolades and land in the NFL.

Negatives

Golden still has very little experience as a coach. Temple took a chance on him because pretty much nobody wants that job. Will he be able to handle a big time, BCS conference school like UCLA? The expectations and pressure are going to be much, much higher than at Temple.

Al has no West Coast ties. He has played ball and coached almost exclusively in the North East. It will take him some time to establish recruiting connections in Southern California.

Golden is a defensive coach. UCLA needs a boost on offense. Who will be his offensive coordinator? Can he attract a top name and will Guerrero be able to pay for somebody? It is hard to say. The Bruins already have a good defensive coordinator in Walker, so I don't see much of an advantage in bringing in another coach with experience on that side of the ball.

Verdict

I know most Bruin fans will look at this guy and say, "no way". Really, though, Al isn't all that bad of a hire. In many ways, he is a lot like DeWayne Walker 4-years from now. A great defensive coordinator who turned around a terrible squad at Virginia. He is young, a hot name among coaching circles, and a guy with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. If you like Walker for what he has done at UCLA then you can't be all that down on Golden.

Do I want this guy? Not really. I would much rather get a coach who can bring some life and attitude to the offensive side of the ball. The other guys who have been mentioned, Chow and Neuheisel, definitely have that in spades. He is also going to take some time to get up to speed on West Coast recruiting. With the positive momentum we have in that department the last two years, I don't think we want to start over with someone entirely new in that area. You can also kiss Walker goodbye if this guy gets hired, so his recruiting connections will be gone as well.

Coach Profile: Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is a name that hasn't been mentioned much in the UCLA coaching search. However, he has picked up some momentum recently. With him stalled in contract negotiations with Cincinnati, he might be back in contention for the job in Westwood. So who is this guy and why are many Bruin fans excited about him?

Background

Kelly played his collegiate football at a small Catholic College in Massachusetts called Assumption College. He was a linebacker there and after graduation took a job as the line backer coach and defensive coordinator at Assumption from 1983-1986. He eventually took a graduate assistant position at Grand Valley State in 1987.

In 1989, Kelly was promoted to defensive and recruiting coordinator. In 1991 he took over the head coaching job and spent the next 13 years leading Grand Valley. Kelly culminated his career at this division II school by winning back-to-back national championships. His final teams went on a 20 game winning streak and Kelly was twice named the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year.

In 2004, Kelly made the jump to the Division 1A level. He took over a Central Michigan team that was completely in the dumps. In the prior four seasons before Brian took over the program, they only had one season where they won more than 3 games. Kelly made an immediate impact and in his second year, leadding the Chippewas to their first winning season in over 1998. They qualified for the Motor City Bowl in 2006, but Kelly took the head coaching position at the University of Cincinnati and lead them to victory in the International Bowl instead.

Kelly just completed his first full season at the University of Cincinnati. His team posted an impressive 9-3 record, with his 3 losses coming by a combined 12 points. This was the Bear Cats best season since 1953 when they also won 9 games. He was named the Big East Coach of the Year for his efforts.

Kelly is making around $800,000 per year.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl
Grand Valley State (MIFC/GLIAC DII) (1991 -2003)
1991	Grand Valley State	9-3
1992	Grand Valley State	8-3	Conference Champ
1993	Grand Valley State	6-3-2
1994	Grand Valley State	8-4
1995	Grand Valley State	8-3
1996	Grand Valley State	8-3
1997	Grand Valley State	9-2	Conference Champ
1998	Grand Valley State	9-3	Conference Champ
1999	Grand Valley State	5-5
2000	Grand Valley State	7-4
2001	Grand Valley State	13-1	Conference Champ
2002	Grand Valley State	14-0	National Champs
2003	Grand Valley State	14-1	National Champ
Grand Valley State:		120-35-2
Central Michigan (MAC) (2004 — 2006)
2004	Central Michigan	4-7
2005	Central Michigan	6-5
2006	Central Michigan	9-4	Motor City Bowl
Central Michigan:		19-16
Cincinnati (Big East) (2006 — present)
2006	Cincinnati	1-0	International Bowl (W)
2007	Cincinnati	9-3	PapaJohns Bowl
Cincinnati:		10-3	l
Total:		105-39
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Kelly's record speaks for itself. He has won national championships at the Division II level and turned around two historically under achieving programs at Central Michigan and Cincinnati. He knows how to win and how to replicate his success wherever he goes. His salary was right around that of Karl Dorrell and the Bruins could get an experienced head coach for far less than what others are asking.

Even though Kelly has a background on the defensive side of the ball, he has presided over some very potent offenses. In 2001 at Grand Valley his team set 77 NCAA, conference, and school records, including setting the all-time Division II scoring record, averaging 58.4 points per game.

Negatives

Kelly is in the first year of a contract at Cincinnati. If he jumps ship for UCLA then what prevents him from doing the same thing next year when a "better" opportunity opens? With all the turnover under Dorrell, the one thing this program needs is consistency.

Kelly doesn't have any ties to the west coast. He has spent his entire career in the Midwest and the region around the great lakes. He may have no interest in coming out this way and he would have to establish recruiting connections from scratch. Since he is a defensive coach, he would probably not retain Walker, who would be a big recruiting connection for the program.

Verdict


I like Brian Kelly a lot and he would be at the top of my list right now. I just don't see him taking the position in Westwood, which is primarily why I haven't written much about him until now. I thought he would go to Michigan but with that position getting filled this weekend, maybe he is still in contention? It might be too little, too late in terms of contacting him now. It looks like UCLA is going to pick a coach this week and I'm guessing Kelly won't be on that short list. Too bad because he looks like a real winner.

Interviews

So the news this week is that we actually had some interviews! There are more scheduled for next week as well. Here are the candidates we have so far:

1. DeWayne Walker (Interim Head Coach and DC at UCLA)
2. Rick Neuheisel (Baltimore Ravens OC and former UW and Colorado head coach)
3. Norm Chow (Tennessee Titans OC)
4. John Harbaugh (Philadelphia Eagles Secondary Coach )

I had never heard of John Harbaugh before. The other guys on the list are no surprise, but who is this dude? Besides knowing that he is Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh's brother, here are some of the relevant background from his biograhpy on Wikipedia.

He's been in the NFL for nine years coaching at Philadelphia. Before that he was an assistant at the University of Cincinnati for 8 seasons and Western Michigan for 4 years (plus a few other stops in between). Never been a DC as far as I can tell, much less a head coach. It's strange that his name has never come up before and I'm wondering why he is interviewing?

Neuheisel interviewed today. I don't see Rick getting the gig, just because I can't see Guerrero hiring someone who had NCAA problems in the past. Wasn't that one of the major reasons he fired Toldeo? The talk around the program is that this was to satisfy a very vocal and influential group of boosters and former players. Who knows, maybe he'll impress Dan. I don't see it happening.

I still think Chow is in the lead for this thing. A few other names still popping up are Brian Kelly of Cincinnati and Mike Price of UTEP (former WSU head coach). Bronco Mendenhall of BYU and June Jones of Hawaii were also mentioned this week but both have been pretty adamant (at least publicly) that they are not interested in the position.

(photo credit: Ghetty Images)

Coach Profile: DeWayne Walker

DeWayne Walker is currently the interim head coach for the Bruins. His dramatic turn around of an abysmal UCLA defense and the huge upset victory over the Trojans in 2006 have catapulted him into the national spotlight. Is he the right man to lead this program next season?

Background

Walker played his college ball as a corner back at Minnesota. He played one year in the Canadian football league and then two in the USFL before hanging up his cleats. After completing his bachelor's degree at Regents College in New York, DeWayne went into coaching.

Walker began his coaching career at Mt. San Antonio College. He served as the secondary coach for four seasons before becoming defensive coordinator in 1992. He bumped around the college ranks coaching at Utah State, BYU (where he worked with Norm Chow) and California (where he worked with Steve Mariucci).

In 1998, Walker jumped to the NFL as the secondary coach for the New England Patriots. He spent three seasons there, two under Pete Carroll as a head coach. In 2001, Walker joined Carroll's staff at USC for one season before returning to the professional ranks in New York. Walker was the secondary coach for the Giants for two seasons and then held the same position with the Washington Redskins.

The last two seasons he has been the defensive coordinator at UCLA. He helped turn the UCLA defense from one of the worst in the nation to one of the best in the conference in just one year. Walker has coached UCLA to the 2nd best scoring defense in the PAC-10 for two consecutive seasons and one of the top 40 defenses nationally. He managed to accomplish this with virtually no offensive production from his counterparts on the other side of the ball.

Walker currently makes around $330,000 as the defensive coordinator.

College Head Coaching Record

None

Positives

One of the best things Walker did with this defense was give them a sense of toughness. They play like a team, swarm to the ball, and attack. That is in stark contrast to the soft defensive image UCLA has fostered over the years. He transformed a team that was ranked 113th in the nation, that was losing a number of senior starters, and couldn't tackle into the strength of the program.

Walker is a dynamic recruiter. Rivals named him the PAC-10 recruiter of the year in 2006. He is the primary reason why UCLA's recruiting the last two seasons have been dramatically better. One of his first recruits, Brian Price, is already making a significant contribution to the team as a true freshman. Right now Walker is the primary lynch pin in the 2008 recruiting class.

Negatives

DeWayne is still adapting to the college game. His defenses have struggled at times against more athletic, pass-oriented, spread offenses. It is early in his career as a coordinator and he still needs some time to learn and adapt from the professional version of the game.

Walker has no head coaching experience. Sometimes good coordinators become good head coaches and sometimes they don't. UCLA has rolled the dice a number of times now on coaches with no prior experience and the results haven't been particularly good.

Verdict

I'm really high on Walker as a coach. His defenses have been good and his recruiting is fantastic. I believe that with a few more years of experience, he'll develop into a top notch defensive coordinator, especially when he can start playing guys he has recruited. I really hope Dan Guerrero does everything he can to keep Walker on the staff. I think he could be a great head coach one day.

All that being said, I'm not too excited about Walker being the head coach right now. I would really like to see somebody with some head coaching experience get the position. If we can't land anybody with significant experience, then I would be open to selecting DeWayne as the new coach. But it would definitely be a second option.

Coach Profile: Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson recently made the national news when he lead Navy to their first victory over Notre Dame in over three decades. He's also making a name for himself as a coach who can take struggling programs and build them into consistent winners. Can he come into Westwood and work his magic one more time?

Background

Paul Johnson is 52 years old and is currently the head coach a the United States Naval Academ. He started his coaching career in 1979 as an offensive coordinator. He has used a number of different offensive schemes over the years but there has been a consistent emphasis on a strong running game wherever he has gone.

From 1987 to 1994 Johnson was the offensive coordinator at Hawaii. He developed a successful offensive unit which had top-20 statistical rankings in scoring offense, total offense and rushing offense during six of his eight seasons. In 1996 he was given the head coaching job at 1-AA Georgia Southern. He ran another potent running offense there that lead the Eagles to two National Championships and five conference championships.

In 2002, Paul moved to the 1-A level when he took the head coaching job at Navy. This was a program in disarray and many sports analysts thought the service academies could not compete with other teams in the modern era. Johnson proved them wrong and lead Navy to four consecutive bowl appearances for the first time ever in school history. His Midshipmen have lead the NCAA in rushing offensive during Johnson's tenure. His salary at Navy is right around $1 million.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl	Rank#
Georgia Southern (Southern 1AA) (1977 - 1994)
1997	Georgia Southern	10-3
1998	Georgia Southern	14-1
1999	Georgia Southern	13-2		National Champ
2000	Georgia Southern	13-2		National Champ
2001	Georgia Southern	12-2
Georgia Southern:		62-10
Navy (Independent) (2002 — 2007)
2002	Navy	2-10
2003	Navy	8-5	Houston (L)
2004	Navy	10-2	Emerald (W)	24
2005	Navy	8-4	Poinsettia (W)
2006	Navy	9-4	Meineke (L)
Navy:		43-29
Total:		105-39
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Johnson has had a lot of success wherever he has gone. He has won two D1-AA national championships, five conference titles, and was named the 1AA coach of the year for four consecutive seasons. He was named the 2004 Bobby Dodd national coach of the year when he lead Navy to their first 10 win season in a century. His overall win loss record is awesome and he has won almost 75% of the games he has coached.

What's even more impressive is that he has done this at schools who had struggling football programs before he arrived. Navy also has a huge recruiting disadvantage being a service academy, yet Johnson was able to develop his players to compete with other big programs. They only had two winning seasons in the 20 years prior to Johnson but they have recorded winning season in the last four years with Paul at the helm.

Johnson has run multiple types of offenses over the years including different versions of the spread, run-and-shoot, and even the triple option. He has adapted his strategy to take advantage of the players he has and their background. That type of flexibility is in stark contrast to the rigid dedication Karl Dorrell has to his West Coast Offense.

Negatives

Johnson has never had a coaching position at a high profile school. Will he be able to handle the extra media attention and visibility that comes with the UCLA coaching job? Along those same lines, he hasn't competed against top-tier opponents. It is a lot easier to post winning records when you have Duke, Temple, and Army on your schedule every year.

Another question is will he be able to recruit against guys like Tedford, Erickson, and Carroll? He doesn't have the NFL experience nor has he put many kids into the league. He also doesn't have the buzz and hype like some other coaches because he uses a rather antiquated offense at Navy. Some have questioned if he'll be able to draw elite quarterbacks into his program because he has used an antiquated offense in the past.

Verdict

Paul Johnson is an experienced, successful, proven head coach. He hasn't coached in a BCS conference yet, but virtually no other coach on UCLA's radar can claim such accomplishments. He is a five time national coach of the year and he has revived languishing programs wherever he has gone. He is also flexible and thinks outside the box. Will he be able to take UCLA to the next level? If anyone can do it, I think Johnson can.

The knocks on him recruiting might be a bit over blown. If he can mold the Bruins into winners then the recruits will come. Also, he can hire a dynamic recruiter like Eric Scott or DeWayne Walker to pound the pavement as well. Even if he doesn't have the greatest talent at his disposal, it seems like Johnson develops his kids into successful football players. I can't say that is true with our current head coach.

Coach Profile: Bronco Mendenhall

It seems like a lot of the coaches being mentioned as possible replacements for Karl Dorrell's job have connections to BYU. That is especially true of the next coach, Bronco Mendenhall, as he is currently coaching the Cougars. Bronco is different from all the previous coaches, however, in that he has a background on the defensive side of the ball.

Background

Bronco Mendenhall is 40 years old and currently the head coach at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah. He finished out his college career at Oregon State as a defensive back in the late 80's and then immediately went into coaching.

Bronco held a number of defensive coordinator positions at Northern Arizona, Oregon State, and New Mexico. It was with the Lobo's that he worked for former Bruin coach Rocky Long. In 2003 he took the defensive coordinator spot at BYU and after two seasons was promoted to the head coaching position.

Mendenhall has been busy over the last two seasons trying to restore BYU back to the prestige it had in the 1980's and 1990's. Some of that has been off-the-field changes like restoring traditional uniforms, pre-game ceremonies, etc. The other part has been building up a formidable defense and offense that has lead the Cougars to the top of the Mountain West.

His current salary at BYU is around $900,000.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl	Rank#
BYU (Mountain West) (2005 - present)
2005	BYU	6-6	Las Vegas (L)
2006	BYU	11-2	Las Vegas (W)	15
Total:		17-8
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Mendenhall has revived BYU and helped turn a losing program back to the top of their conference. He has embraced the recruiting restrictions that a conservative, religious school like BYU brings to the table and yet still manages to entice good, young talent. I think he would be able to understand and work with the academic restrictions that have limited some of the prospects UCLA can offer.

Though Mendenhall is a defense coach, he helped institute a wide-open offense that catapulted BYU to the top of the MWC and national statistics in 2006. Their passing attack ranked 4th in the nation and Cougars had the longest winning streak in the country going into their game against UCLA in the Rose Bowl this season. His teams execute well, never seem to lose focus, and never get blown-out by inferior competition.


Negatives

Bronco only has three years head coaching experience. Will he be able to replicate his success outside of BYU? Will he be able to compete in a BCS conference? These are all unknowns with Mendenhall.

UCLA's problems under Dorrell have been primarily on the offensive side of the ball. Mendenhall's experience has been on the defensive side, so he'll likely have to rely on a good offensive coordinator to lead that unit. UCLA's track record of not paying assistants well might prevent him from bringing in a top notch OC.

Verdict

To me, Mendenhall is a less impressive, defensive version of Chris Peterson. He might go on to a great coaching career, but there really isn't a track record there to prove he'll have consistent success. I also don't know if Bronco brings the "wow" factor or name recognition that would draw elite recruits to UCLA. He's a solid choice, and I'm sure he could build the Bruins into a successful program if given enough time, but I don't know if the fans, donors, or athletic department is willing to go through another learning curve after Dorrell.

Coach Profile: Chris Petersen

If you haven't heard the name Chris Peterson before, don't worry, because you'll probably see it mentioned about a million more times on UCLA message boards over the next couple of months. He's definitely high on the list of a lot of UCLA fans and it seems like the media is buzzing about him as a candidate as well. If momentum and hype had a name it would be Chris Peterson.

Background

Chris Peterson is 43 years old as is currently the head coach of the Boise State Broncos. Peterson has been at BSU for 6 years, 4 as the offensive coordinator and 2 as the head coach. He played his college ball as a quarterback at UC Davis before jumping into the coaching ranks.

Peterson has spent most of his college coaching career in the Pacific Northwest. He was the QB coach at Portland State for two seasons before taking the wide receiver coaching job at Oregon. In 2001 he went to Boise State and the Broncos have won the WAC every season since. Peterson was thrust into the national spotlight after his team went 13-0 last season with a thrilling overtime victory against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Chris was the first head coach in the history of Division 1 to ever go 13-0 in his first season. His current salary is around $850,000.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl	Rank#
Boise State (Western Athletic Conference) (2006 - present)
2006	Boise State	13-0	Fiesta (W)+	5
Total:		13-0
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Peterson has a near flawless record as a head coach. His win over Oklahoma was extremely impressive considering the talent he has to work with at Boise State. He has a creative mind, a go-for-it style, and he has built a juggernaut program in his conference that has won 5 straight titles.

Chris has also turned Boise State into an offensive machine that has consistently ranked amongst the best in the NCAA. If he could bring a similar change to the Bruins then this team could be a force to reckon with in the PAC-10. His teams are balanced, they execute well, and they play hard each and every week. That is almost the exact opposite of what we have now under Karl Dorrell.

Negatives

The only knock on Peterson is just lack of experience. He is only in his second season as a head coach. While he has put up great numbers, including going 8-1 so far this season, it is hard to say if he'll be able to replicate that success somewhere else. He also coaches in the WAC, which isn't the stiffest competition. It is a lot easier to get our team up for one or two big games every season versus having to play a tough PAC-10 conference schedule week in and week out.

Verdict

It is hard not to be enthralled by the idea of a hot up-and-coming coach who has had amazing success his first two years on the job. He draws a lot of comparisons to Urban Myer, who also took a mid-major team (Utah) on an undefeated season and a BCS bowl victory.

I'll give you two other comparisons, though, just to illustrate a point. Rick Neuhisel went 20-4 his first two seasons as a head coach after being a hot up-and-coming offensive coordinator. His following seasons, while successful, we not nearly as impressive. Bob Toldeo was also a promising coordinator who took a head coaching job with little experience. By the end of his 3rd season he had his team on a 20 game winning streak (the longest in the nation) and on the cusp of a National Championship game. We all know how Bob's teams did after that early success.

I'm not saying Peterson will go down the same paths as Neuheisel or Toledo, but we have to be careful about anointing a coach as an "instant success". For every Urban Meyer there are a dozen other young coaches who don't pan-out. I would prefer for UCLA to get a more experienced, proven head coach (like a Ben Howland) who you know has been successful at multiple programs. Not just someone who is successful now but we hope will be a success at UCLA.

I think Peterson would be a pretty cool hire but it is still rolling the dice. If we can't land someone with more experience then I'm totally down with him. He is exciting, has great buzz, and he could really invigorate this program. I'm not sure if he'll want to leave the Pacific Northwest, but Guerrero might be able to lure him away with a much bigger salary.

Coach Profile: Mike Leach

Mike Leach knows offense. He is considered one of the most innovative offensive minds in the college game today. With the Bruins struggling to perform consistently in that department under Karl Dorrell, could Leach be the coach to make this team a conference juggernaut?

Background

Mike Leach is 46 years old and is currently the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Leach never played college football, one of only five D1 coaches who holds such a distinction. He did attended BYU where he studied the Cougars and the past-first offense developed by LaVelle Edwards. He gained a masters degree from the United States Sports academy and then went immediately into coaching.

Leach started as an assistant at Cal Poly (woot woot!) and then moved into an offensive coordinator position at the Division II level before getting gigs at Kentucky and Oklahoma. In 2000, Leach was given the head coaching position at Texas Tech. In his time with the Red Raiders, the program has been one of he most prolific passing teams in the NCAA. They have had the #1 passing offense 4 of the last 7 seasons and finished with a top-10 total offenses every season since 2001. His current salary is around $1.6 million.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl	Rank#
Texas Tech (Big Twelve) (2000 - 2006)
2000	Texas Tech	7-6	Galary Furniture (L)
2001	Texas Tech	7-5	Alamo (L)
2002	Texas Tech	9-5	Tangerine (W)
2003	Texas Tech	8-5	Houston (W)
2004	Texas Tech	8-4	Holiday (W)	17
2005	Texas Tech	9-3	Cotton (L)	19
2006	Texas Tech	8-5	Insight (W)
Total:		62-35
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

The offensive numbers speak for themselves. Obviously Leach has taken the concepts of pass-first offense to an extreme and he has found some good success. His records are even more impressive when you consider that Tech has to compete with the University of Texas and Texas A&M in state. The Big-12 south is a tough conference and the Red Raiders hold their own.

Leach is in his 8th year as a head coach and he has never had a losing season. That is very impressive considering the cycles that college football programs tend to follow. That kind of consistency is sorely needed at UCLA.

Negatives

While Leach's offense puts up amazing passing numbers, it also puts up equally abysmal rushing statistics. That's kind of gimmicky to me and I like to see a scheme with more balance. Right now Arizona is running a version of Leach's "Air Raid" offense and I'm not particularly impressed. It makes your team awfully one dimensional. Besides, how will Leach recruit top running backs to Westwood if they know they won't get many carries?

I also think Leach doesn't put enough emphasis on defense. His teams haven't had great defensive efforts, which is why he hasn't had better records even with his top-10 offenses. The PAC-10 may be offense oriented, but you aren't going to win many championships unless you can field a great defense. Maybe with the right coordinator, he could be more successful.

Verdict

I just don't see Mike Leach coming to Westwood. His current salary is higher than Guerrero would probably be willing to spend and you know that UCLA would have to go even higher to make up for the cost of living. He has a good gig there in Lubbock and I don't see how coming to the PAC-10 is an upgrade over the Big-12.

While his offense might put up some great numbers, I'm still not a fan. I think a strong running game is a must if you want to be a top-tier team. The Bruin definitely need to find a way to move past their middle-of-the-conference finishes and I just don't see Leach's system being able to accomplish that.

Coach Profile: Steve Mariucci

Steve Mariucci has been on the outside of the coaching world looking in since he was let go by the Detroit Lions in 2005. His name gets mentioned for a lot of coaching positions and I think we'll see him jump back into a coaching spot this season. I'm sure Dan Guerrero will consider Steve for the position in Westwood.

Background

Steve Mariucci is 55 years old and he currently works for the NFL network as a commentator. Before that he was the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2003-2005. Steve has gained most of his head coaching experience in the NFL.

In college he was a 3-time division II All American quarterback at Northern Michigan. After completing school, he was an assistant coach at Northern Michigan before taking a position at Cal State Fullerton. He also took some assistant jobs at USC and Louisville and did a few stints in the NFL and USFL before ending up in Berkley.

In 1996, Mariucci was given the head coaching spot at California. He only spent one season leading the Bears before he bolted for a head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers. It was here that Steve had a lot of success, compiling a 60-43 record, and he lead the 49ers to the playoffs in 4 of the 6 seasons he coached there. His time in Detroit was less than stellar and after two losing season he was canned.

College Head Coaching Record

Year	Team	Overall	Bowl	Rank#
California (Pacific Ten) (1996)
1996	California	6-6	Aloha (L)
Total:		6-6
†Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season.

Positives

Mariucci has a lot of experience in the NFL. That would likely give him some traction with recruits looking to play in the pros. He was successful at San Francisco and he obviously knows how to field a winning team. His background as a quarterback (and being a former quarterback coach) will help the Bruins develop that position, which has been a real sore point since Cade McNown was under center.

Steve also has media savy and he already works in the Los Angeles area. Not all coaches would be willing to live the "big city" lifestyle but Mariucci already does. His personal nature would likely be a big plus with recruits.


Negatives

Mariucci is a strong proponent of the West Coast Offense. UCLA, and other schools like Nebraska, haven't performed well running the WCO at the college level. If he isn't willing to adapt his offensive ideas to the college game then the Bruin offense might continue to struggle.

Since he is currently out of the coaching ranks, he might be willing to take a job at a lower pay then when he left. Still Mariucci's contract in the NFL was paying well over $2 million a year. The Bruins probably would not be able to pay even close to that. If he does take a big pay cut, expect him to bolt at the first NFL job that is offered (just like he did with Cal).

Verdict

Mariucci looks like a great coach for the NFL. He has spent most of his coaching career at that level and I'm sure that is where he wants to return. I don't think UCLA will be able to pay for his services and, even if we could, he would likely be gone after a year or two. I think the football program would be better served by finding a coach willing to stay for at least 4-5 years to build this team into a conference power. With the large amount of turnover in the coaching staff over the last 5 seasons, the last thing I want is another big shake up in a few years.

(photo credit: Sports Illustrated)