SB Nation User Blog: Bruinut

Mike Leach to be on Jim Rome Friday

Bruinut — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:44:42 -0000

Sept. 26. Not sure what time. Rome's show is 9am-12pm PT.

Unlike the tight-lipped, cliché-ridden babble that most coaches offer, Leach says what's on his mind. He actually responded to a request from a fan for advice on dating.

Mike Leach on dating

Mike Leach on animatronic pirate skeletons, Van Gogh, Tonga warriors, and Jose Canseco

"Conversate." This guy is a hoot. And, incidentally, I notice his team is winning.

Thanks, Dan

Bruinut — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:40:57 -0000

It had been on my mental to-do list to follow up my beseeching letter to Dan Guerrero in the days leading up to Coach Neuheisel's hire. But, like many of my good intentions, it would have been easy to let this courtesy slide until it was too late.

That is, until 66 gently prodded us Bruin fans in a comment to express our thanks to Mr. Guerrero. He's right, I thought. It's only fair.

So, here is my follow-up letter to Dan Guerrero. It could well be my last letter to him. It seems that he knows what he's doing, and no longer needs my help.

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Dear Mr. Guerrero,

I wrote to you when you were conducting a search for the next UCLA head football coach. In my letter, I expressed consternation about our seeming lack of aspirations for excellence in football. It has seemed to me for many years now that UCLA has been content with "pretty good" in football.

I reminisced about Coach Tommy Prothro, and how, with his brilliant football mind and his superb teaching abilities, he had provided many Bruins, including myself, with lifetimes of vivid thrills and fond memories. For 2008 and beyond, I wanted UCLA to serve unabashed notice that it was going for more than pretty good. I wanted UCLA to reach for the top.

Well, since I was brazen enough to think that you might care what I think before you hired Coach Neuheisel, it's only fair that I write to you afterwards.

This second letter is one of sincere gratitude and appreciation, not only for your hire, but also for the way you went about the search. I could not be happier about UCLA football today. Although you didn't hire my first choice for head coach, Coach Neuheisel has won me over in spades. I think that Coach Neuheisel is the best man for the job, and for the right reasons. And, I'm not alone. As one can readily see in the Bruins blogosphere, there is a new fervor for UCLA football. We can't wait for spring training to start.

From the bottom of my Bruin Blue heart, thank you, Mr. Guerrero. I think that you represented UCLA extremely well throughout this process. You conducted the search with professionalism and integrity, especially as compared to other coaching searches going on at the same time. You navigated some difficult waters concerning retention of current coaches. You addressed troublesome concerns over Coach Neuheisel's past. You dealt with financial and budgetary constraints. And, you did all this with dignity and class.

As if that weren't enough, you gave to Bruin fans like myself exactly what we wanted -- namely, a head coach who isn't afraid to challenge for the top. A coach who understands, and shares, the enormous pride that we all have in this great university.

Thank you profoundly, Mr. Guerrero. You make us proud.

Sincerely,

(Bruinut)

UCLA 1968

RN Stories

Bruinut — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:43:42 -0000

Frankly, I am still swooning. It feels so good and so right to be really excited about UCLA football again. RN has so quickly said all the right things in just the right way, and has so deftly disarmed and charmed the media by taking the issues head-on that he has swept me off my feet. He has been very impressive.

Well, my new crush on RN has come from mere scraps of material. A few brief interviews in different papers, the UCLA press conference, and a couple of impromptu TV chats, most recently at the Rose Bowl yesterday.

That's it. A few days, a few snippets, a few glimpses, and I'm buzzed. If that's not charisma, of the very best kind, then I don't know what is. If I weren't so happily married, I'd think my compass needle was getting reoriented.

Anyway, because there have been so many good RN anecdotes and stories over the last few days, I thought I'd propose a "diary" of little RN anecdotes, impressions, stories, whatever, by the folks of BN. What did you like? What were your impressions? What hasn't been talked about much? There are so many people here who express themselves well, it will make for fun reading.

Not long essays, just little takes, little stories. The intent is not to canonize RN, just to do a little anecdote swapping, like BB's tale of the Alabama bank teller. Silly, probably, but it has been so long since I have felt this way. Please forgive me. I can't help it if I like reading this stuff and feeling this feeling again and again.

I'll kick it off with what I call the "Rick Neuheisel is UCLA's Rudy" story.

I don't remember all the facts, and I may be guilty of overdramatizing, but the story was of his early days as walk-on QB. The original article might have quoted his roommate at the time. Sorry; I'm not a journalist. If I have to, I'll try to find my "sources."

Anyway, as something like fourth-string QB, he would be the guy to play the part of their upcoming opponent's QB during the week's practice against the first team defense. Day after day, he'd come back to the room, battered and bruised, sometimes bloodied.

Yet, rather than feeling sorry for himself, he'd speak of how his role was important because, the better he played, and the better he mimicked the other guy, the better he'd prepare the defense. The better he was, the better the team would be. No self-pity. No pining for glory. Just exuberence in the joint effort, and thorough motivation in a mission. And, rock steadiness in his role.

That is EXACTLY the kind of guy I want heading UCLA football. Way to go, Dan.

Thanks, Bruins

Bruinut — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:08:01 -0000

Maybe it's the (almost) new year optimism speaking, or it could be the Saturday-bowl-watching-and-UCLA-has-new-coach celebration taking place right now in liquid form, but I just wanted to pass out some "Thank you's".

Thanks, first of all, to all the thoughtful and articulate posters here on Bruins Nation. To say I was engrossed in this ongoing drama would be an understatement. And, here, everyday, someone was discussing revealing stats, informative commentary, and delicious rumors. All this great material was high-energy food for my obsessive interest in this search. Thanks, good people. I don't know how I could have survived the ordeal without you.

Thanks to Dan Guerrero. A big part of my engrossment with this hire was, frankly, a fear of our blowing it. Mostly, I was a mixture of confident and hopeful that Dan would do it right. But, the dread would creep in now and then. The thought of having to live another decade or so with UCLA football mired in mediocrity concerned me in the same way that the thought of surviving a loved one would. Thank you, Mr. Guerrero, for conducting this search with purpose, professionalism, and dignity. Thank you for representing UCLA well. And, thank you for saving me much anguish in coming years.

And, a second, separate "Thank you" award to be shared by Bruins Nation and Dump Dorrell, in the Speculation category, for the possible effect you might have had on this outcome. I don't know that there was an effect, but I'd bet so. Perhaps slight, but probably significant. Without your passionate and reasoned voices reminding DG, if he was listening at all, of what we did and didn't want, he would have heard certain other voices disproportionately.

There are many others I'd like to thank, Rick Neuheisel, Chancellor Block, the academy, but I see my time is up. Now, if y'all don't mind, I'm going to continue celebrating, and basking in the team victory. I believe in keeping a bottle of champagne around, just in case something good happens. Tonight's the night!

One more voice

Bruinut — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:41:05 -0000

Bumped. Again if you are looking to let the UCLA administration know what you expect out of this search please email Dan Guerrero at dguerrero@athletics.ucla.edu and Chancellor Gene Block at chancellor@conet.ucla.edu, and let them know respectfully and politely that neither CHOKER (Chow + Walker) nor Walker will be acceptable at UCLA. If you are an alum or student, please make sure to indicate your graduating class in your emails. As always feel free to post your email in the comment thread to share with rest of BN. GO BRUINS. -N

Here is my letter to Dan Guerrero. I used my real name in the letter to him.

Dear Mr. Guerrero,

In my life as Bruins fan, I have been enormously blessed. I had the very great fortune of being a student at UCLA when both John Wooden and Tommy Prothro were our teams' head coaches.

Coach Wooden and his teams, of course, provided surreal joys and memories for fans. And Coach Prothro did for the football team what Coach Wooden did for basketball -- namely, elevate UCLA to the national stage.

Not only did Coach Prothro and the Bruins stand toe-to-toe with John McKay and the mighty Trojans teams, we were but an errant kick away from the national championship one year. Even with that disappointment, these were years that I will treasure forever.

Great coaches produce great thrills for their fans. It was no accident that Coach Prothro's teams were as good as any in the country. It wasn't because UCLA's talent was vastly superior. On the contrary, we were undersized compared to many.

We won because we were so well coached. We won because, as professor of the football team, Coach Prothro was a superb instructor. His teams ignored their shortcomings, played to their strengths, and surprised many a physically superior team. We won because we were daring and bold.

This is what good coaches do. They teach. They instruct. They lead. They inspire. I saw, first-hand, a 170-pound linebacker stop an unstoppable horse of a running back to seal a win in the Rose Bowl for the Bruins against an unbeatable Michigan State team. The "little" linebacker got knocked silly in the process. This legendary Bruin, one Bobby Stiles, was driven to excellence, against all odds, because he was so well prepared and so inspired.

I saw, first-hand, Gary Beban launch two long, perfect missiles to a streaking Dick Witcher and a streaking Kurt Altenberg in the last five minutes to steal a victory from the mighty Trojans. Again, we overcame size and, perhaps, talent deficiencies with great coaching. I can still feel the drama. I can still see the crisp passes. I can still hear myself screaming with pure joy. Like I say, I have been enormously blessed.

In football, it has been a long time since I have felt that UCLA had a big advantage in coaching. Coaches Vermeil, Donahue, and Toledo achieved successes and provided thrills. But, I don't think it is too much of a generalization to say that, especially during Coach Donahue and Coach Dorrell's years, our teams have played as much or more not to lose as to win. You can see it in timid game plans and conservative play calling. And, on the UCLA administration's side, you can see it in a lack of insistence on having an excellent, proven coach.

We don't stand tall, thrust out our chins, and say "We're going for the big prize." We're content, it seems, with an occasional big win and bowl game. We're content, it seems, with pretty good. We're content, it seems, with inconsistency.

"I have often said, `The mark of a true champion is to always perform near your own level of competency.' We were able to do that by never being satisfied with the past and always planning for what was to come. I believe that failure to prepare is preparing to fail. This constant focus on the future is one reason we continued staying near the top once we got there."
--John Wooden

Speaking as one lifelong, passionate Bruins fan, this is what we want in a UCLA head football coach. We want a coach who knows that inconsistency, ultimately, rests on coaches. We want a coach who is not afraid of going against the best because he has confidence in his and his assistants' ability to teach. We want a coach who is driven by passion, not inhibited by caution. We want a coach who is not content with pretty good.

Understand, speaking for myself, we don't have to win all the time. We just want to see consistently excellent preparation, consistent all-out effort, and continual improvement. The results will take care of themselves. UCLA and UCLA fans deserves a quality, proven head football coach.

As you well know, this will take serious commitment, financial and otherwise, on UCLA's part. And, as you well know, one doesn't luck into conference championships or national success. There are, I feel, several "home run hires" out there, coaches who can return UCLA to national prominence. Given your track record in finding quality coaches for other UCLA sports, I am optimistic that you can find the next great UCLA head football coach.

Please choose wisely, Mr. Guerrero. May you be inspired by the greats. May you find a coach who can give to current generations of UCLA students some of the many thrills that I was so lucky to receive.

Go Bruins.

(Bruinut)

UCLA, 1968