Toledo Confirms Contract Offer for Seven Years With Rollover Clause

Coach Bob Toledo said Tuesday he has reached an agreement in principle on a new contract.

Toledo confirmed that it is a seven-year rollover package, guaranteeing the long-term security he had been seeking.

“This is where I want to be,” he said. “I’ve said that all along. I want to finish my career at UCLA.”

He would not disclose the financial worth of the deal.

Toledo said he expects to sign the new deal early in the new year, after the Bruins play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and after the lawyers complete the paperwork.

“It appears it’s pretty much finalized,” he said. “It’s gone to the attorneys, to read all the writing.

“I’m just happy they’re getting it finalized.”

For several reasons.

Toledo had heard that schools were using his uncertain future against the Bruins in recruiting.

Announcement of a contract of this magnitude should not only put an end to such talk, but may give Toledo and his staff the new weapon of even greater stability to use when the recruiting push begins anew after the Rose Bowl.

The deal itself is also coveted because it includes the rollover clause, which will keep Toledo on a permanent seven-year contract.

That was one way the UCLA administration could counter the bigger offers from college and NFL teams without actually matching the annual salaries.

Toledo listened to the approaches, but had said all along he was hopeful that something could be worked out with UCLA.

It’s the second new contract for Toledo in about six months.

He was bumped from $403,000 to $453,000 annually, and given another two years to take the deal out to 2003, when he signed in June.

Toledo’s increasing popularity with NFL teams, along with the success of the Bruins, prompted that raise. Only when UCLA again saw potential suitors did it approach Toledo about this deal.

Toledo is 25-9 in his three years with the Bruins, including a school-record 20-game winning streak, a 10-2 record in 1997 and a 10-1 mark this season heading into the Rose Bowl.

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The bad news continues for the defensive line.

Pete Holland, the starter at right end, was wearing a brace Tuesday to protect his sprained left elbow but again did not practice. He will not be in the opening lineup against Wisconsin, and Toledo said, “I think he’s going to struggle to play.”

This comes with several problems at nose guard.

Starter Micah Webb was already out because of a torn knee ligament, and the new No. 1 there, Ken Kocher, has been battling flu.

Now Kory Lombard, the walk-on who would have been the backup, sprained his ankle and is not expected to play. That moves fourth-string Stephen Sua, normally an end, into that spot.

At least Kocher returned to practice Tuesday.

The new projected starting lineup:

Right end--Anthony Fletcher, a freshman who will be making the first start of his career in the Rose Bowl.

Nose guard--Kocher, a freshman who will be making the first start of his career in the Rose Bowl.

Left end--Kenyon Coleman, a sophomore.

“Physically, they’re wonderful,” defensive line coach Terry Tumey said of the freshmen. “They’re exactly what you’d want. But emotionally, from a maturity standpoint, they’re green, even though they have played a lot this year. But they’ll be all right if they go out and play hard.”