Bruins’ Call to Success Cut Off

UCLA will undergo profound changes next year in football, far beyond the ones that result from the loss of 10 senior starters.

Coach Bob Toledo will relinquish play-calling duties and assume a more hands-on role in administrative matters.

The name of every player will be checked through police computers to uncover arrests.

The automobile of every player will be registered with the athletic department.

And an athletics official will be assigned as a watchdog to check on players’ after-hours habits: What are they driving? Are they associating with agents? Are they getting into fights?

“We will get more involved,” Toledo said. “[Athletic Director] Pete Dalis has people in mind in the department who can be active in checking out the players. I can’t do it. It’s a time thing. Am I here to coach football or be an FBI agent? But somebody in the athletic department will do it.”

The coach will be busy enough devising ways to keep the team motivated.

UCLA’s climb to 6-0 and a No. 4 ranking at midseason apparently was fatiguing to some players and so exciting to another the news had to be shared--on a cell phone from a restroom less than an hour before the Bruins took the field at Stanford on Oct. 27.

Defensive coordinator Phil Snow walked in on the clandestine cellular conversation and became livid. Other players, meanwhile, were nodding off in front of their lockers.

The result was predictable. UCLA fell behind by 21 points in the first half and lost, 38-28, triggering a four-game slide longer and more stomach-churning than anything at Raging Waters. It also triggered a ban on players’ cell phone use before games next season.

When the Bruins hit bottom, they were unranked, out of the bowl picture and in disarray.

So much disarray, in fact, that Toledo’s ability to manage crisis was called into question.

The complacency of key players and erratic play-calling were problems, to be sure, but the most damaging issues came off the field.

Tailback DeShaun Foster, a Heisman Trophy candidate who rushed for 1,109 yards in eight games, was ineligible the last three games because for six weeks he drove a 2002 Ford Expedition that did not belong to him.

Quarterback Cory Paus hid two alcohol-related driving convictions from Toledo, and they came to light two days before the USC game. Toledo allowed him to play, the Bruins lost, 27-0, and Paus was relegated to third string in the finale, a 52-42 victory over Arizona State that left UCLA 7-4, 4-4 and in sixth place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

The collapse prompted soul-searching from administrators to coaches to players.

Dalis will retire in June, and new policies will fall to his successor, who will not be chosen until the spring. Leading candidates are Betsy Stephenson, a current associate athletic director, and Gene Bleymaier, athletic director at Boise State and a former UCLA football player.

Before departing, Dalis plans to beef up the amount of Toledo’s buyout to increase his job security. The athletic director hired the coach and won’t fire him.

So the affable and open Toledo will be back for a seventh season. His relaxed management style is refreshing in a profession dominated by dictators, but while some players thrive under the gentle hand, others take advantage.

“When we went to 6-0, everybody was telling us how great we were,” he said. “As coaches we knew there were problems. Guys were not as focused as they needed to be.

“When we become a little relaxed because of the pats on the back, success turned to failure.”

UCLA has developed a disturbing pattern of falling apart after starting well. Last season three victories were followed by a 3-6 finish, including losses in the last three games.

In 1999, the Bruins lost four of their last five and were 4-7. In ‘98, the last time UCLA had talent equal to this year’s squad, a 10-0 record was blemished by losses to Miami and Wisconsin.

“This year it was like somebody put a big pin in the balloon,” Toledo said.

After a 21-20 loss to Oregon knocked the Bruins out of the Fiesta Bowl picture, several of the 23 seniors began looking beyond the season to a potential NFL career. A walk-on defensive lineman stood during a meeting and called them out, saying, “I’m just happy to be here and put this uniform on every day.”

The embarrassing performance against USC the following week was an indication the pep talk didn’t sink in.

UCLA’s lukewarm response to overtures from the Silicon Valley and Humanitarian bowls didn’t particularly bother the team. Dalis indicated the school was unwilling to take a projected loss of $300,000 to play in the Humanitarian Bowl, saying the money would be better spent on the $11-million athletic facility that will break ground in February.

It will include new locker and weight rooms, a medical training center and meeting areas.

A handful of boosters and season ticket holders expressed displeasure that administrators reached that decision based in part on the assumption that few Bruins fans would travel to Boise.

Said one season ticket holder: “The UCLA athletic department could have e-mailed season ticket holders to see if they were willing to pay $33 to see their team in a bowl regardless of travel. At least the supporters would have felt like they were a part of the decision-making.

“Only a second-rate program would avoid spending $300,000 on publicity and recruiting, and instead refurbish a gym for players that know they won’t go to a bowl with a 7-4 record.”

Next year’s team won’t be saddled with expectations nearly as high. After losing Foster, All-American linebacker Robert Thomas and many other seniors starters, a 7-4 record might be the best it can do.

Toledo said he will not fire any assistants and does not expect Snow to leave for a head coaching position. However, the head coach will no longer call plays, shifting the duty to offensive coordinator Kelly Skipper or hiring a new coordinator and allowing Skipper to focus on his role as running backs coach.

“I do know I need to step back a little bit and take a less active role in play-calling,” Toledo said. “It hurt me with the total picture. There was too much for me to do. I was spending a lot more time in meetings and game planning and not handling administrative things.”

Key defensive changes next season will include Mat Ball returning to his natural position of defensive end after spending a year at outside linebacker and Matt Ware probably moving from cornerback to free safety.

Toledo said All-Pac 10 cornerback Ricky Manning will return for his senior year.

On offense, Paus will fight to regain his job, competing against senior Ryan McCann, redshirt freshman John Sciarra and incoming freshmen Matt Moore and Drew Olson.

“There will be a flat-out competition,” Toledo said. “I’m going to let the freshmen compete for the job and go with whoever gives us the best chance to win.”

Ware, who stepped in at quarterback and ran a few option plays against Oregon and USC, is not a candidate for full-time duty at the position. He will miss summer workouts because he will begin a pro baseball career in the Seattle Mariners’ farm system.

Running backs Akil Harris and Manuel White, receivers Tab Perry, Craig Bragg and Ryan Smith, and tight end Mike Seidman will give the Bruins experienced offensive weapons.

Newcomers who could make an impact include speedy running back Tyler Ebell, who was impressive on scout teams while redshirting this season, and Junior Taylor, a receiver who was admitted academically Wednesday.

Recruiting continues to go well despite the late-season freefall. Toledo said none of the 17 players who made commitments have backed off.

But first, the last vestiges of a season gone awry must be confronted. Two players must serve jail time in January, Paus four days for his second alcohol-related driving offense and defensive end Asi Faoa 180 days for punching a student at a fraternity party in April, 2000.

“It’s better to come forward and admit guilt and not prolong it,” Toledo said. “It’s something I’ll talk to the football team about. It’s a great lesson for everyone.”

And it is just one of many lessons drawn from a season that can be most charitably chalked up as a valuable learning experience.