Snow Named Defensive Coordinator

There were no questions about how to improve the defense, no suggestions for a new scheme and no offers of another position. UCLA Coach Bob Toledo simply summoned defensive coordinator Bob Field to campus for a meeting, then fired him.

It was announced Wednesday that Toledo had replaced Field, a UCLA assistant for 22 years, with former Arizona State defensive coordinator Phil Snow.

Snow will become the fourth defensive coordinator in six seasons under Toledo.

The Bruins allowed a school-record 368 points this season. Field’s job had been in jeopardy since the Bruins gave up 557 yards in a 38-35 loss to USC Nov. 18, after which Toledo publicly criticized the UCLA defense and declined to say whether Field would return.

“I can’t say I’m a scapegoat,” Field said. “The bottom line is, we gave up a lot of points and we gave up a lot of yards.

“But I do feel a real peace of mind with who I am as a person and as a football coach. I know I am a good football coach. What happened this week and this year does not make me feel any different.”

Toledo fired Field last Saturday, one day after the Bruins’ 21-20 Sun Bowl loss to Wisconsin. Snow said Toledo called him Saturday night and offered him the job Sunday.

Toledo then started calling his players, many of whom had publicly supported Field and scoffed at the notion of another defensive coordinator, and another new system.

“It wasn’t really a shock. It was more of a disappointment,” said safety Marques Anderson. “It’s hard to put everything on Coach Field. If it changes things, then it was a good decision.”

Anderson said Toledo stressed that, under Snow, the Sun Devils ran a 4-3, the same base defense the Bruins ran under Field. Snow blitzes more frequently, from a variety of angles. The Sun Devils forced 36 turnovers this season, leading the Pacific 10 Conference and ranking third in the nation.

Coincidentally, the Bruins gained a season-high 500 yards against Snow’s defense in a 38-31 victory over Arizona State Sept. 30.

Snow said his first priority would be to convince linebacker Robert Thomas to return for his senior season. “That will be our biggest recruit, to keep him in school,” Snow said.

Snow was an assistant to Bruce Snyder for 14 seasons, nine at Arizona State--the last seven as defensive coordinator--and five at California. After the Sun Devils fired Snyder in November, Snow agreed to become defensive coordinator at Illinois Dec 15, but only after Arizona State played in the Aloha Bowl nine days later. Snow, who has never worked outside the West, said he called Illinois Coach Ron Turner from Hawaii and turned down the job he had accepted.

“I’ve never done anything like that,” Snow said. “I don’t feel great about what I did.”

Snow said Turner told him, “If it’s not right for you, I don’t want you here,” but asked that he not announce his change of heart until Wednesday so Illinois could search for a new coordinator with minimal damage to recruiting.

Toledo, who never had fired an assistant, was unavailable for comment. In a statement, he called the dismissal “a difficult decision for me to make but one I felt had to be made in the best interest of the program.” In 29 seasons as an assistant coach, Field never had been fired.

When longtime Coach Terry Donahue retired in 1995, Athletic Director Peter Dalis promoted Toledo, then the offensive coordinator, over Field, then the defensive coordinator. Toledo retained Field on the staff but did not employ him as defensive coordinator until after Rocky Long left to become head coach at New Mexico and Nick Aliotti left under pressure to become defensive coordinator at Oregon.