Toledo Facing a Fateful Day

UCLA is headed for a town that will take a bet on anything, but wagers on whether Bob Toledo will be back for another season had better be laid quickly.

The Bruin coach of seven years is expected to learn his fate today in a meeting with Athletic Director Dan Guerrero.

Uncertainty surrounding the coaching job might have cost UCLA a better bowl bid than the one it accepted Sunday. The Bruins will play in the Las Vegas Bowl against New Mexico on Christmas Day.

A 48-27 loss Washington State on Saturday left UCLA with a 7-5 record, 4-4 and in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Bruins were passed over by the Holiday Bowl (which took third-place Arizona State), the Sun Bowl (which took 4-4 Washington) and the Insight Bowl (which took 4-4 Oregon State).

Holiday and Insight bowl officials indicated that the prospect of inviting a team with a lame-duck coach was a consideration in bypassing UCLA, although the school’s reputation for not bringing many fans to road games was a bigger factor.

The Sun Bowl did not want the Bruins because they played in the game recently, in 2000.

“I have no idea on the decision-making process” of bowl officials, Toledo said. “I do know it’s been very difficult for our team. There is a lot of doubt and uncertainty.”

Toledo has a record of 49-32, but is 24-24 since a 20-game winning streak and Pac-10 titles in 1997-98. UCLA has lost four in a row to rival USC, and the 52-21 defeat to the Trojans Nov. 23 prompted loud calls for a coaching change.

Guerrero, in his first year at UCLA after 10 years as athletic director at UC Irvine, has not tipped his hand. He has refused interview requests since the USC game, prompting sources at Irvine to believe he is poised to make a change.

“When he dropped out of sight for a while, he was getting ready to fire somebody,” said one person close to Irvine.

After the loss to Washington State, Guerrero would not give Toledo a vote of confidence, saying he had not made a decision. Toledo is uncertain whether his boss will continue in an evaluative mode during their meeting or simply hand him either a contract or a pink slip.

Another course of action could be to demand that the coach make changes on his staff, including hiring somebody to take over play-calling.

“I’m looking forward to the meeting with Dan and coming to a decision,” Toledo said. “He either already knows what he wants to do or is close.”

Given an opportunity, Toledo plans to fight for his job.

“We won three in a row before losing our last two, but unfortunately that’s not what people remember,” he said. “We won two championships and people expected an awful lot after that.”

Does he believe losing his job would be unfair?

“Personally, I do,” he said. “To do what we’ve done this season with so many freshmen playing, I think it says something about the future of this football team. It’s sad this has gone on. It’s hurt us. It’s hurt our recruiting, it’s hurt my coaching staff and it’s hurt the players.”

While no Bruin players have said their coach should be fired, several are noncommittal. Others back Toledo.

“If it was my decision, I’d keep him,” senior cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. said. “He’s got a chemistry built here that will lead to winning seasons. He’s a good coach and the program is rising.”

Guerrero has made it clear that his expectations for a coach go beyond wins and losses. He expects every Bruin player to give maximum effort at all times. Toledo believes his team has done so despite one-sided losses to clearly superior USC and Washington State.

“[Guerrero] refers to ‘busting it,’ and I think we’ve done so,” Toledo said. “We played hard every game. There was not a game our kids laid down. We put people in the seats and off the field our kids improved tremendously.”

Regardless of the decision, Toledo wants to coach in the Las Vegas Bowl, which provides an $800,000 payout to UCLA. His friend, former Bruin assistant Rocky Long, is the New Mexico coach. UCLA has not won a bowl game since beating Texas A&M; in the 1998 Cotton Bowl.

“The kids will be excited to play in a bowl game, that’s all that matters to them,” Toledo said. “It’s a great reward, especially for the seniors. I feel very strongly about that. This team is a family.”

His own family is handling the torturous uncertainty. Toledo’s wife, Elaine, tearfully thanked Bruin supporters while holding one of her granddaughters near the locker room Saturday.

UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale had private words with Toledo and gave him a warm embrace.

Whether it was a goodbye hug should be determined today.