After a Step Back, Can Bruins Step Forward?

Bob Toledo was considered the problem a year ago, so new Athletic Director Dan Guerrero ushered in a new era by bringing in former Bruin player Karl Dorrell as coach.

A year later, the program is in full retreat. Toledo isn’t around to take the fall this time, so two holdover assistants were fired Friday and Bruin decision-makers are in grin-and-bear-it mode for at least another season.

Dorrell is getting blistered on talk radio and in Bruin chat rooms for his 6-7 season, yet some folks believe he will learn how to be a successful head coach before his own head rolls.

Senior defensive end Dave Ball, seated half-dressed in the locker room moments after a dispiriting 17-9 loss to Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Classic on Tuesday, still stinging from a Bruin performance that stunk to high heaven, told anyone within earshot that criticism of the coach is unfounded.

“If anybody can do it, if anybody can turn this around, Coach Dorrell can,” Ball said, his voice rising. “I’m telling you, he knows how it is done. This is a great coaching staff, they are great motivators.

“The problem is not the coaching staff. I’m telling you. It’s us. If we had the focus on a daily basis, winter, spring, summer and fall, this would not have happened. It’s not the coach. It’s not.”

Apparently, Dorrell thought offensive line coach Mark Weber and tight ends coach Gary Bernardi were enough of a problem to fire them. Weber had been on staff since 1997 and Bernardi since 1994.

Dorrell also said the purge might not be over, suggesting that offensive coordinator Steve Axman might be stripped of some responsibilities.

“There were a lot of issues offensively,” Dorrell said. “We were not very good at it. To say [Weber and Bernardi] were responsible is not the case. They are part of the equation as to why we had the pitfalls we did.

“I am going to think and evaluate as we go from here. So we’ll see what happens. I want to put together the best staff possible.”

Then, of course, the best team possible. He might want to listen to Ball, probably the most credible person associated with the Bruins at the moment, having elevated his game to a record-setting, All-American level while those around him were immersed in mediocrity.

But Ball’s contention that the distractions of living in Los Angeles, temptations ranging from bikinis to barrooms, is the same refrain sung by frustrated Bruin players for years.

Ball said his eyes were opened by Tommie Harris, Teddy Lehman and Derrick Strait of Oklahoma while making the rounds of awards presentations in recent weeks.

News bulletin: Norman isn’t Westwood.

“What they were saying is that everything centered around football,” Ball said. “We’re not in the heartland of football-crazed America. But we’re not as focused as they are. We’re not as intense as they are.”

Alas, UCLA is stuck where it is, in the sun-drenched center of movie-making and mansions.

For his part, Dorrell sounded as if he wanted to find new players content to tuck themselves in early after milk and cookies.

“We need to go and recruit to fill the holes we have,” he said. “We need to bring in players with a totally different attitude.

“It’s even more apparent that there’s a ton of work that I need to do, there’s a ton of work that we need to do as a program, and I know that we’re going to have some fighters that are going to want to do those things.”

Yet UCLA is consistently losing out on blue-chip recruits to USC, whose players also live in Los Angeles but somehow manage to put enough time into football to contend for the national championship.

Winning creates recruiting momentum, and right now, UCLA has none. Dorrell often subtly disparaged the talent he inherited, but it was basically the same team that went 8-5 in 2002.

And it doesn’t appear the cavalry is riding to the rescue. In fact, there are signs of desertion. And recruits so far are mostly limited to junior college transfers and high school sleepers.

Quarterback Matt Moore already left the team, tailback Tyler Ebell has told teammates he might transfer, cornerback Matt Ware is considering leaving for the NFL, and running back Manuel White may do the same.

Even though quarterback Drew Olson seems to be regressing, the offensive line is in acute disrepair and the entire defensive line comprised seniors, some Bruins believe enough ability will remain to provide answers.

“We have some of the best talent in the country,” said Eyoseph Efseaff, a three-year starter at guard. “I believe in the players and I believe we will turn this program around.”

The players can’t be fired, that’s a given. So it is Dorrell who must change most drastically, something he has a recently acknowledged. A lifelong assistant coach and the son of a military officer, he must prove he is as capable of giving orders as he was following them.

“Some players are letting the program down and they need to be dealt with,” Ball said.

That, of course, is the case with most teams. It’s up to the coach to identify and deal appropriately with the slackers.

Dorrell spoke to the team after the bowl loss, then opened the door and remained inside, peering out somberly to where Chancellor Albert Carnesale and Guerrero stood. They made the first move, Carnesale walking over and touching the coach on the shoulder.

Dorrell did not make eye contact. Guerrero was next, but again, no words were exchanged.

There was nothing to say, just a lot to do.

“We will get this thing fixed,” Dorrell told reporters a few moments later. “I promise you that. I am going to live night and day to get it done.”

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Second Time Around

Though Karl Dorrell had a rocky first season as coach at UCLA, the real test may come next year. No UCLA coach has had a losing record in his second season in charge since Edwin Horrell’s 1940 Bruins were 1-9. A look at the first two seasons of selected UCLA head coaches:

*--* Coach Year Rec. Bill Spaulding 1925 5-3-1 1926 5-3-0 Edwin Horrell 1939 6-0-4 1940 1-9-0 Bert LaBrucherie 1945 5-4-0 1946 10-1-0 Red Sanders 1949 6-3-0 1950 6-3-0 Bill Barnes 1958 * 2-4-1 1959 5-4-1 Tommy Prothro 1965 8-2-1 1966 9-1-0 Pepper Rodgers 1971 2-7-1 1972 8-3-0 Dick Vermeil 1974 6-3-2 1975 9-2-1 Terry Donohue 1976 9-2-1 1977 7-4-0 Bob Toledo 1996 5-6-0 1997 10-2-0 * took over in fourth game of season.

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