It’s time for Dorrell to stake his claim to L.A.

Four years ago this week I was writing about Dan Evans, the Micro Manager, Todd Hundley, Paul Lo Duca, Karl Dorrell, Eric Gagne and Shawn Green.

They’re all gone now with the exception of Dorrell, and tell me you would have won that bet.

He begins his fifth season at UCLA, as shocking a sports accomplishment in the L.A. area as anything else to happen over the last five years when you consider the fact he was in over his head from the start and compared weekly with the likes of Pete Carroll.

We’re talking Paul DePodesta here, center stage in L.A. without a safety net, and USC had a longer winning streak than DePodesta’s time on the job.

There’s just not a lot of patience in this town when it comes to delivering prime-time entertainment, and tell me right now, what do you think: Is Dorrell here to stay, or is he on his way out?

His team won 10 games two years ago, he got the best of Carroll last season and kept USC from playing for the national championship, and yet he cannot escape a media moment without someone wanting to know if he has what it takes to prove himself worthy to still be coaching UCLA.

“I like that,” he says. “It’s the chip on my shoulder. And that’s OK; it keeps me on edge. I’ve operated my whole life that way: if I don’t do my job, I’m going to get fired.”

He’s done his job, even excelling at times, but if only there were some consistency. Just when things start looking good for Dorrell, there’s always a not-so-fast reminder: A 6-2 mark to begin his career and then five straight losses to end the season; a thrilling loss to USC and then a numbing loss to Wyoming; a 9-1 record and then a 47-point defeat to the Trojans; and last season 4-1 out of the gate only to lose the next four.

It’s shocking the world one day with a solid win over USC, and then tossing it all into the dumper a few weeks later with a collapse against Florida State.

So many encouraging signs, but 21 losses during the same amount of time that USC has lost only four.

“It’s the point in the program where all these kids are mine,” Dorrell says, and is that good or bad?

The folks who watch these things closely put UCLA in the top 20 to start the season, but how do the Bruins finish?

A year ago everyone in the football program wore a blue wristband, a reminder of the team’s goal to win the Pac-10 title, but it’s probably not a good sign if they needed to wear a wristband to remind them of such a thing.

This year the band is white, and it reads: “Finish Pac-10 Champs.”

“We’ve got to finish whatever we’re doing,” Dorrell adds, and a favorable schedule looks as if it could give the Bruins a chance to be undefeated when they take on USC. But what are the chances of UCLA moving forward without some sort of misstep?

“We’re a good team,” Dorrell says, and he’s become a good coach if measured against how far he has come since arriving in town.

He’s faced the criticism, constant on occasion, and has not become bitter. He’s listened to the criticism and at times has embraced it, making changes in how he goes about his job.

And as for the criticism that he’s no Pete Carroll -- there was that day in December last season when no one at UCLA seemed to mind. The question still lingers in the minds of many, though: Is Dorrell the right guy for the job, 25 seniors, 20 returning starters and a highly touted quarterback giving him every chance to emphatically make his case?

Or, join the likes of Evans, the Micro Manager and Lo Duca elsewhere.

SAT DOWN with quarterback Ben Olson. I believe he’s older than I am.

He went to Brigham Young, spent two years on a church mission, and has been at UCLA, I believe, for the last 10 years or so. He got married in May, has one more year after this one at UCLA and has NFL aspirations.

He started the first five games last season, was up and down in performance, injured a knee and disappeared.

He says he gained a lot of experience while on his church mission learning how to talk to people about religion -- a delicate subject at times. No way he’s going to say the wrong thing and have it end up in some heathen reporter’s notebook.

That makes him more boring than Dorrell, which is really an accomplishment, although he promises to be more exciting on the field.

“I came here because I wanted to play big-time football, and the way this team has come together in getting ready for this season, this is the time to do it,” he says, and that’s as close as he came to offering anything of interest.

I left -- actually looking forward to hear what Dorrell might have to say.

I’LL GET excited about David Wells as soon as he wins as many games as Brett Tomko, which I believe will still be a considerable challenge. He needs one more.

Tomko pitched six innings in his first outing for the Dodgers this year, giving up one hit and no runs.

First impressions aren’t always the correct ones.

THEY’RE GOING to give out Tom Lasorda bobblehead dolls at a Dodgers game on Sept. 14, although I would think this would have been the perfect time to make them bobblestomach dolls.

Lasorda and his wife, Jo, sent a bag of toys to Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA recently, and Lasorda has agreed to play Santa again for the kids’ party.

He also said this week, if for some reason the Dodgers don’t make the playoffs, he will buy $1,000 in toys for the youngsters. It’s nice to know that Santa Claus still believes in the Dodgers.

--

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.