Karl Dorrell, 39, has a corner office. By most standards,
he’s way ahead of schedule.
He could pass for 30. It probably wouldn’t surprise the
youthful Dorrell if he were mistaken for one of his players.
And yet, perhaps because he speaks like a 55-year-old veteran
and not like a rookie head coach, he now sits in a plush office
overlooking Bruin Walk with a sign that reads, “Karl Dorrell,
Head Football Coach.”
I sat down with Dorrell on May 16 to see what he’s been up
to, now that he’s been on the job for five months.
Jeff Agase: What has been the most unexpected adjustment
you’ve had to make as a head coach?
Karl Dorrell: The toughest adjustment has been the amount of
football I’m not able to coach anymore. For so long I was a
hands-on guy coaching a position, being a key decision-maker in an
offense. Now that I’m a decision-maker running a program, I
don’t get to do the football side as much. I’m more on
the administrative side.
JA: What kind of offensive scheme have you been running?
KD: In spring, we did more of a foundation for a system. You
don’t just come in and say, “All right. Here’s
the playbook. This is what we’re doing.” You start
somewhere, but then, as you get to know your players, you start to
tailor and tinker for what you think best suits the talent on the
team.
JA: You say you didn’t do anything too heavy in spring,
but from what I’ve heard from the players, they’ve
never worked harder.
KD: It’s a change for them. There’s a certain
approach that I’m bringing, where I want our players to play
fast. I want them to practice that way, so that when you play on
Saturday, there’s no change from what you’ve been doing
because you’ve been brought up that way, so to speak. If you
preach that from the beginning and work their butts on how we want
it done, once they reach that level of understanding, I think the
game is easy.
JA: So I did a bit of research. I’ve seen you a couple of
times in Ackerman Union, and I waited and waited for someone to do
a double-take, but nobody noticed you.
KD: That’s a good thing! Obviously, we’re not in
season, so that will change. I’m actually enjoying it, just
being a quote-unquote normal guy walking around campus.
JA: It won’t be that way if you’re winning.
KD: Or losing, right? (Laughter.) Either way, it’s
probably going to change, but hopefully it’ll be a good
change.
JA: Reading about you, I saw the name “Dorrellius.”
What’s that all about?
KD: That was a name my coach at the time, Homer Smith, gave me.
I was a very prideful player. I didn’t like making mistakes,
and when I ran routes, I wanted to make sure they were perfect. So
whenever somebody else did something the way I was doing it,
he’d say, “Oh, that’s
“˜Dorrellius’.” Actually, he called me
“Dorrellius,” but he’d call the technique
“Dorrellian.” All of a sudden, my teammates would call
me “Dorrellius,” like I’m some kind of Greek god.
(Laughter.)
JA: I know this is a pretty standard question, but did you ever
picture yourself looking out over Bruin Walk like this?
KD: When Terry Donahue talked me into coaching, he said,
“Someday, you might be the coach here at UCLA.” And
then that light bulb came on.
JA: But you hadn’t ever considered coaching?
KD: I had never really thought about coaching at all. It was
kind of a carrot he put in front of me.
JA: If you had some sort of message to UCLA students, what would
it be?
KD: The bottom line is that you’re going to be proud of
the team you see play this year. You’re going to see a team
that plays hard and you’re going to be proud of what they do
on the field.
JA: And hopefully people will see you on campus and say,
“Hey, Coach Dorrell!”
KD: But in a good way!
Agase thinks Bruin football is in good hands. E-mail him at
jagase@media.ucla.edu.