The 2003 Pac-10 media day was appropriately held at a hotel
adjacent to LAX ““ recently coaches in the conference have
been taking off and landing as often as the nearby jets.
Mike Riley has returned as head coach to Oregon State, replacing
Dennis Erickson, while Bill Doba replaced Mike Price; Keith
Gilbertson was hired July 28 to replaced the fired Rick Neuhisel.
Then, there is UCLA’s head coach Karl Dorrell.
With all these new coaches, many feel there is a great deal of
parity in the conference, and to a certain extent, this was
reflected in the West Coast media pre-season poll. UCLA was picked
to finish sixth, trailing fifth-place Oregon by one vote. USC
topped the poll but only led Arizona State by three votes.
With UCLA picked to finish in the middle of the pack, and surely
picking up an underdog role, does this mean a return to the days of
the “gutty little Bruins” ““ the era of UCLA
football Dorrell experienced as a player?
“You have got to begin somewhere,” Dorrell said.
“Hopefully we will build the program and it will not be
perceived (as underdogs). We are gutty little Bruins, and I think
that is a term of endearment, maybe it’s not that bad of a
thing to have.”
The pre-season media poll has correctly picked the Conference
champion the past three years in a row and four out of the past
five years.
UCLA players were represented by senior wide receiver Craig
Bragg, who enters the season with more receiving yards and catches
than any previous receiver in school history and was named
All-Pac-10 honorable mention last season. Bragg is eager to begin
the season under a former player.
“It is easy to take advice from someone who played in the
Rose Bowl,” Bragg said. “It’s awesome.”
But more importantly, Bragg sees the shift in the Bruins’
mentality as the biggest improvement to the team. He said that
after UCLA’s loss to Colorado this past season,
“Everyone gave up. But not this year.”
Dorrell echoed that sentiment.
“I believe attitude is what makes up a person,” he
said. “When your attitude is in a positive direction it
helps.”
Including UCLA football alumni in this year’s team will
reinforce that positive attitude. Dorrell has extended an open
invitation to former players to stop by practice and communicate
with the team.
“I am trying to build a family atmosphere ““ I
don’t want former players to feel like strangers,”
Dorrell said.
Dorrell still has not named a starting quarterback as sophomores
Drew Olsen and Matt Moore continue to compete for the job. Dorrell
said he does not anticipate naming a starting quarterback until the
end of fall practice.
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Defensive end Brigham Harwell has committed to UCLA and is the
team’s ninth commit. One of the top defensive ends in the
nation, the 6-feet-1-inch, 250-pound Harwell racked up 25 sacks his
junior season against double teams and earned All-State Underclass
honors for the second consecutive year. According to ESPN, Harwell,
who is from Hacienda Heights and went to Los Altos, is the No. 3
defensive end in the nation. Harwell should be considered the jewel
of the UCLA recruiting class so far.