As the new face of UCLA football, first-year coach Karl Dorrell
came back to his alma mater to reinvigorate a team that had lost
its way.
But with the honeymoon quickly coming to end and the team facing
a new set of struggles, many have come to question if Dorrell was
the right hire ““ if he is the man to lead the Bruins back to
glory.
Always stoic, Dorrell has shrugged off the criticism he has
encountered since being hired in December to replace Bob Toledo.
From the outset, he was seen by many as the wrong choice, a first
time head coach who came at a cheap price. Even when the Bruins
started the season 6-2, Dorrell faced questions about an
underachieving offense and his sideline demeanor. Now, as UCLA
suffers in the middle of a three-game losing streak heading into
Saturday’s matchup with national championship contender USC,
the already-restless Bruin fan-base is growing impatient. Many have
blamed Dorrell for the team’s perceived lack of improvement
as well as his lack of emotion on and off the field.
“It doesn’t bother me; people that are making those
reactions don’t really know me,” Dorrell said.
“Though I am very reserved in a way, I am really
strong-willed and probably as strong as anyone I know. They
don’t sense that in me because of what they see on the
outside. They don’t sense the passion in me, but it’s
there.”
“Even though I have to get egg thrown on my face in the
times of the dark cloud, I’m still moving through it and will
continue to do so,” he added.
To the public, Dorrell has continued to keep to a static persona
““ rarely altering his temperament. His tunnel vision is
focused so much on the elusive ideal of perfection, that even when
UCLA has won, Dorrell sees room for improvement.
Behind the scenes Dorrell offers a quiet sense of humor, an
energetic spirit and most importantly, inspiration and guidance for
his players.
“He has great character,” wide receiver Ryan Smith
said. “I have nothing but respect for him because of his
approach, knowledge and his passion. His presence alone commands
attention.”
While the team has been supportive of Dorrell, satisfying UCLA
fans’ thirst for wins has been more difficult. With a
mediocre 6-5 record, the Bruins appear to have taken a step back in
the past weeks, raising questions about whether Dorrell was indeed
ready to take over the program.
After a three-year stint as the wide receiver coach for the
Denver Broncos, Dorrell came to UCLA with 12 years of collegiate
coaching experience. He started coaching as a graduate assistant at
UCLA in 1988 under then head coach Terry Donahue and later went on
to coach at Colorado twice, first as the receiver coach and later
as the offensive coordinator.
But because Dorrell’s resume lacks any previous head
coaching experience, athletic director Dan Guerrero has come under
fire.
“The day that I hired him, there were fans saying,
“˜Get rid of him’,” Guerrero said. “They
need to be patient. He’s an outstanding leader. You
don’t win big in any program unless you have that
characteristic.”
Also problematic in the eyes of critics is UCLA’s
struggling offense. Dorrell’s West Coast offense has been
unproductive all season as the Bruins rank 100th out of the
nation’s 117 Division I-A teams. But while Dorrell’s
reputation has suffered because of these problems, he says snags
are to be expected in a year of a coaching transition.
Things haven’t always been smooth thus far, but Dorrell
does have a talent in teaching, a characteristic in which he and
his players take pride.
“I believe I am a teacher when it comes down to it,”
Dorrell said. “To me I want to make sure one way or another I
want to be an influence on someone in a positive way. I knew this
was my calling ““ to help men grow up to be great men one
day.”
“He shows us, and especially the younger guy, how to be
good.” Smith said. “Not just on the field, but as a
person.”
Dorrell’s desire to teach is admirable, but it will likely
be his ability to recruit that makes or breaks him. With less than
a full year under his belt at UCLA, he has not yet had a chance to
prove himself in this arena, but Homer Smith, his former coach and
offensive coordinator under Terry Donahue, believes recruiting is
one his strong points.
“My first thought when I heard UCLA needed a new coach was
that whoever it was had to beat (USC coach) Pete Carroll in the
recruiting game,” Homer Smith said. “I think that Karl
could do that. I can imagine him matching Carroll and beating
him.”
As the team prepares to go against rival USC Saturday, Dorrell
understands the importance of winning the game, not just to lift
the status of the program, but because it was part of the reason he
was brought here.
“There is no doubt I was brought here to beat USC.
That’s the biggest game of the year, and the challenge that
I’m going to have and every coach after me,” Dorrell
said. “It is always a measuring stick of who you really are
and how you define yourself in Southern California.”
As the clock winds down on Dorrell’s inaugural season,
UCLA fans’ patience is already wearing thin. Dorrell will
have to prove he measures up quickly, or his tenure in Westwood
will continue to be engulfed by criticism.