After leading the UCLA football team to a disappointing 6-7
season in his first year as coach, Karl Dorrell doesn’t feel
comfortable being rewarded for his coaching effort thus far.
Behind that reasoning, Dorrell announced Tuesday that he
declined to exercise an option in his contract that would’ve
added an additional year to the six-year contract he signed in
2003. Athletic Director Dan Guerrero offered the extension last
week.
Dorrell now has five years left on the contract, which will
expire after the 2008 season. The extension would have kept Dorrell
under contract through the 2009 season.
“I think that, from my standpoint, there is unfinished
business,” Dorrell said. “I want to earn that type of
compensation. There is a lot to be done.”
Dorrell’s decision is apparently a goodwill gesture
““ the contract extension would have increased the buyout of
his contract if he were to be fired.
“We support Karl and we believe in him,” Guerrero
said. “We did not have the kind of year that we hoped we
would have. Karl is a bright guy and he is making adjustments that
will make this program better. The issue of rolling over the
contract was a no-brainer for us.”
Dorrell said he had not thought about the contract extension
until Guerrero brought it up. The contract allows Dorrell and the
university to mutually agree to an extension between Jan. 1 and
Jan. 31 of each year he is under contract. Dorrell’s contract
is the most lucrative in UCLA football history ““ $600,000
over six years, with more money reserved for incentives.
In January 2002, former coach Bob Toledo accepted a similar
contract extension from former Athletic Director Pete Dalis after
guiding the Bruins to a 7-4 2001 campaign in which UCLA lost four
straight games to end the season. Toledo was fired by Guerrero
after the 2002 regular season, when the Bruins went 7-5.
Guerrero’s show of good faith in Dorrell comes during a
tumultuous off-season. Five players have left the team: Tyler
Ebell, Matt Moore, Tab Perry and John Sciarra will transfer, while
Matt Ware will leave for the NFL. Additionally, there have been
several coaching changes, with Dorrell hiring and firing assistant
coaches and shuffling around others in search of the right
combination.
“We need to improve in a lot of respects,” Dorrell
said. “We need to improve from a coaching standpoint, and
I’m at the top of that list. We also need to play
better.”
Although today is National Signing Day for recruits, Guerrero
downplayed any possible effect Dorrell’s decision to decline
the extension may have on recruits.