Earlier today, UCLA officials announced the extension of Athletic Director Dan Guerrero’s contract through 2019.
The contract is for $734,774 and a 5 percent yearly increase, though Guerrero was already the highest paid athletic director in the Pac-12 before the extension.
Guerrero recently oversaw the hiring of former New Mexico head coach Steve Alford as the new head coach of the UCLA men’s basketball team. While Alford has 22 years of coaching experience to his name, many within the UCLA community are skeptical, both of the hire and of Guerrero’s contract extension.
“Personally, I wouldn’t have given him a contract extension, that’s just me,” said second-year neuroscience major Akshay Desai. “(UCLA football coach) Jim Mora was certainly a good hire; we have to see what Steve Alford does. I think Steve Alford has the potential to be really good, but at the same time, I was kind of hoping for a (Virginia Commonwealth coach) Shaka Smart or (Butler coach) Brad Stevens kind of hire.”
After firing former UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland less than two weeks ago, Guerrero and other athletic department officials took just six days to hire Alford, who has made the Sweet Sixteen just once in his 18 years as an NCAA Division I coach.
“I think the firing of Howland was a great idea, actually,” said fourth-year political science student Harsh Ronvelia. “I thought they should have gotten a better coach in return after that, because we can afford to spend the money. They got Steve Alford, who is not a proven coach at all.”
“I was expecting someone more proven, I guess.”
Pauley Pavilion’s $136 million renovation was completed late last year, and while the aesthetic quality of the building hasn’t been a cause for concern among UCLA fans, the number of Bruin faithful filling it on a regular basis has. Some within the UCLA community said they felt the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
“You just had the renovation to Pauley, which has seemed like a huge waste of money lately,” said third-year anthropology student Shayne Smith. “They didn’t really sell out at all.”
“I mean, if you could allocate that same athletic fund elsewhere around the school, I’m sure that would help the budget issues that we’re having.”
Others took their disapproval of Guerrero’s contract extension to various social media sites, including Twitter:
BN is the fox news of sports blogs and fun to laugh at…
Why is Dan Guerrero so fat when he works in an athletic department full of workout equipment and professional strength and conditioning coaches?