PASADENA ““ As the final seconds ticked off in
Saturday’s 46-16 thrashing of Washington, UCLA coach Karl
Dorrell tilted his head up and pointed to the heavens.
Much like the Bruin nation had done all week, I wondered if this
guy knew what the heck he was doing. First he didn’t know
where to stand on the sideline, and now, he doesn’t even know
where to look.
UCLA athletics god Dan Guerrero, after all, was standing just
over near the end zone looking like an expecting father. Almost 10
months to the day Guerrero took a chance and hired a kid with no
head coaching experience. Dorrell was now a triumphant man, winning
his first-ever Pac-10 game.
“This is what we all expected,” said Guerrero,
sporting a knowing smile on his face.
“We” meaning Guerrero, Dorrell and his players, not
the UCLA fans, who right up until halftime probably still had
firekarldorrell.com bookmarked on their Web browsers. Not the fans
who were making Dorrell out to be the most conservative man in
sports since Rush Limbaugh.
And certainly not the fans who called him Steve Lavin.
“There’s tendency for people to be very impatient
and want to push the button and go straight to the
penthouse,” Guerrero said. “It doesn’t happen
that way.
“You have to take it step by step, and that’s what
we’ve been doing. We’re in it for the long haul, and
that means you just have to install the foundation that you believe
in and that the kids believe in.”
The standard Dorrell has set is one of discipline. In practice,
he has the team doing individual and conditioning drills until they
are done right.
The problem was, it appeared that not all of his players were
completely buying into it, judging from their lackluster
performances on the field.
Physical deficiencies could be corrected over time, but mental
errors, namely penalties, were harder to swallow.
But just as it seemed the inmates had begun their annual
takeover of the asylum, Dorrell transformed from coach to
mentor.
He decided that some players needed coddling.
Deposed starting tailback Tyler Ebell complained about his lack
of carries, so Dorrell called this the result of his own
“oversight” and agreed to meet with Ebell and his
father. Ebell responded with a second-quarter touchdown run
Saturday.
Others just needed a kick in the butt.
Defensive tackle Rodney Leisle was ejected for punching a San
Diego player last week and later complained that Dorrell
wasn’t exactly being supportive of him in the media. Dorrell
not only stood by what he said, but imposed further undisclosed
punishment on Leisle.
Leisle responded with a fumble recovery in the Washington end
zone on his first play from scrimmage after a first-half
suspension, scoring the first of 39 unanswered UCLA points.
Now Leisle is asking the Bruin faithful to believe just as he
now does.
“I hope people don’t jump off the bandwagon,”
he said. “We might lose, but it’s not the end of the
world. The fans are the inspiration to the team. They should be
here to support us through and through because we play for
them.”
The reason Dorrell has his job is because the Bruins were at the
losing end late last season and had given up the 40-plus point
outputs one too many times. Fans in that same corner of the end
zone where Guerrero stood would boo and hiss, taunting coach Bob
Toledo as he ducked into the bowels of the Rose Bowl in
disgrace.
In the waning moments of the Saturday’s game, the fans
behind Guerrero were equally boisterous, chanting,
“o-ver-rated.” To clarify, it was actually directed at
the No. 18 Huskies rather than Guerrero’s decision to hire
Dorrell.
It’s all the more reason for him to be looking up.
Leung was a football beat writer in 2002. He can be reached,
if you so desire, at dleung@media.ucla.edu.