An exhaustive two-week nation-wide search appears to have netted
at least three finalists for the vacant UCLA men’s soccer
coaching job thus far.
Associate Athletic Director Ken Weiner has informed Paul Krumpe,
Jorge Salcedo and Ralph Perez that they are among the remaining
candidates. He plans to schedule interviews with each of them for
later this week. Weiner said he will limit his short list to no
more than five finalists but would not disclose who else he is
considering.
No leader has emerged at this stage of the search, he also
indicated.
“It’s a blank slate,” Weiner said.
“Everyone will have an opportunity to interview, and the
interviews will be done in a consistent manner.”
The most surprising of the three known finalists seems to be
Perez, who is neither a UCLA alumnus nor a former Bruin coach.
Perez, the director of Youth Player Development for the Los Angeles
Galaxy, does, however, have close ties to the UCLA program. He
served as an assistant under UCLA coaching legend Sigi Schmid for
the past six years and has coached a number of Bruin alums in the
professional ranks.
Weiner first contacted Perez Friday to notify him that he was a
finalist for the job. He called again Monday afternoon and set up
an on-campus interview for Thursday.
Perez, who was not granted an interview when he applied for the
job back in 2001, is thrilled to have the chance to meet in person
with members of the UCLA search committee this time around.
“I’m flying right now. I don’t even need my
car to get to work,” he said. “From what they’ve
told me, it looks real good.”
A 20-year veteran of the college game, Perez is practically
giddy about the opportunity to return to coaching at the university
level in what this past week he called his “dream job.”
He’s talked to a number of ex-Bruins about the position
including current pros Cobi Jones and Ante Razov, hoping to use
them as references.
The administration should be very familiar with both Salcedo and
Krumpe as both are Bruin alums who established themselves in the
coaching community during stints at UCLA. Krumpe served as an
assistant coach from 1996-1998, and Salcedo just completed his
third year in the same position last month.
Krumpe, now in his sixth year as coach at Loyola Marymount, did
not return phone calls, but a source within the UCLA program
indicated that he is expected to interview later this week. A
fellow West Coast Conference coach also confirmed that he is a
finalist.
Salcedo declined to comment about his conversations with Weiner
but said that he also was one of the finalists. The third-year
coach, who has already received the backing of ex-coach Tom
Fitzgerald and many of the current players, admitted he began
preparing for his interview weeks ago.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “It would be
stupid not to plan for it. It’s the most important interview
of my life.”
Among those who are expected to be considered for the other
remaining slots on the short list include Paul Caligiuri, a former
UCLA standout and current coach at Cal Poly Pomona. Caligiuri said
Monday that he has not been contacted yet, and remains in the dark
in terms of how the search is proceeding.
“(The Daily Bruin) is my major source of information right
now,” he said.
Weiner expects to wrap up the interview process within the next
two weeks, which would already put them a week behind schedule. The
signing period for men’s soccer begins Feb. 4, but based on
the current time-table, UCLA may not have its coach in place by
then.
“Obviously the sooner we get it done the better,”
Weiner said.
Dozens of coaches from around the nation applied for the UCLA
job, which opened up on Jan. 9 when Fitzgerald announced his plans
to return to the University of Tampa.