Take a moment and answer this question: When was the last time the UCLA football program was stealing headlines in a perfectly newsworthy January? When was the last time that anybody around here was willing to divert his or her attention from Pac-10 basketball, especially after an unfathomable loss to USC at Pauley Pavilion, for the minutia of offseason college football?
It has been a while. And, yes, it is a strange day when the hiring of a new offensive coordinator trumps the news of Tim Floyd coming into Westwood and besting the almighty Ben Howland. As a general rule of thumb, basketball is king at UCLA, and football is something of a meek jester.
Yet this week’s news should serve as notice to us all that maybe, just maybe, UCLA football will cease to be the irrelevant vacuum it has been the past few years and might finally become an elite program.
The hiring of quarterback guru Norm Chow as UCLA offensive coordinator this week could turn out to be a move that could elevate newly hired head coach Rick Neuheisel’s program to a whole other level. If nothing else, the Chow hire proves that Neuheisel, in a matter of weeks, already has brought more vision and organization to the program than Karl Dorrell could in five years on the job.
In case you were not in the know, Chow is the most decorated offensive coach in the last 20 years of college football. He designed the offensive juggernauts at BYU in the mid-’80s, when he developed Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Ty Detmer. He then had a one-year layover at NC State, where he worked with Philip Rivers. In 2001, Pete Carroll brought him to USC, where he ran the offense and turned Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart into Heisman winners.
At each stop he’s been, Chow has implemented a high-octane, pro-style offense that is built around the vertical passing game.
The only time that Chow has not been a wild success ““ and by wild, I mean national championships and Heisman campaigns ““ was his last stop, as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. Until someone is able to turn Vince Young into an efficient pocket-passer, I’ll give Chow a pass on that one.
The immediate impact on the program should be noticeable. It would be shocking to tune into the Bruins’ 2008 season and not see a much more creative offense, with improved quarterback play, most likely out of Ben Olson ““ Chow’s offense is better suited for the strong-armed pocket-passers.
But the Chow hire reveals more about the direction of the UCLA program ““ more precisely, that it now has some direction.
During Dorrell’s tenure, it was never certain what responsibilities he had assumed, and a lot of us couldn’t help but wonder if Dorrell even knew for sure whether he wanted to be a hands-on game-planner or a C.E.O.-style coach who focused on recruiting and delegated the play-calling duties.
It is obvious that Neuheisel has a vision for the program, and he has set up everything perfectly for his success. He convinced DeWayne Walker to stay as defensive coordinator by giving Walker a more prominent role in the program, which ensured that one of the most widely respected defensive coaches stays in Westwood. And Neuheisel now will cede all responsibilities on offense to Chow, whose reputation as a Heisman producer is unmatched.
That leaves Neuheisel to do what he does best ““ sell the program to the media, recruits and alumni. That may sound superficial, but so much of college coaching revolves around recruiting ““ convincing the best players to come and play for you ““ all the while raising the program’s national profile in the media, and getting the boosters to “give back to their alma mater.” It was something that Dorrell was never able to master, and something that Neuheisel seems born to do. (Perhaps that is why Neuheisel is a better fit for the college ranks, while Dorrell might be destined to be an NFL offensive coordinator.)
In retrospect, it is hard to believe that Neuheisel, Chow and Walker all interviewed for the UCLA head coaching job, and now all three are on the same staff. So, it begs the question, what does this troika mean for the future of the program? Look at it this way: Neuheisel had Colorado and Washington as perennially ranked teams when he was coaching at each school, and he should be able to do the same in Westwood.
If nothing else, though, Neuheisel should make the UCLA-USC rivalry more of an actual rivalry and less of an embarrassment. Consider: UCLA now employs the guy who created the Trojans’ offense and the guy who coached Carroll’s defense.
In a neat little reversal of fortune, maybe we can hear pundits drone on and on about Neuheisel battling against Carroll, rather than watch Tim Floyd give Ben Howland a run for his money.