Last week Monday, Rick Neuheisel presided over a press conference that was a break from just about every press conference held by Karl Dorrell.
Hundreds were in attendance, and the conference room in the J.D. Morgan Center was expanded to allow more spectators along the sides. Though it was nominally a media-only event, friends of Neuheisel were seated throughout the room and throngs of enthusiastic Bruin fans crowded the area in front of the cameras in the back of the room.
However, the biggest change between the five years of the Dorrell era and the third day of the Neuheisel era was simply the man at the front of the room.
Neuheisel was charismatic and comfortable, telling self-deprecating jokes and in full control of the press conference from the moment he stood behind the microphone after being handed an honorary No. 10 jersey ““ his old number.
Unlike former coach Karl Dorrell, who occasionally misspoke and often seemed ill at ease in front of the camera, Neuheisel appeared to soak the attention in, welcoming it.
The comfort and ease with which he handled that press conference has been reflected in the first week and a half of his newfound head-coaching career at UCLA.
After reports at the beginning of last week that defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, whom Neuheisel described in his first teleconference as his “No. 1 recruit,” would take the defensive coordinator position at Washington after a strong push from Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham, Neuheisel managed, through a series of meetings, to retain both Walker and assistant coaches Todd Howard (defensive line) and Chuck Bullough (linebackers).
Walker was one of the main reasons for the strength of next year’s recruiting class, and his hire may have helped retain that class, which has been ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
On Jan. 3, Walker and Neuheisel spoke to the media on a conference call, and Neuheisel was up front about the fact that retaining the recruiting class played a role in the effort he made to rehire Walker.
“It was certainly a factor,” Neuheisel said. “It became very apparent to me that DeWayne was integrally involved in a number of youngsters that said this is where they want to come.”
Then on Monday, Neuheisel hired offensive line coach Bob Palcic, who coached both former UCLA great Jonathan Ogden and Joe Thomas of Wisconsin, each a dominant left tackle.
After his teams at Washington were accused of moving away from running the ball at the end of his tenure there, Neuheisel appears to be making the running game a priority at UCLA.
But perhaps more important than his hiring of assistant coaches has been Neuheisel’s efforts to reconnect UCLA to both the national media and its own fans.
Neuheisel appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show,” a national radio show, before his Monday press conference, and on New Year’s Day, Neuheisel was interviewed during the Rose Bowl, perhaps to steal a little of USC’s thunder on a day when the Trojans trounced Illinois.
In addition, an automated telephone call from Neuheisel has been placed to thousands of Bruin fans and alumni to introduce himself and encourage them to support the Bruins at the Rose Bowl this coming season.
In the message, Neuheisel says, “The team across town has risen to national prominence and it’s time to meet them head on. I’m excited to lead this team back to the national stage.”
Those words echo the message of Dan Guerrero upon firing Dorrell on Dec. 3, when the athletic director stated repeatedly that the ultimate failure of Dorrell’s regime was the inability to put the program in the national scene.
With his multiple national media appearances, his throwing down of the gauntlet against USC, and his ability to turn a phrase and articulate his ideas better than his predecessor, Neuheisel appears to be doing all that he can to make UCLA football a national name.