Upon hearing the news on Monday that the San Diego Chargers had fired coach Marty Schottenheimer, UCLA fans everywhere hoped the Chargers would lure USC coach Pete Carroll away from the college ranks. And it would be great for UCLA if the Chargers did hire Carroll. USC was a mediocre program before Carroll and instantly became a national power, winning one championship along the way. With Carroll gone, USC might revert back to the way it was during the Paul Hackett era.
But the Chargers actually have two great candidates in Los Angeles to choose from.
Carroll is the obvious one. He quickly turned a program around and built one of the best teams in modern history, with a dynamic offense and a solid defense most seasons at USC. He has previous NFL experience, where he was actually underrated. For all of the negative criticism Carroll got, his teams went 33-31 in four seasons and reached the playoffs twice.
The other coach from Los Angeles the Chargers can hire is UCLA coach Karl Dorrell.
I know, I know, it would be a long shot.
Dorrell could be effective as a pro coach though.
You readers might be laughing at me, considering Dorrell has had three mediocre seasons at UCLA and only one good one, finishing 6-7, 6-6, 10-2 and 7-6. But in the NFL, all you need to be is mediocre to get into the playoffs sometimes, as 8-8 teams make the playoffs regularly (like the New York Giants did this season). While Dorrell is criticized in Westwood for underachieving and going 7-6, he could be celebrated in the NFL for going 9-7.
Dorrell is also often criticized for trying to implement a West Coast offense at the college level. Some of those complaints may have a point, as college players only stick around for four years and only start for two or three, making learning and mastering a complex offense tricky. But in the pros, you have players who have been playing competitive football for many years and they stick around more.
In Westwood, Dorrell is criticized for being too conservative. How many times have we seen Dorrell play conservative on third down or in a close game? But in the pros, conservative playcalling is prevalent around the league. Many coaches who are known as being the league’s best (such as Bill Belichick, Brian Billick and Mike Shanahan) are all known for having super-conservative offenses.
In San Diego, Dorrell would have the league’s MVP at running back in LaDainian Tomlinson.
In Westwood, Dorrell is criticized for losing recruiting battles to USC. But in the pros, the talent level is pretty similar across the board, and in San Diego, he’d have a team that was 14-2 in 2006.
In Westwood, Dorrell takes a lot of blame for losing coordinators nearly every season. San Diego has lost both of its coordinators and would need someone who is used to hiring new people.
In Westwood, Dorrell takes a lot of heat for only going 4-11 against ranked teams. But in the NFL, there are no ranked teams.
Also, Dorrell has NFL experience as an assistant coach under Shanahan, who is considered to be one of the NFL’s best coaches.
So the Chargers really couldn’t be wrong in hiring either Carroll or Dorrell.
And many Bruin fans would cheer either way.
E-mail Quiñonez at
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.