It had all the makings of a great story ““ the celebrated quarterback who once led his team to the Rose Bowl, returning to his alma mater to end the football monopoly in Los Angeles. After the firing of former head football coach Karl Dorrell, the optimism was contagious.
But it just didn’t happen.
After four years and a 21-28 record, Monday was high time for coach Rick Neuheisel’s exit from Westwood. His tenure was marked by inconsistency at best. After a string of wins, the Bruins were often blown out by both inferior and superior opponents, most recently their 50-0 defeat at the Coliseum.
Though Neuheisel claimed he moved the needle of progress, his team never finished a regular season with a winning record.
With funds from UCLA Athletics and greater support from boosters, UCLA is now playing with a much larger sum, somewhere around $3-4 million, to attract a new head coach. Granted, this is a huge amount and it would make UCLA’s coach the highest paid University of California employee.
But there is good rationale for investing more in the program’s success. UCLA’s impressive athletics history is widely known and recited on every campus tour. We deserve a football team that reflects our past achievement.
A better team would also bring the school a lot more money and decrease student apathy about the football culture at UCLA. Football helps fund other sports, bringing in about $15 million. Yet lately, interest in the team has staggered; game attendance fell 25 percent under Neuheisel’s watch.
What we need is a coach who has a proven track record of turning football teams around ““ a coach who can reinvigorate the fans, attract the best recruits and train a team that can beat our rival to the east.
With increased financial support from boosters and a new television contract with Fox Sports through the Pac-12, UCLA could offer head coach candidates the highest salary of any coach in the conference, possibly even surpassing USC’s Lane Kiffin, who currently makes $3.6 million. This considerable sum increases the applicant pool and gives UCLA the opportunity to work with the best.
Renovated football facilities are also necessary to train serious athletes and retain the best coaches. At larger football programs such as Brigham Young University and Oregon University, players have their own weight rooms and modern practice facilities. At UCLA, Spaulding Field is only 80 yards long.
With this in mind, athletic director Dan Guerrero’s announcement that the football practice facilities will be renovated is very important for the team’s prospects.
A new coach and practice facilities won’t be the quick fix that fans might crave, but this is a chance for UCLA football to reinvent itself.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board.