The Karl Dorrell years relived. I hope I have to eat humble pie for saying this, but as much as I love DS, he is not the hire we need at this vital and pivotal phase of UCLA football. I love being a Bruin, bleed blue, and only wish the best for my beloved alma mater. Sadly, I truly believe the 20 years of subpar performance by horrible AD decisions has bled me of my last ounce of Bruin blue blood. I can't even muster up an 8-clap.
I respectfully disagree that this KD years relived...
DeShaun was an absolutely great running backs coach and developer of players. In fact, he has a great rapport with players and they respect him.
Perhaps Jarmond Jelly 2.0 actually learned to read the room as DeShaun is who the players wanted and in my opinion, that's important.
He is not ego driven and bleeds blue and gold. He was a Boyles nominee which speaks for itself. He is intelligent and has passion, and can quickly learn what he doesn't know.
White or Rees would also have been wonderful hires, but DeShaun is a gem and I will embrace him as Head Coach. Time will tell but I am excited to give this amazing Bruin my full support.
it's because your opinion had nothing to do with his coaching abilities. Sure he is a great Bruin, was a great football player, and is a great guy, but on the scale of 1 to 10 in terms of importance for this job, those are all 0's.
Perhaps all of that is true, but he is the selection, so let's support him and see what he can do. There have been a lot of coaches hired that we all may think "Oh that's a terrible selection" but end up being pretty good and vice versa. Most of us, including myself, initially thought the Chipster (OG) was a great hire, but that's when I thought he would install the Oregon offense at UCLA, once I discovered his fraud (after year 2), I was done with him. Perhaps DeShaun can be the reverse of this, we will all have to give him a chance and see. Now as for Jelly 2.0 Jarmond, this guy should be gone now! He has already illustrated to everyone, his incompetence.
I'm all for supporting him and UCLA football, but i cant do that with rose colored glasses. Already guilty of doing that when we hired Dorrell, Rick, Mora, Chip, Alford...
Not asking for rose colored glasses, just asking that you give the guy a shot. I'm just as pessimistic as you are, but the hire has been made and yes, we are probably stuck with it (good or bad) for the next couple of years at the very least.
As usual Evan, you know nothing about what my opinion is based on and even if I spent hours explaining it to you, I would still expect to receive one of your infamous rude responses.
However, please know this will be my last response to you. I am finished with you and your opinions of me.
This is the guy who found a way to criticize me in 22 for complimenting Zach for playing in the bowl game saying I was trashing the Pitt running back who chose to sit out. I consider the source!
Tamara as always you are entitled to your own opinion, and it should be respected. However, although I agree DeShaun was a great player at UCLA, no doubt, I'm not sure he "bleeds blue & gold", after all he was all set to be an assistant coach for the Raiders. But to me, this selection was made in haste, which it had to be and Jelly 2.0 was just looking for the most convenient and quickest selection he could get and also someone who would actually take the job. Not saying the quickness and convenance is a bad thing, Jelly 2.0 Jarmond had very little choice. Yes, this could be a diamond in the rough selection, but DeShaun has been coaching now for 10 years and all he has been involved with is running backs. He hasn't coached any other areas and for 10 years... that's not a good sign. However, there is something that is intriguing about him. between 2015-16 (Mora years) he was in charge of "Player development and High School relations", that means recruiting. And as we all know, the Mora years were very good to UCLA on the recruiting front.
Yes I do like that he was head of player development and school relations. His ability to connect with players is an intangible that should serve him well. Time will tell and Jarmond Jelly 2.0 will definitely give him time - that we can bank on...
Actually, not sure if Jelly 2.0 Jarmond will give him time. Jelly 2.0 Jarmond is the type that cannot recognize "diamonds in the rough", so if DeShaun does decently well, Jelly 2.0 Jarmond may actually fire him! Yep, that's how bad Jelly 2.0 Jarmond is! LOL
The problem here is that it will take a lot longer than 2 years to assess Foster. Our roster is quite this and we have a historically bad recruiting class coming in. Our only hope to rebuild was hiring a HC who could bring players with him. 2024 is not going to be a good season no matter what kind of job Foster does and 2025 won't be much better unless he is somehow an unknown recruiting whiz (which probably would have already been reflected in our recruiting).
Too bad this didn't happen 2 weeks ago. Could have promoted him with interim tag and had no commitment beyond 2024.
Jelly better focus on securing his own job. I thought I read Block didn’t extend him and leaving Jelly’s fate in the hands of the new chancellor. Maybe I dreamt this.
Well, once Chip started interviewing for every job this side of the Trinity League, it would be reasonable for the staff to presume that, if Chip left, any new coach would hire their own staff so an opportunity to take an NFL job isn't necessarily a sign of disloyalty to the program/school but protecting oneself along with career advancement.
yeah....not at all. We are also now in a day and age where it's acceptable to leave after one year or totally renig on a job. It's business. Apparently Fisch took our call and so did Arizona's new coach.
" totally renig " ?!? Hmm .... this isn't a grammar issue as you once pointed out to me. Let me guess now. You wanted to say RENEGE, right " LOL !!!!!!!!!!
Those are legit concerns, BigB and I share them a lot. But I also think in today's CFB that the head coach first and foremost needs to be the face of the program - rally the fans, foster (pun intended) donations and support, and be the closer with recruits. Then he has to bring in great OC and DC and position coaches, those guys can do the heavy lifting with regard to schemes and play calls and personnel. Deion Sanders does a bit of coaching at CU, but it's primarily his presence and image that revitalized a dead in the water program (I have big doubts about his staff building on it tho).
It's way too early to lump Foster with Dorrell. Yes, neither had coordinator or head coach experience. But Dorrell was never ever recognized as an excellent coach before he got the head coaching job. Foster has gotten accolades and was nominated as a top assistant. Dorrell was never praised by players when he was a wide receivers coach. And none of his wide receivers really did much.
Agreed, Patrick. The vibe around Foster with regard to the response by the players and simply his own attitude and presence seem quite a step up from Dorrell.
but this might be worse. Chip guaranteed a shitty 2024, but a fresh start for 2025. This guarantees 3+ years of mediocrity. I would have taken the short term pain 10 times out of 10.
because we would be totally unjustified firing a coach after 1 or 2 years when they are taking over the program in its current state. When was the last time we fired a football coach when it was time?
Even if you hire a "big name" coach, it's still a gamble. How many schools have overpaid for a "proven" coach only to be sorry about the big money they are in bondage to? I say it's always a gamble so why not gamble on someone you think has some upside without the huge amount of money to commit?
We certainly could have secured a much better long-term coach had Jarmond pulled the trigger to fire Chip when he should have last November. Jonathan Smith comes to mind as one.
I hope I'm wrong and Foster is a pleasant surprise, but it seems like we're going to add another 5 years to the current 25 years of UCLA irrelevance in football.
Certainly, Jarmond contract should not be extended past 2026 until we know the outcome of this decision.
What you said proved my point. Had he been fired, which you vehemently opposed, rather than granted the extension a year ago, not just December 1, we would have more choices
Yes, I opposed the firing, because, while we would have ended up with someone better than Foster, we still could not have afforded a truly elite coach. in 9 months we will have enough money to make someone a top 5 highest paid coach.....problem is now the position is filled.
Can anyone in Mightybruinland explain how this hire will turn around the overall abysmal recruiting effort that has dogged UCLA football for years? One positive: the administration stayed within budget filling this position!!
DeShaun Foster is a pretty good recruiter, he was the lead in recruiting under Mora for a couple of years and as we all know Mora had some really good recruiting classes. Now of course recruiting has changed significantly, but I think he can still use some of what he learned back in 2015-16. But you are correct the Chipster (OG) and Jelly 2.0 Jarmond have set back UCLA recruiting and UCLA football at least 5 years, perhaps more.
Coach Foster's coaching pedigree with Coach Mora. Under Mora, Foster was a volunteer assistant (2012), graduate assistant (2013-2015); 2015 his title was Director of Player Development and High School Relations...whatever that means. 2016 he left UCLA for Texas Tech. 2017 rejoined Mora's last year as the UCLA running back coach. Tough to conclude Foster was a "lead in recruiting under Mora".
In 2015-16, he was one of the lead guys, that's the title he was given "Director of Player Development and High School Relations", that was Mora's "recruiting arm", if you will. Hence, he has experience in this area and all of Mora's assistants were pretty good recruiters, including Mora himself. So, I'm just saying he has some positive experience in this area, how that equates to the current landscape... we will see.
2016 Foster was at Texas Tech. That leaves you with 2015. Sorry I am not connecting the dots on his recruiting prowess. Besides...2015 was a long time ago. Agreed, we will see.
This was the easiest out for Jarmond. He doesn’t have to do the actual work to determine the best for Ucla at this juncture. That includes having to bargain $$$ for a relevant head coach. This may put Ucla back another 10 yrs. I hope DF can pull this off. Will he adopt the coaching staff already in place or will he bring in new experienced coaches at key positions?
My guess is he will attempt to keep everything as is, like Jelly 2.0 Jarmond is attempting to do. One advantage he has... LOW EXPECTATIONS. Hence, if he goes 6-6 or 5-7 or worse, everyone will say he did a great job with what he was saddled with. So DeShaun, no pressure.
This is the biggest key for me, Russ. I have pretty good faith that Foster can be an effective recruiter and leader for the players. The bigger question, and possibly the more important role, is what kind of coaching staff can he bring in?
Okay, this is just "filler", sad for DeShaun, that he has to be used in this way, but this won't be longer than 3 years. He will not be successful here, but then again, who has been for like 25 years. Actually 26 years, the last time UCLA won a major bowl game against a quality opponent (1998 Cotton Bowl). Yes, they had a great 1998 season and was just a couple of games away from a National title, but lost their last two games and lost the Rose Bowl to Wisconsin, so although that season was a good one (lots of wins and a fantastic offense) it wasn't a successful one. I wish DeShaun luck and yes better than what we had, but simply won't last. This is just another Neuheisel pick. Good ex-Bruin football player who simply cannot coach within this culture, as Neuheisel has admitted to many times.
He was a great running back for UCLA. Dorrel and Neuheisel were also great players for UCLA, but neither panned out as a head coach. I do not know how Foster will do as a first time head coach. But for certain, we must get behind him to win!
These comments are spot on. Such a UCLA hire. Supposedly Tony White really wanted the job. The players wanted Foster. Alas…we keep a holdover from the prior failed coaching staff.
I just think if you make a "bigger/significant" hire at this point, for Jelly 2.0 Jarmond, he will raise expectations or which he doesn't want to do. He wants to keep expectations low so if DeShaun is successful and wins what 5 or 6 games, Jelly 2.0 Jarmond can pat himself on the back and say "see, this guy is really good). But if DeShaun is 2-10, he can say, we need to give him a chance to prove himself and we all knew it would be tough". I just think with DeShaun, Jelly 2.0 Harmond has lowered the expectations and provided Jelly 2.0 with some cover. If he would have selected White or some of those other names that have more of a splash because they were either head coaches or coordinators, he raises expectations to high. Yes, White would have been a better choice. He is a defensive coach, he has had multiple coordinator gigs and just like DeShaun, Tony was a pro football player as well. But I think Jelly 2.0 Jarmond selected the "lower expectations" candidate and also someone already familiar with the current UCLA football program.
Marty Jarmond, the Wunderkind AD from the rancid city of Bahston, lives up to his billing, did not study UCLA's FB coaching historical past failures, goes with the "most convenient" warm body, and..
..FAILS TO READ THE ROOM!
Order up another dozen tarps for the Rose Bowl seats, folks.
And enroll this idiot, Marty, in Subject A English and teach him how to decline the verb "to win".
Next year will be like a cabin boy on his first voyage among "manly men" with an added-shut out thumping by the Toe Jams of Figueroa with the help of our former "D" coach on their payroll.
I don't have any more time to invest in rookie AD failure! Cannot endure this any further! Immediately switching my fall football allegiances to American River JC. They had a 10-2 record, kicked [almost] everyone's ass, and lost a 3 point squeaker to San Mateo CC in the 2023 3C2A Northern California State Championship game.
Well Evan, I think you need to "read the room" to enable yourself to make the best hire. "Reading the room" means you understand what people are expecting and what they think. When you interview for any job, especially a leadership position like head coach, you at least need to "read" that individual and determine if they are up for the job. Jelly 2.0 can't read his backside; hence he's throwing up a 50/50 ball and hoping it gets through the uprights. I am also skeptical, but there are two realities now; 1.) We are moving to a much tougher football conference with a much tougher 2024 & 2025 football schedule and 2.) the hire has been made so we all have to swallow hard, support DeShaun in his new role and see what he can do. Yes, I don't think he will be successful but at this point we all don't have a choice or a voice here, what is done is done, so let's stop pounding on the guy and give him his shot. Perhaps he does end up being another Karl Dorrell or Rick Neuheisel, but maybe, just maybe, we could at least get somewhat lucky, and he ends up being a Terry Donahue. Yea, at this point, I'd take 8, 9, 10 win seasons consistently and throw in some big bowl wins, wouldn't you?
absolutely not. What is "the room." Is it this blog? Is it talk radio? Is it attendance? No, the name of the game is winning and AD's/GM's are paid to make the hire that will maximizes wins. If it was about reading the room, anyone could be AD.
I suppose, these days, "the room" is who the players want (recruiting and re-recruiting to keep who you have) and what the whale donors/those willing to contribute to the collectives want/will support... DeShaun does apparently check the second half of that first box - current player support - at least. It's not the hire I'd of chosen and boy, a lot is going to depend on who the coordinators are!
Absolutely, but you do want to know or at least understand how the players may react to that hire so at least you can keep those players! If you alienate the players, you lose buy-in, you probably lose the players and if you lose buy-in and some of those players, you lose, period.
Yes, true, a room is a blog, yes it is "the people" attending games, it's this site, it's talk radio, it's your team in the locker room at halftime and yes it is having success on the field or court. But it's also understanding what people are thinking, what you may define as success and what they may be looking for. Selecting a coach is ALWAYS a 50/50 proposition, you could get that "diamond in the rough" or you can get "a lemon". It's easy to say, "I read the room, and everyone wants to win", no that isn't "reading the room", that's just an obvious fact. Reading the room goes beyond that fact. Yea, of course, we all want to win, it's how we go about it, our choices, our decisions. So sorry, I disagree with your definition of "the room", it's a lot more than a couple of talk show hosts and it's a lot more than just winning. I happen to be a pretty heavy-duty Wooden disciple, if I'm in a locker room at halftime and my team is behind, I don't even talk about what the score is or even about winning or losing, I talk about what my players need to do to improve. With that I will win way more than I will lose and that's what I'm after. Yes, the name of the game is winning, but it's how you get there, that's when you want someone who can "read the room".
Oh, completely agree, but how do we know DeShaun Foster won't be that "right coach"? Well, he certainly doesn't have the pedigree of the "right coach" and he was hired by a worthless, feckless AD, but even a pedigree doesn't guarantee success and even worthless, feckless AD's sometimes get lucky.
I don't know what you are arguing about. "Reading the room" as Warplanner intended clearly means hiring a hotshot coach, not Deshaun Foster ,so you and him are on the same page here.
I'm kinda with Evan on this one. "Spin 'n Marty" whiffed big time on this one, proving he's lazy and impertinent all at once.
It has "Dorrell" written all over it. I'm all for DeShaun Foster to be successful but I am highly skeptical and am inclined to believe we're in one of those "Groundhog Day" movie scenarios ~~ only this time we've awakened in 2003 and Bob Toledo had just been shown the gate and wet-behind-the-ears AD Guerror, still dripping Amniotic fluid, is proudly introducing Karl as the new shining star in the Bruin's football firmament.
Maybe I'll have a chance to learn to learn to play the piano.
Someone go tell the Westwood Air Force to warm up the Cessna 182s and put the aircrew on alert! There are going to be a lot pf sorties over the next couple of years.
Nope, but Jelly 2.0 hadn't much of a choice. He selected someone safe, meaning he kept the expectations for the program as low as possible, so he hopes he doesn't have to deal with the football program for at least 3 years. Looks like the team is pretty pumped about the selection though, they all looked like they just won the national title!
I really do not think he had much control over this entire situation. See my comments about what I heard on Petros and Money yesterday. This was doomed to happen the moment we refused to fire Chip after the season (and that was not Jarmond's call).
..anything that does not kill you..? They used to tell me that when I was a pledge at the Lamdachi Frat Club. Then they brought out the Everclear[tm] that one of the brothers smuggled back from Colorado over the Summer!
it just seems like an emotional hire. Real easy to think up a fairytale storyline whenever a school hires an alum. Would we have been celebrating if they replaced Alford with Tyus Edney?
Reports are that we interviewed 11 candidates. Guessing in this time frame they are using "interview" loosely and a few quick calls were probably mixed in. This means guys like Fleck, Leipold, and Stanford's coach just were not interested. If Chip had class, he would have made this move a month ago to give UCLA a full opportunity to hire an adequate replacement.
Totally agree that Chip could have done us a solid by leaving after the season. I will forever wonder what his motives were for lingering for 2 months, interviewing at all sorts of places, pretending to recruit here and there, and then ejecting once he had another job lined up. Talk about burning your bridges and not showing any class.
Risky hire on a guy who doesn’t even have coordinating experience. Jarmond’s statement says that he wants someone who’s a great recruiter and fully embraces the NIL landscape, which seems to be a dig at Chip Kelly. At least Jarmond and Foster know that recruiting and NIL should be priorities here.
Very interested in seeing the contract details too
At the end of the day, there is no way to know for sure how this will end up. Every coaching hire is a crap shoot, every school has different challenges and a coach that thrives at one school falls on his face at another. That being said, regardless of how good a person and Bruin Foster is, there is no way to spin this hire as anything other then uninspired and disappointing.
Being a head college football coach is challenging, I honestly don't know how any of them do it, especially in this age with NIL and the transfer portal. While there was no way in hell we were ever going to poach a good coach from another power 5 (4?) conference, we absolutely could have gotten a good DC/OC from one of them who was dying for a chance to run the show, or a great up and coming head coach from one of the lower divisions looking to move up and prove themselves.
Again not a guarantee of a successful hire, it's always a crap shoot, but instead of hedging our bets and going with someone who at least has some experience running one side of the ball if not the whole show, we went with a guy who's highest experience has been as a position coach. To use another bad gambling analogy we've put all our chips on 00, yeah there's a chance it may hit, but it doesn't do so very often.
I'm trying to figure this out, as none of this makes sense to me. Is this Jarmond being lazy, saving money on a salary, lowering expectations, controlled demolition?
Who would do this heading into the BIG 10?:
Hire a position coach; never a coordinator or head coach
No experience in a major program (UCLA certainly not in that category for 25 years)
No experience in a successful program of any tier
Other than 1-yr stop at a second-tier program (Tech Tech), only experience is at 1 university
Hoping for the best, but hope really isn't a strategy.
Petros and Money on 570 discussed this at length yesterday. The gist is the donors would not put up the money to allow Jarmond to make a big splash because they do not trust him and know he has one foot out the door.
The Karl Dorrell years relived. I hope I have to eat humble pie for saying this, but as much as I love DS, he is not the hire we need at this vital and pivotal phase of UCLA football. I love being a Bruin, bleed blue, and only wish the best for my beloved alma mater. Sadly, I truly believe the 20 years of subpar performance by horrible AD decisions has bled me of my last ounce of Bruin blue blood. I can't even muster up an 8-clap.
I respectfully disagree that this KD years relived...
DeShaun was an absolutely great running backs coach and developer of players. In fact, he has a great rapport with players and they respect him.
Perhaps Jarmond Jelly 2.0 actually learned to read the room as DeShaun is who the players wanted and in my opinion, that's important.
He is not ego driven and bleeds blue and gold. He was a Boyles nominee which speaks for itself. He is intelligent and has passion, and can quickly learn what he doesn't know.
White or Rees would also have been wonderful hires, but DeShaun is a gem and I will embrace him as Head Coach. Time will tell but I am excited to give this amazing Bruin my full support.
Looks like my opinion is an outlier after reading all the comments thus far, but I am sticking to my opinion. We shall see how this all bears out.
it's because your opinion had nothing to do with his coaching abilities. Sure he is a great Bruin, was a great football player, and is a great guy, but on the scale of 1 to 10 in terms of importance for this job, those are all 0's.
Perhaps all of that is true, but he is the selection, so let's support him and see what he can do. There have been a lot of coaches hired that we all may think "Oh that's a terrible selection" but end up being pretty good and vice versa. Most of us, including myself, initially thought the Chipster (OG) was a great hire, but that's when I thought he would install the Oregon offense at UCLA, once I discovered his fraud (after year 2), I was done with him. Perhaps DeShaun can be the reverse of this, we will all have to give him a chance and see. Now as for Jelly 2.0 Jarmond, this guy should be gone now! He has already illustrated to everyone, his incompetence.
I'm all for supporting him and UCLA football, but i cant do that with rose colored glasses. Already guilty of doing that when we hired Dorrell, Rick, Mora, Chip, Alford...
Not asking for rose colored glasses, just asking that you give the guy a shot. I'm just as pessimistic as you are, but the hire has been made and yes, we are probably stuck with it (good or bad) for the next couple of years at the very least.
As usual Evan, you know nothing about what my opinion is based on and even if I spent hours explaining it to you, I would still expect to receive one of your infamous rude responses.
However, please know this will be my last response to you. I am finished with you and your opinions of me.
He doesn't even understand what rose colored glasses actually means. O_o
This is the guy who found a way to criticize me in 22 for complimenting Zach for playing in the bowl game saying I was trashing the Pitt running back who chose to sit out. I consider the source!
Tamara as always you are entitled to your own opinion, and it should be respected. However, although I agree DeShaun was a great player at UCLA, no doubt, I'm not sure he "bleeds blue & gold", after all he was all set to be an assistant coach for the Raiders. But to me, this selection was made in haste, which it had to be and Jelly 2.0 was just looking for the most convenient and quickest selection he could get and also someone who would actually take the job. Not saying the quickness and convenance is a bad thing, Jelly 2.0 Jarmond had very little choice. Yes, this could be a diamond in the rough selection, but DeShaun has been coaching now for 10 years and all he has been involved with is running backs. He hasn't coached any other areas and for 10 years... that's not a good sign. However, there is something that is intriguing about him. between 2015-16 (Mora years) he was in charge of "Player development and High School relations", that means recruiting. And as we all know, the Mora years were very good to UCLA on the recruiting front.
Yes I do like that he was head of player development and school relations. His ability to connect with players is an intangible that should serve him well. Time will tell and Jarmond Jelly 2.0 will definitely give him time - that we can bank on...
Actually, not sure if Jelly 2.0 Jarmond will give him time. Jelly 2.0 Jarmond is the type that cannot recognize "diamonds in the rough", so if DeShaun does decently well, Jelly 2.0 Jarmond may actually fire him! Yep, that's how bad Jelly 2.0 Jarmond is! LOL
The problem here is that it will take a lot longer than 2 years to assess Foster. Our roster is quite this and we have a historically bad recruiting class coming in. Our only hope to rebuild was hiring a HC who could bring players with him. 2024 is not going to be a good season no matter what kind of job Foster does and 2025 won't be much better unless he is somehow an unknown recruiting whiz (which probably would have already been reflected in our recruiting).
Too bad this didn't happen 2 weeks ago. Could have promoted him with interim tag and had no commitment beyond 2024.
Jelly better focus on securing his own job. I thought I read Block didn’t extend him and leaving Jelly’s fate in the hands of the new chancellor. Maybe I dreamt this.
Well, once Chip started interviewing for every job this side of the Trinity League, it would be reasonable for the staff to presume that, if Chip left, any new coach would hire their own staff so an opportunity to take an NFL job isn't necessarily a sign of disloyalty to the program/school but protecting oneself along with career advancement.
yeah....not at all. We are also now in a day and age where it's acceptable to leave after one year or totally renig on a job. It's business. Apparently Fisch took our call and so did Arizona's new coach.
" totally renig " ?!? Hmm .... this isn't a grammar issue as you once pointed out to me. Let me guess now. You wanted to say RENEGE, right " LOL !!!!!!!!!!
Those are legit concerns, BigB and I share them a lot. But I also think in today's CFB that the head coach first and foremost needs to be the face of the program - rally the fans, foster (pun intended) donations and support, and be the closer with recruits. Then he has to bring in great OC and DC and position coaches, those guys can do the heavy lifting with regard to schemes and play calls and personnel. Deion Sanders does a bit of coaching at CU, but it's primarily his presence and image that revitalized a dead in the water program (I have big doubts about his staff building on it tho).
It's way too early to lump Foster with Dorrell. Yes, neither had coordinator or head coach experience. But Dorrell was never ever recognized as an excellent coach before he got the head coaching job. Foster has gotten accolades and was nominated as a top assistant. Dorrell was never praised by players when he was a wide receivers coach. And none of his wide receivers really did much.
Agreed, Patrick. The vibe around Foster with regard to the response by the players and simply his own attitude and presence seem quite a step up from Dorrell.
Ah, the port in a storm! Did love him as a Bruin running back.
yikes
Just happy it's not Chip Kelly
but this might be worse. Chip guaranteed a shitty 2024, but a fresh start for 2025. This guarantees 3+ years of mediocrity. I would have taken the short term pain 10 times out of 10.
How do you know this? It "guarantees 3+ years"? How do you know this? Did Evan get his Crystel Ball out?
because we would be totally unjustified firing a coach after 1 or 2 years when they are taking over the program in its current state. When was the last time we fired a football coach when it was time?
LOL !!!!!!!!!!!! He always does but in an adverse way.
Even if you hire a "big name" coach, it's still a gamble. How many schools have overpaid for a "proven" coach only to be sorry about the big money they are in bondage to? I say it's always a gamble so why not gamble on someone you think has some upside without the huge amount of money to commit?
it's not nearly as much of a gamble as a total roll of the dice.
Meh!
"Comprehensive search?" Really?
We certainly could have secured a much better long-term coach had Jarmond pulled the trigger to fire Chip when he should have last November. Jonathan Smith comes to mind as one.
I hope I'm wrong and Foster is a pleasant surprise, but it seems like we're going to add another 5 years to the current 25 years of UCLA irrelevance in football.
Certainly, Jarmond contract should not be extended past 2026 until we know the outcome of this decision.
I ask everyone this question. Had Chip been fired December 1, what are the chances Foster would have ended up being the guy? 0%.
What you said proved my point. Had he been fired, which you vehemently opposed, rather than granted the extension a year ago, not just December 1, we would have more choices
Yes, I opposed the firing, because, while we would have ended up with someone better than Foster, we still could not have afforded a truly elite coach. in 9 months we will have enough money to make someone a top 5 highest paid coach.....problem is now the position is filled.
Can anyone in Mightybruinland explain how this hire will turn around the overall abysmal recruiting effort that has dogged UCLA football for years? One positive: the administration stayed within budget filling this position!!
DeShaun Foster is a pretty good recruiter, he was the lead in recruiting under Mora for a couple of years and as we all know Mora had some really good recruiting classes. Now of course recruiting has changed significantly, but I think he can still use some of what he learned back in 2015-16. But you are correct the Chipster (OG) and Jelly 2.0 Jarmond have set back UCLA recruiting and UCLA football at least 5 years, perhaps more.
he has his work cut out for him. it is certainly the part of the job for which i have the most confidence that he may succeed. But the problem is NIL.
Coach Foster's coaching pedigree with Coach Mora. Under Mora, Foster was a volunteer assistant (2012), graduate assistant (2013-2015); 2015 his title was Director of Player Development and High School Relations...whatever that means. 2016 he left UCLA for Texas Tech. 2017 rejoined Mora's last year as the UCLA running back coach. Tough to conclude Foster was a "lead in recruiting under Mora".
In 2015-16, he was one of the lead guys, that's the title he was given "Director of Player Development and High School Relations", that was Mora's "recruiting arm", if you will. Hence, he has experience in this area and all of Mora's assistants were pretty good recruiters, including Mora himself. So, I'm just saying he has some positive experience in this area, how that equates to the current landscape... we will see.
2016 Foster was at Texas Tech. That leaves you with 2015. Sorry I am not connecting the dots on his recruiting prowess. Besides...2015 was a long time ago. Agreed, we will see.
This was the easiest out for Jarmond. He doesn’t have to do the actual work to determine the best for Ucla at this juncture. That includes having to bargain $$$ for a relevant head coach. This may put Ucla back another 10 yrs. I hope DF can pull this off. Will he adopt the coaching staff already in place or will he bring in new experienced coaches at key positions?
My guess is he will attempt to keep everything as is, like Jelly 2.0 Jarmond is attempting to do. One advantage he has... LOW EXPECTATIONS. Hence, if he goes 6-6 or 5-7 or worse, everyone will say he did a great job with what he was saddled with. So DeShaun, no pressure.
the betting boards have our wins over under at either 4.5 or 5.5 6-6 would be a smashing success.
it might have been the only way out for him.
This is the biggest key for me, Russ. I have pretty good faith that Foster can be an effective recruiter and leader for the players. The bigger question, and possibly the more important role, is what kind of coaching staff can he bring in?
Okay, this is just "filler", sad for DeShaun, that he has to be used in this way, but this won't be longer than 3 years. He will not be successful here, but then again, who has been for like 25 years. Actually 26 years, the last time UCLA won a major bowl game against a quality opponent (1998 Cotton Bowl). Yes, they had a great 1998 season and was just a couple of games away from a National title, but lost their last two games and lost the Rose Bowl to Wisconsin, so although that season was a good one (lots of wins and a fantastic offense) it wasn't a successful one. I wish DeShaun luck and yes better than what we had, but simply won't last. This is just another Neuheisel pick. Good ex-Bruin football player who simply cannot coach within this culture, as Neuheisel has admitted to many times.
He was a great running back for UCLA. Dorrel and Neuheisel were also great players for UCLA, but neither panned out as a head coach. I do not know how Foster will do as a first time head coach. But for certain, we must get behind him to win!
These comments are spot on. Such a UCLA hire. Supposedly Tony White really wanted the job. The players wanted Foster. Alas…we keep a holdover from the prior failed coaching staff.
Kinda like if UCLA hired Tyus Edney to replace Alford.
I just think if you make a "bigger/significant" hire at this point, for Jelly 2.0 Jarmond, he will raise expectations or which he doesn't want to do. He wants to keep expectations low so if DeShaun is successful and wins what 5 or 6 games, Jelly 2.0 Jarmond can pat himself on the back and say "see, this guy is really good). But if DeShaun is 2-10, he can say, we need to give him a chance to prove himself and we all knew it would be tough". I just think with DeShaun, Jelly 2.0 Harmond has lowered the expectations and provided Jelly 2.0 with some cover. If he would have selected White or some of those other names that have more of a splash because they were either head coaches or coordinators, he raises expectations to high. Yes, White would have been a better choice. He is a defensive coach, he has had multiple coordinator gigs and just like DeShaun, Tony was a pro football player as well. But I think Jelly 2.0 Jarmond selected the "lower expectations" candidate and also someone already familiar with the current UCLA football program.
Pardon me while I throw up!
Marty Jarmond, the Wunderkind AD from the rancid city of Bahston, lives up to his billing, did not study UCLA's FB coaching historical past failures, goes with the "most convenient" warm body, and..
..FAILS TO READ THE ROOM!
Order up another dozen tarps for the Rose Bowl seats, folks.
And enroll this idiot, Marty, in Subject A English and teach him how to decline the verb "to win".
Next year will be like a cabin boy on his first voyage among "manly men" with an added-shut out thumping by the Toe Jams of Figueroa with the help of our former "D" coach on their payroll.
I don't have any more time to invest in rookie AD failure! Cannot endure this any further! Immediately switching my fall football allegiances to American River JC. They had a 10-2 record, kicked [almost] everyone's ass, and lost a 3 point squeaker to San Mateo CC in the 2023 3C2A Northern California State Championship game.
Hey, desperate times and all that!
in his defense, i don't want him to read the room. I want him to make the best hire. and this just isn't it. HOLY SMOKES.
Well Evan, I think you need to "read the room" to enable yourself to make the best hire. "Reading the room" means you understand what people are expecting and what they think. When you interview for any job, especially a leadership position like head coach, you at least need to "read" that individual and determine if they are up for the job. Jelly 2.0 can't read his backside; hence he's throwing up a 50/50 ball and hoping it gets through the uprights. I am also skeptical, but there are two realities now; 1.) We are moving to a much tougher football conference with a much tougher 2024 & 2025 football schedule and 2.) the hire has been made so we all have to swallow hard, support DeShaun in his new role and see what he can do. Yes, I don't think he will be successful but at this point we all don't have a choice or a voice here, what is done is done, so let's stop pounding on the guy and give him his shot. Perhaps he does end up being another Karl Dorrell or Rick Neuheisel, but maybe, just maybe, we could at least get somewhat lucky, and he ends up being a Terry Donahue. Yea, at this point, I'd take 8, 9, 10 win seasons consistently and throw in some big bowl wins, wouldn't you?
absolutely not. What is "the room." Is it this blog? Is it talk radio? Is it attendance? No, the name of the game is winning and AD's/GM's are paid to make the hire that will maximizes wins. If it was about reading the room, anyone could be AD.
I suppose, these days, "the room" is who the players want (recruiting and re-recruiting to keep who you have) and what the whale donors/those willing to contribute to the collectives want/will support... DeShaun does apparently check the second half of that first box - current player support - at least. It's not the hire I'd of chosen and boy, a lot is going to depend on who the coordinators are!
yeah i'm not letting the players select the coach.
Absolutely, but you do want to know or at least understand how the players may react to that hire so at least you can keep those players! If you alienate the players, you lose buy-in, you probably lose the players and if you lose buy-in and some of those players, you lose, period.
Yes, true, a room is a blog, yes it is "the people" attending games, it's this site, it's talk radio, it's your team in the locker room at halftime and yes it is having success on the field or court. But it's also understanding what people are thinking, what you may define as success and what they may be looking for. Selecting a coach is ALWAYS a 50/50 proposition, you could get that "diamond in the rough" or you can get "a lemon". It's easy to say, "I read the room, and everyone wants to win", no that isn't "reading the room", that's just an obvious fact. Reading the room goes beyond that fact. Yea, of course, we all want to win, it's how we go about it, our choices, our decisions. So sorry, I disagree with your definition of "the room", it's a lot more than a couple of talk show hosts and it's a lot more than just winning. I happen to be a pretty heavy-duty Wooden disciple, if I'm in a locker room at halftime and my team is behind, I don't even talk about what the score is or even about winning or losing, I talk about what my players need to do to improve. With that I will win way more than I will lose and that's what I'm after. Yes, the name of the game is winning, but it's how you get there, that's when you want someone who can "read the room".
again, i'll take the right coach over who the room likes. the room loved Chip for a few weeks.
Oh, completely agree, but how do we know DeShaun Foster won't be that "right coach"? Well, he certainly doesn't have the pedigree of the "right coach" and he was hired by a worthless, feckless AD, but even a pedigree doesn't guarantee success and even worthless, feckless AD's sometimes get lucky.
I don't know what you are arguing about. "Reading the room" as Warplanner intended clearly means hiring a hotshot coach, not Deshaun Foster ,so you and him are on the same page here.
I'm kinda with Evan on this one. "Spin 'n Marty" whiffed big time on this one, proving he's lazy and impertinent all at once.
It has "Dorrell" written all over it. I'm all for DeShaun Foster to be successful but I am highly skeptical and am inclined to believe we're in one of those "Groundhog Day" movie scenarios ~~ only this time we've awakened in 2003 and Bob Toledo had just been shown the gate and wet-behind-the-ears AD Guerror, still dripping Amniotic fluid, is proudly introducing Karl as the new shining star in the Bruin's football firmament.
Maybe I'll have a chance to learn to learn to play the piano.
Someone go tell the Westwood Air Force to warm up the Cessna 182s and put the aircrew on alert! There are going to be a lot pf sorties over the next couple of years.
Marty screwed this up when he didn’t dump Chip after the regular season. Hiring a head coach in February isn’t ideal.
Nope, but Jelly 2.0 hadn't much of a choice. He selected someone safe, meaning he kept the expectations for the program as low as possible, so he hopes he doesn't have to deal with the football program for at least 3 years. Looks like the team is pretty pumped about the selection though, they all looked like they just won the national title!
I really do not think he had much control over this entire situation. See my comments about what I heard on Petros and Money yesterday. This was doomed to happen the moment we refused to fire Chip after the season (and that was not Jarmond's call).
The mental image of Dan Guerrero dripping amniotic fluid was not on my bingo card today. Thanks for that, I guess.
..anything that does not kill you..? They used to tell me that when I was a pledge at the Lamdachi Frat Club. Then they brought out the Everclear[tm] that one of the brothers smuggled back from Colorado over the Summer!
it just seems like an emotional hire. Real easy to think up a fairytale storyline whenever a school hires an alum. Would we have been celebrating if they replaced Alford with Tyus Edney?
American River College is a winner. Their mascot Bucky the Beaver agrees!
Go Beavs!
Reports are that we interviewed 11 candidates. Guessing in this time frame they are using "interview" loosely and a few quick calls were probably mixed in. This means guys like Fleck, Leipold, and Stanford's coach just were not interested. If Chip had class, he would have made this move a month ago to give UCLA a full opportunity to hire an adequate replacement.
"If Chip had class" now that's funny, the guy has screwed every organization he has been with, and he will screw OSU as well.
Totally agree that Chip could have done us a solid by leaving after the season. I will forever wonder what his motives were for lingering for 2 months, interviewing at all sorts of places, pretending to recruit here and there, and then ejecting once he had another job lined up. Talk about burning your bridges and not showing any class.
Risky hire on a guy who doesn’t even have coordinating experience. Jarmond’s statement says that he wants someone who’s a great recruiter and fully embraces the NIL landscape, which seems to be a dig at Chip Kelly. At least Jarmond and Foster know that recruiting and NIL should be priorities here.
Very interested in seeing the contract details too
At the end of the day, there is no way to know for sure how this will end up. Every coaching hire is a crap shoot, every school has different challenges and a coach that thrives at one school falls on his face at another. That being said, regardless of how good a person and Bruin Foster is, there is no way to spin this hire as anything other then uninspired and disappointing.
Being a head college football coach is challenging, I honestly don't know how any of them do it, especially in this age with NIL and the transfer portal. While there was no way in hell we were ever going to poach a good coach from another power 5 (4?) conference, we absolutely could have gotten a good DC/OC from one of them who was dying for a chance to run the show, or a great up and coming head coach from one of the lower divisions looking to move up and prove themselves.
Again not a guarantee of a successful hire, it's always a crap shoot, but instead of hedging our bets and going with someone who at least has some experience running one side of the ball if not the whole show, we went with a guy who's highest experience has been as a position coach. To use another bad gambling analogy we've put all our chips on 00, yeah there's a chance it may hit, but it doesn't do so very often.
Lazy hire, but no one else wanted the job.
Maybe it was the nice suit that sealed the deal.
Aughh - Flashbacks! Noooooooo!!!
probably that and we didn't have the money offer anyone serious.
I'm trying to figure this out, as none of this makes sense to me. Is this Jarmond being lazy, saving money on a salary, lowering expectations, controlled demolition?
Who would do this heading into the BIG 10?:
Hire a position coach; never a coordinator or head coach
No experience in a major program (UCLA certainly not in that category for 25 years)
No experience in a successful program of any tier
Other than 1-yr stop at a second-tier program (Tech Tech), only experience is at 1 university
Hoping for the best, but hope really isn't a strategy.
Re experience, this is a hire of Larry Farmer proportions.
Petros and Money on 570 discussed this at length yesterday. The gist is the donors would not put up the money to allow Jarmond to make a big splash because they do not trust him and know he has one foot out the door.
One thing I can agree on is Jarmond so far has been pretty much worthless
Gibs, is that you?