If I Were The Next UCLA Football Coach

Though realistically I wouldn’t make it to the first game due to my lack of football background and not being able to handle the pressure of heading a Division I football program, trying to compete and catch up with another D-I football program in the same town that’s miles ahead as far as quality and success, I’ve thought about what I’d do if Dan Guerrero went off his rocker and made me the new head coach of the UCLA Bruins football team.

There are a few things that I would make a priority. Here’s the list…

1.  DUMP THE PISTOL OFFENSE

I’ve always felt that it was a bit too gimmicky, plus people must keep this in mind:

When Rick Neuheisel and his staff went to the University of Nevada in Reno to check out how their pistol offense worked, and saw Colin Kaepernick and company run all over their opponents and score oodles of points, what the Bruin staff didn’t realize was that the Wolfpack did all that damage against the Western Athletic Conference, which with all due respect doesn’t have the quality personnel on defense that the Pac-12 Conference does.

That painfully showed these past two seasons, as UCLA’s version of the pistol worked at times against teams like Colorado, but was a complete bust not only against USC (who shut the Bruins out this year), but also against teams like Utah (six points scored against the Utes) and Arizona (12 points scored against the Wildcats)

Simply put, the pistol offense is not one that works in the long run in BCS conferences, because the defensive personnel at that level has the ability to figure it out and stop it.

2.  GO TO A PRO-SET OFFENSE

It’s tried, true, and unlike the pistol or the wishbone offense of the 1970s the best way to prepare a player for the NFL.

Not to mention, as a point of proof, that it’s the bread and butter for USC the SEC schools, who have won the last five BCS national championships and, as LSU and Alabama are meeting for the title on January 9, are guaranteed to make it six.

3.  RECRUIT BETTER ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE AND THE DEFENSIVE FRONT SEVEN

That’s been a significant problem with UCLA’s football team the past few years, as the lack of quality on the offensive line was the reason why Neuheisel adopted the pistol, and the defensive line and linebackers have just not made the grade and are just not up to snuff, giving up 200-yard rushing days in more than half their games and failing to pressure the quarterback time and time again.

Which was exactly why Matt Barkley was able to torch the Bruins for six touchdown passes on November 26 – he had his whole life to throw.

In order to get better quality players in this area, I, as the (hypothetically) new UCLA coach, would have no choice but to go to the administration and insist – demand, really – that…

4.  LOWER THE ADMISSIONS STANDARDS FOR FOOTBALL PLAYERS – JUST A LITTLE

Now I don’t mean start admitting thugs and dummies who have barely a 2.0 grade point average and barely passed their classes in high school, but it’s what former Bruin wide receiver Mike Sherrard said on the KABC-TV show “Sports Zone”, the best football players out there won’t necessarily have 4.0 GPAs.

I would demand that if a prospective recruit is eligible to be admitted into the University of California system, which UCLA is a part of; that is, if he has completed his core a-g classes, which are solids like english, math, science and foreign language, with at least a 3.0 GPA, and has a minimum qualifying SAT score, then he should be recruited and, if he signs his letter of intent to become a Bruin, admitted.

Many people have dismissed this as an excuse, but the fact that UCLA has the second strictest admission requirements among Pac-12 football players has hamstrung their ability to get top recruits for a long time. It is said that Stanford hasn’t had any problem with football success despite being an Ivy League-level school, but one must ask if Stanford lowered its admission standards just a tad for its gridiron folk.

Removing this straitjacket will open the pool considerably for the Bruins to get more four and five-star blue chippers.

5.  IMPROVE THE FOOTBALL FACILITIES ON CAMPUS

I read that Spaulding Field, where the Bruins practice on, has a main field of only 80 yards.

That will not do.

Renovating that facility to the point where its up there with USC and other schools in the  Pac-12 and elsewhere would do much to attract recruits.

If it can be done with Pauley Pavilion, which is in the middle of a massive renovation to improve the seating, capacity, and amenities for its basketball, volleyball, and women’s gymnastics programs, it can be done with Spaulding Field.

6.  GIVE BRETT HUNDLEY EVERY CHANCE TO WIN THE STARTING QUARTERBACK JOB IN 2012

You don’t recruit a quarterback like this five-star player from Chandler, AZ and leave him on the bench to rot.

This former high school All-American needs to be given the chance to show his stuff once and for all, starting in spring practice this March or April.

As Kevin Prince doesn’t have the arm strength to be really successful in the long run, and Richard Brehaut hasn’t quite gotten to where UCLA fans had hoped he would be by now, Hundley has a solid shot at being the main signal-caller next fall.

And while I refuse to call him “The Savior” like so many other members of Bruin Nation, if the freshman does win the job, it will be his for a while.

In a nutshell, this is what I’d do if this were a fantasy world and I was introduced in that Morgan Center as the new UCLA football coach.

Whoever is the next head man that is given the keys to the Bruin kingdom, I hope he takes these suggestions to heart.

Because if he does, UCLA football will rise and become relevant sooner than later.

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