Dorrell I: "We should be a factor"

UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said he and his team "have great expectations for this coming season, to be a strong factor in the conference race."

In his appearance at Pac-10 Football Media Day, Dorrell shared the podium with returning senior defensive end Bruce Davis. Dorrell, as is his style, was quietly confident:

>> "We should be a factor in winning the conference."

>> On the arrest of assistant coach Eric Scott: "I placed him on administrative leave yesterday in view of an allegation out there against him. We have to figure out what are the factors involved; we can't really comment much on what has happened.

"I’m the kind of guy and the players and coaches know this, that says players and coaches are accountable at UCLA. We are all held to same standard. We’re going to find out more about this case and issues as it unfolds.

"Based on the information I received from Eric and his attorney, I am very optimistic about how this will be uncovered."

>> "I’ll be acting as receivers coach. I have been most of my career, so I can do that. I do know our offense so if it gets to that point [where Scott is not available], I can do it. In the meantime, we’ll let the process take its course."

>> It’s not going to affect his team or what our expectations are of this program this year. [Today] is about UCLA and our opportunity to go great things this year."

More to come from Pac-10 Football Media Day . . .

Comments

[Hector Hill]

...is anyone going to bother to mention that Mr Scott has an interesting behavior pattern over the last few years...

While sources said UCLA is optimistic the charges against Scott will be dropped, likely clearing the way for him to be re-instated, news of prior run-ins with the law came as a surprise.

Scott was arrested four times between 1994 and 2005, and twice was convicted and placed on probation.

In 1994, he was charged with resisting arrest, and in 1996 he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and carrying a loaded firearm in public. Those charges were all dismissed, according to court documents.

However, in 2002, he was convicted of disturbing the peace and placed on one year probation, according to a Los Angeles Superior Court spokesperson. He was arrested again Jan. 5, 2005, and convicted of carrying a concealed weapon within a vehicle and sentenced to two years probation, the spokesperson said.

[DumpDorrell]

If Eric Scott is brought back then the gloves will come off. The first sign of Dorrell letting this special season slip away we will really come after him. The one saving grace his program has had was that he kept it clean, somewhat. He, of course, boasted about this often. There is no way a 2 time convict and 4 time arrestee, with arrests and convictions as recent as '05, should have been hired into a clean program. Scott wasn't 18 when he was arrested and then spent the next 12 years growing up and turning his life around, and the lives of others around, atoning for his misdeeds. He was 30 years old making decisions over a 10+ year period that were detrimental to society. And this is the guy you want to make an example of to young Bruins??? Dorrell made a big mistake with this hire, but he will make a bigger mistake if he brings him back. If he does, he will lose a lot of the goodwill he has stored with UCLA fans over the years by keeping the program clean.

Dorrell is going to bat for a guy that has not proven that he has earned the trust and respect of an institution like UCLA when Dorrell himself is feeling the pressure of having to finally perform to his own expectations after 5 long years. If Dorrell makes that mistake of bringing Scott back he will make it easy for us at DD to campaign against him the moment he starts to fail. And we will campaign hard.

[Peter]

It should be noted that Scott has been convicted twice. The first being when he was 19. I'm not saying that is a complete excuse, but that case in isolation is so long it can be exused. The 2005 conviction of carrying a firearm is a little more worrying. At this point I'm going to wait before judging Scott. Placing him on leave was definitely the right thng to do. I'm not sure whether or not he should be fired. Perhaps demoting him for a season and letting this blow over while Dorrell is WR coach would be a good solution.