Guerrero I: wants the program to be "in the national discussion"

The following is a transcript of UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero’s prepared comments at today’s news conference:

"Earlier this morning, I met with coach Karl Dorrell to inform him that I was making a change in the head coaching position here at UCLA. This, as you can imagine, was a very difficult and painful decision for me. I hired Karl five years ago in the hopes that this program would grow and prosper under his leadership.

"In many ways, it did. But after an analysis of the five-year tenure at the helm, and my discussions with him throughout the season, my discussions with him even yesterday, I felt that it was important for us, for this program, to move forward and that we make the change at this particular time.

"When Karl was hired, there were two primary objectives in place. One for was for him to tackle the rebuilding process that was needed in the program. He did that very, very well. He established stability, established a solid foundation, and he in fact dealt with the infrastructure issues that had occurred in our program at that time. There were some issues that clearly needed addressing; I think many of you recall those. In large measure, this was why he was an attractive candidate to me at that particular time.

"We have terrific young men in our program; they represent this university well. And in large part, that can be basically placed on the shoulders of Karl Dorrell and what he has done here at UCLA.

"The other reason was to build this program into a consistent winner, a program that would be in the national discussion on a regular basis. A five-year window should give us an opportunity to assess whether that program and that process was in place in a manner in which we’d like. Certainly the issues of injuries came into play this year, but the concerns that had plagued us in a general sense over this tenure, over this period, primarily as it relates to inconsistent play, in my mind created a scenario that I felt needed to be changed.

"And whenever there is a change like this, it affects many people. It not only affects the student-athletes, it affects assistant coaches as well. We met with both of them earlier today, prior to this press conference and shared the news about the decision with both of them. The assistant coaches are all under contract through the end of June and those contracts will, of course, be honored. They are expected to keep coaching their team through the bowl game, and, of course, they are expected to continue to work diligently to maintain the recruiting class that we have in place at this point in time.

"I personally believe that some semblance of continuity is important, so as we move through this transition, I will strongly encourage the successful coach to interview these individuals and give them an opportunity to be retained so that we might, in fact, be able to have some positive continuity as we move through this.

"As for the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, we look forward to the opportunity to return there and to play BYU. Tina Kinzer-Murphy and her staff do a fantastic job in Las Vegas and our team will be ready to play. Generally speaking, when there is a transition of this type, at the end of the year, the athletic director hires an interim head coach for that particular game. This is a different situation in a lot of different ways. Karl is family and when I discussed this with him, I gave him the opportunity to continue to coach the team through the bowl if that was something that he felt was important for him to do. Knowing Karl, I believe he would love to be able to take another crack at BYU with our guys. But I am not sure if that will ultimately be his decision, because I know he would not want to create any type of a situation that might be deemed a distraction as we move forward with our search.

"We’ll know more about what his decision is, if not later today, no later than tomorrow.

"On another note, it’s important to clarify something that I think is very important for our program. Many of you have written about potential contacts of candidates and things of that nature, leading up to this particular process. One of the things I felt was great about my relationship with Karl is that it was built on honesty and it was built on trust. And as we went through this process over the last several weeks, we were always very straightforward with each other in terms of what was happening out there and what we were thinking and things of that nature. It was very hard in a lot of respects because he had to coach a team and I had to keep my cards close to the vest in many ways. But that trust was never compromised and I think that it is important that you all know that neither UCLA, my office, me – directly or through any emissaries or third parties – have been out there contacting prospective candidates for this position. That has not been the case.

"The decision has been made as of today and we will begin that process, for the search for a new coach imminently. In doing so, I will work with several members of my staff to begin this process and we will engage the services of an executive search firm yet to be hired. The firm will assist with background investigations, help us to evaluate the talent pool, identify a pool of candidates that might be the right fit for us here at UCLA and to help protect the confidentiality of that process.

"You will probably want to know a little bit about timetable. We will be deliberate and thorough as we move forward with this search. We need to hire the right coach. It will be better to take some time and get it right than to rush it and not make the right decision."

Comments

[Alex Chen]

Let's give Dan Guerrero credit for handling this decision with class. He gave Karl Dorrell space to operate even as the team stumbled through the season, and ultimately, he spoke respectfully of the coach on the day of the firing. This has been a frustrating season for us Bruins fans, but at least it has ended with gestures of conciliation and dignity rather than barbs of anger and spite. May Karl Dorrell navigate a smooth transition to the future, and may the UCLA family welcome glory on the football field and in the classroom for years to come!