The petition
October 31, 2006
Open Letter To Dan Guerrero, UCLA Director of Athletics
Dear Dan:
We the students, alumni, faculty, donors, boosters and fans of UCLA and its athletic programs strongly believe it is time for you to replace Karl Dorrell as Head Coach of our football program. We make this appeal to you after careful consideration of his achievements and of the short- and long-term consequences of making such a change.
Karl Dorrell changed the character of the football program and cleaned up many of the off-the-field issues that disgraced our community in years past. He has set a great example for future teams in this regard, and for that we are grateful. As you know, our football program requires more than just those achievements to be successful.
On the field Karl Dorrell has led our Bruins to unacceptable results. When you hired Karl four years ago you said at the press conference that you expected our football team to win Pac-10 championships, compete in BCS bowl games and to beat Southern Cal. After nearly four years, Karl Dorrell has achieved none of those goals. In fact, he has had the worst start in his first 3 years than any UCLA coach since Edwin “Babe” Horrell during WWII, and he has a worse record than Bob Toledo, who was fired. However, coach Dorrell’s achievements are more deeply disappointing than those failures (please refer to the list following this letter).
We understand that our displeasure with the coach could be viewed as nothing more than the expected grumbling of an unrealistic, unreasonable or overcritical few. This is not the case, and the implications as you know are much more significant. You have already witnessed both in person and on the balance sheet the measured effect our displeasure has had on the football program, the athletic department’s budget and the budget of the university in general. Attendance at home games is down considerably, reducing concession and merchandise sales, and donors and boosters are calling for a group-wide effort at withholding donations to your department and its programs, the Athletic Fund, and the university. Many have already stopped giving. There is also a call for students, alumni and fans to boycott the remaining games at home, which would further negatively affect your department’s and the university's revenues.
The cumulative negative effect on your department’s bottom line, as you know, affects your ability to provide the best resources and support to all UCLA athletic programs, something you reaffirmed you would provide not just days ago in an answer to a reporter’s question.* As our athletic programs close in on our 100th national championship this point could not be more salient. Karl Dorrell is costing UCLA far more than what we are paying him.
What we all want is a football program worthy of the pride and excellence of our community. Karl Dorrell the coach does not meet that standard. We would like to have a football program run by an experienced and proven winning head coach so that we can achieve the goals you set and bring back excitement and revenues to the program and the university. We know of many candidates that fit our needs (Bobby Petrino, Rich Rodriguez, Steve Kragthorpe to name a few). We do not accept the premise that UCLA football is a training ground for unproven or inexperienced head coaches. The Karl Dorrell coach-in-training experiment has run its course.
In closing, we would like to offer you our support in taking this difficult step. You have restored excellence in our basketball and baseball programs by hiring Ben Howland and John Savage. We have every confidence that you can do the same with our beloved football program.
Karl Dorrell’s Record (updated as of 12/27/06)
1. 1-3 against Southern Cal.
2. No Pac-10 championships.
3. No BCS bowl games.
4. 1-10 on the road against teams with a winning record.
5. Worst starting 3- AND 4-year record of any UCLA football coach since WW2, including Bob Toledo who was fired.
6. Worse winning percentage than Bob Toledo, who was fired.
7. 3-11 against ranked teams.
8. 2-7 against top 10 teams.
9. Only 6 conference wins against teams over .500.
10. 19-14 in the Pac-10.
11. 8-17 against teams with a winning record.
12. 10 losses to unranked teams.
13. He has a losing record after October, 6-12.
14. Embarrassing losses to Wyoming, Fresno State, Arizona, Washington State at home and Southern Cal.
15. Only 1 big game win.
16. Revolving door for assistant coaches.
17. 80% of Bruins fans polled on Bruinsnation.com disapprove of the job Karl Dorrell is doing.
*Kevin Pearson, Press-Enterprise.com, Oct. 30, 2006
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