UCLA fires WR coach and defensive coordinator
The Bruin fans seem to be happy about this.
We'll see who UCLA hires. Maybe Rick brings back Walker as DC?
over 1 year ago
WhiteHorse
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Posted: 12/18/2010 02:41:10 PM MST LAS CRUCES - It's nothing but a rumor, coach says.
Walker told the Sun-News he is happy in his current position..
“I’m a head coach,” he said. “I’m not going to walk away from a head coaching job.”.
"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." - Joseph Stalin
U feeling Loco?
Yeap...
Walker will NOT go back to UCLA.
He may get fired and have to take a step down to DC…but not at UCLA.
Is he done firing people?
Makes sense that he fired the WR coach. Those guys couldn’t catch a cold at the north pole with ice-cubes up their noses
What is the deal...
With the Walker hatred on BN? Bellerophons write-up was just plain nasty! I wouldn’t have a problem if Walker came back to coach the defense although I do think that a new philosophy is needed.
Moore definitely had to go as WR coach though. There was too much talent in that WR corp and it just seems like it was being wasted.
by DannyJay01 on Dec 19, 2010 3:43 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
They have hated Walker for a while
And I’m really not sure why. I was still posting over there when the hatred started showing. At first I thought it was just typical frustration after some tough losses and the occasional stinker performance. But what surprised me was the vehemence of the antipathy. I thought Walker was a very good DC, who generally schemed a little more conservatively than I would have liked but was clearly someone with ability to get a lot from the talent we had. Walker took overin 2006 after the God-awful defense we fielded in 2005 and his big crime, as far as I can tell, was that his defenses were just good and not dominating. It just wasn’t enough that UCLA’s pathetically soft defense went from the horror show we saw in 2005 (remember 66-19? 52-14?) to being a top 30 defense in ‘06 and was consistently around the top 30 when he held the reins. Also, per BN, he was bad because he was not a blitz-happy guy and we had difficulty stopping spread offenses. Of course, he got no breaks for coaching a depressing lack of NFL talent and for running defenses handicapped by being on the field for a LONG time given the generally incompetent UCLA offenses. Nope, his defenses weren’t great, and that was not enough.
Occasionally, I had the same frustrations with Walker-we got lit up by a couple of teams pretty badly (Florida State comes to mind after 13-9; WSU and Cal lit us up the same year; Utah in ‘07; BYU in ’08) but any fair-minded observer could watch those games and see how many turnovers we had in most of those games, and how bad the offense was to know that Walker’s defenses were hardly the biggest problem. We did get hammered occasionally and it was frustrating, but I don’t think it was because Walker was a bad guy at calling the defensive X’s and O’s that UCLA got beat.
My thoughts exactly!
I also get not liking his defensive philosophy, but to go after him personally like that is just wrong.
by DannyJay01 on Dec 19, 2010 9:23 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
You can't blame walker for the Las Vegas Bowl
He had that game won. Blocked field goal was the difference.
I didn't blame him for that loss but Nestor did
that was theg ame where Nestor was apoplectic because Walker didn’t go for a two-point conversion when UCLA scored a TD in the last couple of minutes of the first half.
That was when rumors were swirling...
That Walker was a candidate for the head coaching job. They were basically looking for any straw to grab at to make sure he wouldn’t get it.
by DannyJay01 on Dec 20, 2010 8:13 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Considering Walker had Rashaan
at QB for the first half of that game, it was amazing how close he was to winning it.
Generally
Hasn’t their beef with Walker been because of his “soft zone” which cost them the game against Brady Quinn and Notre Dame back in 2006?
by Joey Kaufman on Dec 20, 2010 12:06 PM PST up reply actions
That’s basically the issue they cling to when it comes to his overall defensive philosophy. What bothers me is the personal attacks though.
by DannyJay01 on Dec 20, 2010 1:03 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
There was a lot of discussion after that loss regarding whether Walker was really running
a prevent D on that series, especially the final play. My memory is a bit foggy, but IIRC Walker did run a prevent on the first three plays and intended to switch it up on the next play. We rushed four on the play and Quinn left the pocket, then hit his receiver about 15 yards down the field. We thenn missed two tackles and he scored.
I have a general idea of what qualifies as a prevent defense, but claim no expertise and perhps others here might care to educate me. I thought rushing four when we had been generating a solid pass rush without blitzing all day did not make our defense a prevent defense on that play. Still, we certainly didn’t blitz and try to bring extra pressure. However, the real “fault” on the last play was a) Quinn was a heckuva QB, b) we got no real pressure with 4, and c) we missed tackles that would have stopped ND well short of the goal line. I’m not sure the scheme was the problem; we missed tackles against a very good team and our offense on the possession before couldn’t get a first down to run out the clock.
from a Bruin fan
I see the main problem with him being the rumors that his camp was floating around when he was at UCLA. It always seemed like his camp would try and get rumors of him being a candidate for another job out there. Also, after some games, he’d throw some of his players under the bus instead of accepting some responsibility. A lot of fans just looked at him as being a bit shady and trying to angle himself for the HC job a bit too much.
I personally don’t have anything against him (think he’s a great recruiter). I wouldn’t want him to come back. I don’t think he was able to stop of slow down the spread and it got us burned plenty of times (maybe the better talent we have now would change that). The ND debacle was definitely a negative. Overall, I just don’t want anybody that has been at UCLA before. I don’t believe the second time around is going to be better for any coach.
Ricky is hilarious Defense wasn't really their problem it was the Matter between Ricks Ears.
Stupid is as stupid does, how did that twerp get a USC Law Degree anyhow.
Lets face it the Bruins are superior in all aspects of life, heck I here they can wipe their Butts with their mind.
by so.cal.native1952 on Dec 19, 2010 1:31 PM PST reply actions
So True
Skippy just picking out scapegoats to save his own behind. Can’t fault the WR coach when the QBs and passing offense were deplorable. Can’t fault Bullough, who had a pretty solid defense despite being forced to play frosh all throughout the front 7. Can’t fault Chow, who was forced to play call from the Pistol scheme that he was staunchly opposed to implementing in the first place.
Nope, the sole responsibility lies with Skippy Neuweasel, the weasel of Westwood.
A Quick Note for the Quitters
No comment from this thread will be deleted. You will have to own them when we get it turned around and beat Southern Cal. You will never ride the bandwagon when we come back. Not on BN. GO BRUINS.
by Nestor on Sep 4, 2010 9:24 PM CDT
Not exactly...
The WRs especially had huge problems this year with drops and route running. The defense also got lit up more than once this year and last year. It was pretty clear that Bullough was in way over his head.
by DannyJay01 on Dec 19, 2010 9:25 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Agree to disagree
With an offense like that, every defense is prone to getting lit up. You guys were also playing a ton of freshman. Defenses loose their will with an inept offense. But, you guys have some good talent there and played some good games.
A Quick Note for the Quitters
No comment from this thread will be deleted. You will have to own them when we get it turned around and beat Southern Cal. You will never ride the bandwagon when we come back. Not on BN. GO BRUINS.
by Nestor on Sep 4, 2010 9:24 PM CDT
"lose" not loose...geez!
A Quick Note for the Quitters
No comment from this thread will be deleted. You will have to own them when we get it turned around and beat Southern Cal. You will never ride the bandwagon when we come back. Not on BN. GO BRUINS.
by Nestor on Sep 4, 2010 9:24 PM CDT
**************************The Weasel Of Westwood!!!*******************************
"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." - Joseph Stalin
U feeling Loco?
A terrible passing QB
is made to look even more terrible when the passes that he delivers on the numbers are dropped. How many catchable balls did the bruins drop this year?
Quite a few-including the perfectly thrown ball to Embree in the end zone
on 4th down when UCLA still had a slight chance of making a game of it against USC. Believe me, there were many, many others.
basically those receivers heard and felt footsteps, that was the main concern at my HS with LBs and D backfield stand them up and share them.
Lets face it the Bruins are superior in all aspects of life, heck I here they can wipe their Butts with their mind.
by so.cal.native1952 on Dec 20, 2010 3:04 PM PST up reply actions
UCLA's problem was a "big picture" problem
Where there some units that under performed? Yes. The WRs dropped some balls. Every time you lose (at USC, too), the two problems that always seem to stand out are dropped passes and stupid penalties. But these are rarely the only problems: they are merely the problems that most people see as hardest to overcome and easiest to fix. Fact is, dropped balls and penalties are part of the game.
I agree that Weasel is picking the scapegoat of convenience here. I can’t honestly say that UCLA’s D underachieved given the personnel (of course, maybe the new guy will be better), and getting more consistency from the WRs would be beneficial. But none of this addresses the heart of the problem, and most Ruins know it. More important that these firings, Weasl needs to reexamine how the team is run from a fundamental and philosophical standpoint. It’s rare that a guy in Weasel’s state of carreer is able to adopt a fresh aproach that really makes a difference. If UCLA can’t get more than 2 or 3 conference wins next year, Dan Guerrro needs to realize that a “big picture” change is needed, and recruiting alone doesn’t make you a winner. Ultimately, you can’t build a program if the greatest thing you ever accomplish is a nabbing a few NSD surprizes from your cross town rival… who don’t pan out.
+1 well said, broseph!
A Quick Note for the Quitters
No comment from this thread will be deleted. You will have to own them when we get it turned around and beat Southern Cal. You will never ride the bandwagon when we come back. Not on BN. GO BRUINS.
by Nestor on Sep 4, 2010 9:24 PM CDT
I like the Bruins to be good at football. . . .
. . . .looks better on our resume’ when we beat them. That being said, I don’t give a flying-fuck “how” they get to be good, or “when” they do it, or- for that matter “who” get’s them there.
But this guy, TrickyDick NeueWeisenheimer? He’s shady. He’s scandalous. Rick just being part of the Trojan/Bruin equation, stains it. Whatever though? He’s their problem, not ours.
I’m surprised I’ve given him this much of my time.
I guffaw- inside, for Bruins.
"Every rock that someone threw at me, I just used as a steppingstone." (Allen Bradford USC Tailback aka: "B-Rad"- Conquest Chronicles)
"TrickyDick NeueWeisenheimer"
I LOVE it. Let’s make it stick!
A Quick Note for the Quitters
No comment from this thread will be deleted. You will have to own them when we get it turned around and beat Southern Cal. You will never ride the bandwagon when we come back. Not on BN. GO BRUINS.
by Nestor on Sep 4, 2010 9:24 PM CDT
Love the Moniker!
Just not sure the Weasel is worthy of is worthy of anything that takes so much concentration to type.
“The football monopoly of Los Angeles is till over there”
From the Letters section LA Times Sports today.....
Firing offense
Slick Rick, a.k.a. Captain of the UCLA Titanic, is rearranging the deck chairs after hitting the iceberg! Memo to Rick: Rather than purging the staff, your “evaluation of the problem” can be solved simply and cheaply. Purchase a mirror!
Mark S. Roth
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again
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