Q&A with Dan Guerrero

Dan Guerrero sat down with the Daily Bruin’s Matt Stevens to talk about his experiences and some tough decisions he has made in his nearly eight years at the helm of UCLA Athletics.

Daily Bruin: You’ve talked a lot about your core values ““ integrity and doing things the “right” way. But how can an athletic director possibly hope to maintain those values across the board with an athletic department as large as UCLA’s?

Dan Guerrero: When you have 600 athletes to handle, when you have 20-plus sports, you’re going to have transgressions. There’s no question. Things are going to happen because people are human. You are dealing with human behavior here.

I have been in situations where I have had to serve as judge and juror of other institutions that have had violations. It’s not a pleasant experience for anyone, and I convey that to our staff and our coaches. I never want to be on the other side. Call it “scared straight” or whatever.

DB: A lot of boosters questioned your hiring of football coach Rich Neuheisel because of those exact concerns. You value integrity, but Neuheisel was fired from Washington for violating NCAA rules.

DG: Rick, by his own admission, had made mistakes early in his career. It wasn’t an absolute that Rick Neuheisel was going to be our coach. Every AD has a short list. Rick has always been on that short list.

The question was, not only did I need to be convinced that Rick was the right person for the job ““ not just because of his ability to recruit and his ability to coach ““ but I was concerned about his ability to represent the university. I had to make certain that he would complement a coaching staff that was already rooted in a strong ethical foundation.

DB: The strong ethical foundation created by Karl Dorrell?

DG: Absolutely. That was one of the primary reasons I hired him. We were at a time in our program where it required a great deal of healing. I needed to bring someone that understood what UCLA was all about. Karl had a perspective of discipline and academic integrity and things of that nature.

DB: So why did you fire him?

DG: Because at UCLA, not only do you need to create and foster a program that’s consistent with our philosophy, but you have to win. And at that particular time and what he had gone through over the course of five years, I had to determine whether I felt the next five years would bear the fruit of what we needed. I didn’t see that from my perspective.

In some respects, I blame myself for putting Karl in a very difficult position. I asked him to do a lot in his first job as a head coach. It was UCLA.

DB: You approve then of the emphasis UCLA puts on winning by hanging only national championship banners and awarding bonuses to coaches only if they win a title?

DG: That’s reflective of who we are, and I’m very comfortable with that. We’re perhaps one of the very few universities in the country that can have that perspective.

If you attended a coaches meeting that we have on a monthly basis, one of the first things we do is go around the room and have coaches give reports on the status of the program. It’s mind-boggling to witness. Everyone there knows that within reason they have the opportunity to really compete for something, which in my opinion, is extremely impressive when you walk into the living room of a recruit. Whether it’s a Pac-10 conference championship, or an MPSF championship or a national championship, we’re going to have a chance.

There are very few places in the country that can say that.

DB: Does it bother you when UCLA invests resources into a particular student-athlete and then he leaves to play professionally before completing his four years here?

DG: Depending on how you look at it, it is sort of a blessing and a curse. Athletes choose UCLA because they know they will compete at the highest level.

Do I wish that all of them would stay for four years? Sure, but on the other hand, when they have the opportunity to move on, when they are ready to take advantage of that situation, that is one of the factors that is inherent in excellence.

DB: Players leaving early for the NBA has got to be one of the main reasons the basketball team is struggling so much this season.

DG: It makes it hard to recruit in the top three every year not knowing how many of those young men are going to stay for the next four years. It makes it hard for Ben (Howland) to recruit a big or a guard when the decision to actually go pro isn’t made until after the letter of intent is signed. Those are difficult decisions to make.

DB: Isn’t it kind of ironic that this is the year you will be chair of the Selection Committee, and this will most likely be the first time in six years UCLA will not be playing in the tournament?

DG: Very few schools have had the kind of run that we had in the last five years. In fact, no school has had that run. We didn’t win the championship, but we were in the derby, three out of five years. And one of the things I have seen as I have gone through this five-year period is that the quality of teams is cyclical in many ways.

DB: Is that how you would explain the Pac-10 having a down year?

DG: This year is sort of the perfect storm for the teams that happen to be in the Pac-10. I believe it’s 16 players in the last couple of years were first-round draft picks out of the Pac-10. No one has felt the effects of migration more than UCLA. And so this is the year we’re feeling the impact of that.

But it is an anomaly, in my opinion, and we obviously have not performed in the level that we’ve desired, but it hasn’t been because our kids haven’t played hard. It hasn’t been because they don’t desire to win. That’s just the situation. We have a combination of veteran team with three seniors but no juniors, and we’re playing a lot of young freshmen that still have to learn how to play the game.

DB: This will be your last of five years on the committee. Feeling nostalgic?

DG: Prior to my serving on the committee and speaking to those who had served before me, they all said it would be the greatest professional experience of my career. I would be inclined to agree.

DB: What makes it so rewarding?

DG: First of all, it’s the signature committee in our association. At the end of the day, it’s about representing one of the greatest sporting events in the world. To see the tournament unfold, see the millions of people, not only in the United States but now globally watch it ““ it’s staggering and it’s very cool.

DB: After your time on the committee comes to an end, you have one other large hurdle to jump over. Will the success or failure of renovation of Pauley Pavilion define your career?

DG: First of all, I don’t think that my career is defined by the renovation of Pauley Pavilion. When I took over as athletic director, you never know how long you’re going to be in this position.

I was told a long time ago that once you get into this position and you make the decisions that you need to make, that every major decision you make might negatively impact a piece of the constituency out there that is supportive of a group, and over the course of time whether it’s one year, five years, 10 years, 20 years, you may make so many big decisions and alienate so many people that you’re rendered ineffective, it’s time for you to move on or the university will tell you it’s time for you to move on.

The Pauley Pavilion project happened on my watch. I realized earlier in my career at UCLA that it was a building that needed tremendous upgrade and renovation, or it needed to be replaced ““ one or the other. And so like everything else we do, if we’re going to do it, we have to tackle it and put our arms around it and be aggressive in making certain that if it gets done, it gets done in a manner that is befitting of the university from the standpoint of quality and respect the tradition.

DB: So if being on the selection committee is the peak point of your career and Pauley is just a few years from being completed, why not retire?

DG: Because I honestly love UCLA. Everything good that’s ever happened to me in so many ways has been the direct result of my experience here as a student, the people I met, and the opportunities provided for me. And my job today is to be the best steward of this program that I can possibly be. In a lot of respects, it’s how I say thank you for what this university has done for me.

E-mail Stevens at [email protected].