Both Saldaña, university have chance to be at fault, victims

  Brian Thompson Thompson has been the
lead men’s soccer beat writer since 1999. He can be reached at
[email protected].

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The first reaction after learning that UCLA men’s soccer
coach Todd Saldaña’s degree is bogus is that we have a
full-fledged scandal on our hands.

But before anyone starts shaking their heads, pointing fingers
at Saldaña or the athletic department, and labels the coach as
UCLA’s version of George O’Leary, it’s important
to understand the situation.

This is a scenario in which both parties, Saldaña and UCLA,
might be at fault and might also be victims. It’s also a
situation that very well could unfold on other college campuses
across the nation.

First, let’s take a look at how Saldaña even found
himself in this predicament. Then we can pose the obvious questions
as to where the blame lies and what should be done.

Todd Saldaña was a high school soccer prodigy at South
Torrance High School in the late ’70s. Upon graduating in
1980, he opted to turn professional and play in the North American
Soccer League rather than play collegiate soccer. After a largely
successful pro career throughout the ’80s, Saldaña
decided to move into the coaching ranks.

In 1989, he linked up with Sigi Schmid, the longtime UCLA
men’s soccer coach. Schmid had coached Saldaña in the
youth ranks a decade before. Schmid brought on Saldaña as an
assistant coach, and in their five seasons together, they won a
national championship in 1990.

Of course, the logical next step for any assistant is to become
a head coach. In 1995, Saldaña did just that, taking on the
men’s and women’s head coaching responsibilities at
Division II Cal Poly Pomona.

He had a nice stint there, winning awards for his work guiding
both teams to substantial turnarounds. But soon enough, Division I
schools would beckon. The problem, of course, was that most, if not
all, Division I schools require their head coaches to have
bachelor’s degrees.

So Saldaña, like thousands of other Americans who wish to
put a degree on their resumés fairly quickly, enrolled in a
distance-learning university where coursework is completed at home
and often in weeks rather than the usual four years. He enrolled at
Columbia State University, and received his psychology degree in
June 1997. That fall, with a degree on his resumé, he made the
jump to Division I Loyola Marymount to lead their men’s
team.

In 1998, he returned to UCLA to lead the women’s program.
Certainly, he was a known commodity to the athletic department and
had a very influential supporter in Schmid. With a degree on his
resumé and a year of Division I coaching under his belt,
Saldaña seemed to fit the requirements of any head coach at
UCLA.

When his mentor Schmid left to coach the Los Angeles Galaxy of
Major League Soccer in 1999, Saldaña was hired on to take
perhaps one of the three top coaching positions in all of
collegiate soccer “”mdash; men’s soccer coach at UCLA. He made
this ascent up the coaching ranks in an amazingly short period of
time. And his progression was largely deserved.

Here’s what’s happened in Saldaña’s four
years as a UCLA head coach: In his one year leading the
women’s team he had a 17-4-1 record and a Pac-10 title. In
his three years leading the men, he’s accumulated a 43-17-4
record with three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and a
semifinal appearance in 1999. He was NSCAA Far West Coach of the
Year in 1999. He has signed top recruits, many of them youth
national team members, from across the nation. He’s also
graduated most of his players in an era where many bolt early to
MLS.

And, it turns out, he’s done all of this without a college
degree.

Way back in the fall of 1998, Columbia State was discovered by
the state of Louisiana to been nothing more than a scam. Its owners
were getting rich off of claiming to be a college. In essence,
students sent thousands of dollars to earn not degrees, but
worthless pieces of paper.

Saldaña was just another victim of this fraudulent scheme.
He knew he needed a degree to further his career. So, he did what
was necessary to obtain one, meeting all of Columbia State’s
requirements and earning what he thought was a valid degree. Should
he be held responsible for Columbia State’s fraud?

At the same time, UCLA is a victim in this too. The university
believed that it was hiring a person who met its qualifications.
But should have UCLA relied less on their familiarity with
Saldaña and done more of its homework?

It’s 2002 now. Three whole soccer seasons have passed
since Columbia State was revealed for what it is. How has this not
come up sooner? Are we to believe that Saldaña did not know
his degree was illegitimate for all of this time? If he knew, why
did he not inform his employer? And why did UCLA not inquire more
about little-known Columbia State?

In requiring its head coaches to have degrees, UCLA is sending a
message that it wants highly educated, experienced individuals who
set an example for their student-athletes as well as have the
ability to relate to the rigors of being a university student. Was
it proper to hire someone who spent a year or less obtaining a
degree via the Internet, regardless of what ended up happening in
this particular case with Columbia State?

Todd Saldaña is an excellent soccer coach. He is a quality
individual who emphasizes quality of character as much as he does
quality of play amongst his players. He has proven to be an
excellent fit at UCLA.

But now he has a number of questions to answer, as does UCLA.
Did he represent himself properly to the university, his players,
and his players’ parents? How did UCLA allow the situation to
get to this point, and what does it intend to do?

If this was an honest case of Saldaña being victimized, I
believe he should have a chance to retain his job””mdash;provided he
immediately attempts to earn a legitimate degree. He does, after
all, happen to work for one of the finest institutions in the
nation.

But in the process of learning more about this situation, if it
is discovered that Saldaña was not completely honest, then he
has no place at UCLA.

At the same time, the university needs to take a close look in
the mirror. It needs to understand how it did not discover this
information sooner and look at its evaluation process for coaches.
It also needs to recognize that its credibility hinges on how it
handles this situation.