Athletic Director Guerrero talks image, team goals

On July 1, Dan Guerrero succeeded Peter Dalis as UCLA’s
athletic director. Since then, the former Bruin second baseman has
been thrown a few public relations curveballs from both inside and
outside the UCLA community. Earlier this month, he fielded
questions from the Daily Bruin from his new corner office. “¢bull;
“¢bull; “¢bull; Daily Bruin: What athletic events and resources
should new students take advantage of at UCLA?

Dan Guerrero: I think there’s something for every student
or athlete to come in and support. You always hear about our
“10th player” or “sixth man”, and
I’ve always been a very strong advocate for student
involvement in our athletic events. Sure, we want them to come to
our football games and basketball, but we also want them to support
our Olympic sports, both men and women alike. And the important
thing about it is, apart from rooting for their own team, they can
make a difference for us.

DB: Is UCLA going to be hosting any nationally important events
in the next year?

DG: I don’t think we have any national events, but we are
going to be hosting the Pac-10 Championships in cross-country and
golf. In terms of national championships, we’re looking at
the possibility down the road at a few sports that we would have to
bid on.

DB: Which sports?

DG: Tennis is on the horizon. We will continue to host regionals
for baseball, softball, tennis, which we always do. We could look
at another volleyball championship, either men or women, down the
road. We just have to evaluate and see what’s available.

DB: In light of recent events off the field (cornerback Ricky
Manning Jr. and offensive lineman Shane Lehmann were both arrested
in a 7-day span this month), are you concerned with the public
image of UCLA athletics?

DG: Very much so. As I’ve had the opportunity to talk with
most of our fall student-athletes, the two words I talk to them
significantly about are image and substance. Image is really what
we’re perceived to be, and the substance is what we produce.
We’re taking a hit ““ there’s no question ““
from the image standpoint, with some of the activities that have
recently occurred in the football program. My hope is that those
are behind us. I’ve had a lot of opportunity to meet with Bob
(Toledo) and his coaches, and I’m very pleased with the
emphasis that they place on the importance of doing the right
thing. If I felt that they were negligent in that regard, then I
would have a real concern about that. I think what you’ve
seen is several young men who have made some bad decisions, but
that’s not reflective of the entire football team. The
important thing now is that, one, those that made mistakes learn
from those transgressions, and two, those who did not make mistakes
learn from the transgressions of others.

DB: Coach Toledo has been faced with media pressure concerning
his job security, and you’ve supported him. But for Toledo
and for all the coaches, are you looking at this season as a test
of their abilities, and will you be evaluating their long-term role
with the university?

DG: This year is an important year; it gives us a good
opportunity to gauge where each program is. There’s some very
fine coaches here; that doesn’t mean that every coach has
accomplished what they’re capable of accomplishing. My job is
first and foremost to support these coaches and to see if
there’s anything I can do to help them reach their goals. And
of course at the end of each year, we sit back, and evaluate and
see if we’re satisfied with how things have been done. And in
some cases, we may need to tweak things, and some cases we may need
to fix things. But that’s clearly down the road.

DB: Along the line of championships, what’s your attitude
toward accepting bowl invitations?

DG: I would like to see our team go postseason bowl games. I
believe that our coaches would like to go to postseason bowl games.
There’s a dynamic that exists in intercollegiate athletics
where a bowl invitation means that you buy into that bowl, and
that’s not necessarily something that I or any of our coaches
are in favor of doing. But our hope is that we perform to the level
that we get invited to the bowls that we are seeking to be asked to
play in. I think it would be great for our campus community, our
student-athletes, our coaches, and for all of UCLA if they see our
football team in postseason play.

DB: And if the Humanitarian Bowl calls again this year,
what’s going to be your response?

DG: We’re looking at one of the more premier bowls at this
point. I’ll just keep it at that.

DB: Shifting to basketball, the seating arrangement has been
changed at Pauley Pavilion so that courtside seats are now being
sold to season ticket holders. In your opinion, who should get the
best seats to home UCLA basketball games?

DG: I think there should be many parts of the UCLA community
together getting the best seats. Certainly, there have been
individuals in support of the program for many years, and
individuals and boosters of the program who want seats. I think
students should get a lion’s share of quality seats. All in
all, you put the combination of friends of the program, supporters
““ boosters, if you will ““ and a strong cadre of student
support, and you get the atmosphere that helps your team get over
the hump in close games.

DB: Steve Lavin went on a recruiting mission in Venezuela this
summer (to watch Seattle high school prospect Aaron Brooks play).
Are you looking to place a greater emphasis on recruiting?

DG: What I’ve seen here is that our recruiting philosophy
in general is very consistent with mine: recruit locally first. Try
to recruit the best local talent that exists ““ in Los
Angeles, Orange County, Southern California. When you’re
successful bringing in the marquee student-athletes in the area,
you have a built-in fan base because we have individuals in support
of those athletes through high school. But then obviously you have
to expand that, you have to go regionally ““ which in this
case would be the West Coast ““ and you may have to go
national. And then sometimes you have to go international if
that’s what it takes. In this particular case, our basketball
program has targeted a particular individual who they feel would
greatly enhance the quality of our program, and there are other
coaches in other programs who are also recruiting him. And he
happened to play in a tournament there. Our coaching staff felt
that it was important to have a presence. So as a result of that,
he went, and it’s what he felt he had to do. I would support
that. It’s more of an exception than the rule.

DB: Your predecessor was criticized for not showing up in public
for Olympic sports, but you have gone to their media events and
watched their games. Why?

DG: Because with all the time and effort that we put in this
job, the dessert ““ the cherry on top of the sundae ““
for me is watching our student-athletes compete. And I think our
coaches and our student-athletes need to know that the person
who’s ultimately responsible for the program is behind them
100 percent. And sometimes you convey that just by your presence at
the game.

DB: One last question. As athletic director, who do you answer
to?

DG: I answer to both the chancellor of this university,
Administrative Vice Chancellor Pete Blackman, and a greater
constituency that is the members of the UCLA family. I feel a great
responsibility to those individuals who love this university. In
the very short period of time that I’ve been here, I’ve
had a lot of opportunities to speak at receptions, dinners, various
kinds of social functions. The one thing that doesn’t
surprise me, but inspires me more than anything else, is the love
and passion for this university from people who either attended
here, or through some way shape or form have some kind of
affiliation. Within the infrastructure of this campus are my
obvious superiors, but in a larger sense, I answer to everyone who
bleeds blue and gold like me, to every alum and student athlete
that wore UCLA across their chest, or on their hat or whatever, and
in some respects, to those future Bruins that are looking at us now
and watching to see what we’re doing.