Guerrero finishes off eventful first year

If Dan Guerrero keeps his job for the next 20 years, he will
never have another year like this. In his first year as
UCLA’s athletic director, Guerrero fired the school’s
two highest profile coaches, oversaw renovations to several of the
school’s athletic facilities, and now is looking for a new
strength and conditioning coach. To put it mildly, he’s been
busy.

The first year “Your first year is always
the most interesting because you walk into an organization not ever
really knowing what it is all about,” Guerrero said. He
certainly made it interesting after firing football coach Bob
Toledo and basketball coach Steve Lavin within his first 11 months
on the job. Yet, overwhelmingly, there is a sentiment around the
program that those were the correct decisions. The football team
lost four years in a row to USC, while the men’s basketball
team had its first losing season since 1948; both of these facts
irked fans and boosters alike. But Guerrero doesn’t make
decisions based on pressure. From his vantage point, the two
firings were a business decision. “You assess and evaluate
those two programs which are the economic drivers for our entire
athletic program,” he said. “From a business
perspective those were decisions that had to be made ““ and
they had to be made now.” With talk like that, it appears as
though Guerrero is only concerned with the bottom line. But just as
important to the reputation he’s built is the unprecedented
amount of attention he has given to UCLA’s Olympic sports.
Across the board, Guerrero’s been seen at UCLA soccer games,
track meets and women’s waterpolo matches. “I happened
to sit next to him recently at the water polo game at UCSD,”
cross country coach Eric Peterson said. “It’s great to
see him down there, standing up and fired up and really supporting
the team. He’s extremely personable with the coaching staff
““ when you see him in the hallway, or when you see him at a
ballgame.” In addition to attending sporting events, Guerrero
meets with his coaches monthly ““ another unprecedented
gesture. “Shortly after he began directing this program, he
met with all of the head coaches in this department
one-on-one,” Peterson said. “I can say that that
meeting was the first time in nine years that I had a scheduled
one-on-one meeting with the boss.” There is no question that
the 51-year old Guerrero knows why he’s at UCLA ““
he’s a Bruin through and through. He graduated from UCLA in
1974 and played second base in the Bruin baseball program for four
years. “I have a good relationship with Guerrero. Hey,
baseball players know how to communicate,” head baseball
coach Gary Adams said. Adams began coaching at UCLA in 1974, just
after Guerrero had vacated UCLA’s second base position.
It’s been rumored that Adams may be the next coaching
casualty. Still, even after spending nine years as UC
Irvine’s athletic director before this year, Guerrero has
always considered himself a part of the UCLA family. In hiring and
firing, this has proven valuable. When it came time to hire a
football coach, Karl Dorrell’s understanding of the USC
rivalry was a compelling factor on his resume. As far as Guerrero
is concerned, snatching Dorrell was quite a coup because
“Karl was on the fast track to becoming an NFL coach.”
People warned Guerrero that Dorrell had never called the plays on
the sidelines. And then the athletic director cited former UCLA
football coaches Dick Vermeil and Terry Donahue, who had never had
previous head coaching jobs before taking over at UCLA.
“Someone gave those guys chances and it was Karl’s
turn,” Guerrero said.

The future In the next six months, Guerrero
certainly has a full plate. Among other things, he will have to
decide whether to go through renewal negotiations with adidas, the
current shoe and apparel sponsor for UCLA. If Guerrero decides not
to renew the contract, UCLA will be on the open market and could
look at Reebok and Nike. UCLA has two years left on its six-year,
$18.95 million contract with adidas. While Nike sponsors dozens of
schools, adidas only has contracts with six, something that
Guerrero certainly appreciates. “It really is a plus,”
he said. “What you don’t know is where that market may
go … adidas may change its philosophy from not only wanting to do
six schools but go after 30 others. Our relationship with them has
been very good.” While there is no formal timetable set,
Guerrero will also have to make a decision about renovating Pauley
Pavilion, which has been largely untouched since it opened in 1966.
When Guerrero became athletic director there were already talks
about renovating what men’s basketball coach Ben Howland has
called “hallowed ground.” The plan that was being
discussed when Guerrero arrived here focused on spectator
amenities, like improving concessions and creating better access to
rest rooms. Guerrero decided to look in larger terms at what could
be done with Pauley. “It is one of the most memorable venues
in all of college athletics, but it needs a facelift, there is no
question about it,” he said. “We just need to sit back
and evaluate and develop plans for the future. Once we decide what
we need to do we need to pursue it aggressively.” It’s
difficult for a person with Guerrero’s responsibility to meet
all his goals for his first year on the job. But in the first 13
months of the Dan Guerrero era, two coaches have been fired, three
teams have taken home national championships, and two more teams
are making postseason title runs. “My initial goals were to
develop a sound understanding of what this organization is all
about and assess issues and concerns of the future,” he said.
“I wanted to get to know members of the UCLA family and to
create an atmosphere that would be conducive to long-term success.
I think that foundation is starting to be laid and I’m happy
about that.” What’s so fascinating about
Guerrero’s assessment of year one? He didn’t mention
not meeting any goals. With reports by J.P. Hoornstra and Ben
Peters, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.