New UCLA coach Jim Mora was given a nice SoCal welcome by the LA Times this morning. The writer claimed to have known Mora since he was a 25 year-old working for the San Diego Chargers front office and basically said that he's never coached at the college level, but it may not matter anyway, because USC is God's school and Westwood is full of illegal aliens who don't play football. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but that was the gist of it, and it's only the beginning. The local media's treatment of Mr. Mora will get much worse... Arizona State is having a wee few problems finding a coach of their own, and the natives are getting restless in Phoenix/Mesa... http://www.azcentral.com/sports/heatindex/articles/2011/12/11/20111211asus-football-coaching-search-fans-scratching-heads.html re: basketball The UCLA Bruins kicked their best player, Reeves Nelson, off the team for good. The poor lad just couldn't get used to the idea that he had to follow the rules too. This kid was so rotten, that his own mother sided with the coach against her son in an interview this morning...
Todd Graham after 1 year at Pitt jumps to Az State...don't quite get that one. Tim DeRuyter the A&M DCoord takes the Fresno State job. Gus Malzahan the Aub OCoord takes the Ark State job and a pay cut. Gus Freeze the Ark State guy takes the Ole Miss Job. Penn State still no coach . Pitt now looking.
Arizona State is a goldmine. It's a much better job than Pitt. Consider: - ASU is the largest university in the nation: bigger than Ohio State. - The Colorado River runs through the campus; right next to the stadium. - The lowest academic requirements in the 12Pac. - One of the Top 5 party schools in America. - Only one other big-time university in the state. - The fastest growing state in the union. - Within driving distance of the SoCal recruiting grounds. - Short flying distance to the West Texas recruiting grounds. - A mercenary administration that will do anything to win. - Great facilities. - Alumni who write blank checks. This place IS the Lost Dutchman Mine and Todd Graham is a great hire for them.
A little investigation shows that this could be a fun situation to watch... - Todd Graham is a Texas guy, who should be able to recruit both Texas and California very well. - Arizona's new coach, RichRod, just stole all of Graham's coaches at Pitt. - Graham worked for RichRod at West Virginia. - Graham is the 2nd coach in-a-row whom ASU hired after only one year on the job. (Dennis Erickson) - All of Dennis Erickson's coaches have gone to UCLA under Mora. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pac12confidential/2017012964_asu_lands_on_its_feet_by_hiring_todd_graham_of_pitt.html We're having fun now...