Toledo’s Job Is Old News

Bob Toledo’s past ran him down and swallowed him whole Monday. The UCLA football coach was fired not for present transgressions, but because Bruin followers refused to forgive and forget problems that beset the program in recent years -- including four consecutive losses to USC.

So now UCLA might turn to a former Trojan assistant for their salvation.

UCLA representative Bob Field was flying to New Orleans Monday night to speak to Saint secondary Coach Mike Riley about becoming the Bruins’ 15th head coach, sources said late Monday night.

This is the bold new world at UCLA under first-year Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, whose stamp on the program could become the likeness of the grim reaper. Basketball Coach Steve Lavin would do well to update his resume.

In making Toledo, 56, the first Bruin football coach to be fired in 38 years -- Bill Barnes, in 1964, was the other -- Guerrero ignored two consecutive winning seasons. UCLA is 7-5 and headed to the Las Vegas Bowl despite playing 22 freshmen, including the entire offensive backfield most of the last five games.

The determining factors were incidents that happened long before Guerrero replaced the retired Pete Dalis in July. There was the handicapped parking scandal of 1999, the NCAA special benefits violation by tailback DeShaun Foster and drunk driving convictions of quarterback Cory Paus last season. There were charges filed against several players stemming from off-campus fights last spring and summer.

This season, there was questionable play-calling in the crucial moments of losses to Oregon and USC.

“I didn’t want a situation where that next transgression, that first bad call next year would dredge up negative things in this program,” Guerrero said. “It’s not any one thing Bob Toledo did or said.

“There were some good signs, some real ups during the course of the year. The kids played hard. They were committed to performing. But there were other things that came into play as you evaluate.”

Guerrero said Monday afternoon that he had not made contact with a potential successor, but sources said the Bruins would soon be talking with Riley.

Riley has Pacific 10 Conference connections as head coach at Oregon State in 1997-98 and as an assistant at USC from ‘93-96. During his time with the Trojans, USC won three bowl games -- and lost four times to UCLA. Riley was head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 1999-2001.

Others on UCLA’s short list, sources said, are Denver Bronco assistant and former UCLA receiver Karl Dorrell, Kansas City Chief assistant Greg Robinson, University of Pittsburgh Coach Walt Harris, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow.

Other names that have surfaced, including San Francisco 49er Coach Steve Mariucci, might be too expensive. Sources within the athletic department said UCLA is willing to pay the new coach at least $1 million.

“We understand what the market is,” Guerrero said. “I am going to bring in an individual who is the right fit for UCLA. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the best coach. He has to fit the profile that makes sense for us.”

Toledo left campus immediately after his morning meeting with Guerrero and did not return calls. Ed Kezirian, a former assistant coach and the team’s assistant director of academic services the last 10 years, will coach the Bruins in the bowl game.

Toledo is owed a $1.34-million buyout spread over six years. He will receive his full salary of $578,000 next year and his base salary of $153,000 in each of the following five years. If he takes another job he would forfeit some of the buyout.

The cost of the buyout was covered by a surplus fund Dalis started when ticket revenues from home games against Alabama in 2000 and Ohio State in 2001 exceeded expectations.

In a statement issued by UCLA, Toledo said, “I came to UCLA with class and dignity and I will leave with class and dignity. I have nothing but great things to say about UCLA.

“I want to thank the coaches who have worked with me and the players that have played for me. We’ve done some outstanding things during my time here and we’ve won some big games.”

Two days before UCLA faced USC on Nov. 23, Guerrero said that Toledo, his staff and players had responded well to the expectations and standards the athletic director implemented.

But a 52-21 loss to USC -- Toledo’s fourth straight to the Trojans -- was followed by a 48-27 loss to Washington State on Saturday. The mood of Bruin followers, from the casual to the influential, darkened considerably and Guerrero became convinced that Toledo had lost the confidence of fans and players.

He said he made his decision Sunday and informed Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who backed him.

“In the final analysis, I felt it was not a healthy environment,” Guerrero said. “In a lot of ways, it is a reflection of perception and attitude.”

Reaction from players was mixed. Paus, a senior whose run-ins with Toledo were well-chronicled, could hardly contain his glee.

“Something had to give,” he said. “I support the decision.”

Younger players are anxious because the coach who recruited them is gone.

“I was astonished,” freshman tight end Marcedes Lewis said. “Everybody respected Toledo as a person and as a coach. When I committed here, other coaches said that Toledo might get fired and that I should go to their schools. But I’m going to stay here. I just hope some of the assistants are able to stay.”

The nine Bruin assistant coaches will remain through the bowl game, but a new coach will select his own staff. Defensive Coordinator Phil Snow, brought in by Toledo two years ago, plans to look for a job elsewhere.

“It’s my time to move on,” Snow said. “I won’t interview [to replace Toledo]. I hate to finish this way. My image has really been spoiled these last two games.”

Toledo’s image also tarnished even after he enjoyed great success in his early years as Bruin coach. He replaced Terry Donahue in 1996, and his disarming personality and reputation as an imaginative offensive guru won him support that grew when the Bruins posted 10 consecutive victories to end the 1997 season and 10 more to open 1998.

But serious problems began when the Bruins lost to Miami, 49-45, blowing a chance at a national championship in 1998. A loss to Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl followed.

The 1999 season was greeted by a highly publicized scandal, with 13 players convicted of fraudulently using handicapped placards. Toledo suspended the players for two games and the team struggled to a 4-7 record.

After a 6-6 mark in 2000, the Bruins appeared poised for a championship run last season behind a large group of talented seniors and won their first six games. But then came close losses to Stanford and Washington State, and the roof caved in when the NCAA suspended Foster for driving a car that did not belong to him.

The Bruins lost to Oregon a week later, 21-20, and Toledo’s play-calling was criticized after he became conservative during a late drive.

Then, before the USC game, it came to light that Paus had failed to inform the coach of two convictions for driving under the influence. Toledo allowed Paus to play anyway, UCLA lost, 27-0, and finished 7-4.

Players whispered that their coach unfairly blamed them for the misfortunes, and Toledo never fully recovered. Only months into his new job, Guerrero recognized the absence of trust.

“A lot of players took heat for things that weren’t our fault,” junior receiver Tab Perry said. “I think Guerrero had to make a change.”

Still, Carnesale told Toledo during the off-season that his job was safe as long as the team posted a winning record and off-the-field embarrassments ceased. But then the chancellor hired Guerrero and gave him the clout to make changes.

So it didn’t matter that this season Toledo might have done his best coaching since the 20-game win streak. UCLA opened with wins over bowl-bound Colorado State and Oklahoma State, tied a school record by going 5-1 on the road and won three in a row after Paus’ season was ended by a broken ankle.

“What we do and how we do it is as important as what we produced. When I first got here I set down certain absolutes, that the kids represent the university with distinction, and they met that challenge,” Guerrero said. “That’s a direct reflection of the coaching staff and senior leadership.

“Nevertheless, when all the issues are taken into account, that those [past transgressions] did happen, that they could be brought into the forefront again, we needed to begin the healing process and look to the future.

“We want a national caliber program here. We want to compete for the top 10 and be one of top programs in the country every year. We want to go to major bowls.

“Where is the program now? I felt a change in leadership was necessary.”