Walker and the Spread
Posted by wewantwalker on December 13, 2007
While most have acknowledged Coach Walker’s ability to stop the run-of-the-mill 2 back, 2 tight ends types of offenses, a lot has been said about Coach Walker’s supposed inability to stop the spread.The truth is Walker’s turnaround on defense has been done in spite of a lack of talent. Bruce Feldman, in an article where he named DeWayne Walker the 6th most intriguing assistant in college football, had this to say about Walker and the talent that he works with:
One of the most respected scheme guys in the country, Walker did wonders for a UCLA defense that had been awful till he got there. One coach I spoke with said it’s amazing what he does, given how “very average” the talent that he has to work with. The downside is it may be hard for some administrators to hire a guy who just came off a floundering program (see Jon Tenuta).
The truth is, that anyone that knows ANYTHING about the spread understands that you need depth and talent at all levels to handle the spread. That’s why its currently the the rage in college football. If you can’t pressure with 4 and cover with 7, if your linebackers lack coverage ability, and if your corners can’t handle being out on an island, any good spread will find the weakness and exploit it.Walker came into UCLA with the ability to scheme the spread, but hasn’t had the talent to fully stop it. He has however stopped many spread offenses. In 2006, Utah, Rice, Cal, and Arizona all ran spreads or had elements of the spread. In 2007, UCLA actually did a pretty good job against Utah until the floodgates were opened in the 4th quarter. The same thing happened at WSU. That brings up an important point in itself. Hey folks, when you’re offense is as pathetic as UCLA’s and the defense has to go out over and over again after a 3 and out, the defense is going to A) get tired and B) lose morale, especially if the game is already in hand. Anyone who ignores this just ain’t telling the whole truth. Finishing with 2007, UCLA did stop Oregon’s (though without Dennis Dixon) and Cal’s spreads. Arizona was also, in my opinion, a glaring example of a talent issue, not a scheme issue.Also, we can’t bring up the talent issues without mentioning recruiting. As stated before, Walker is a fantastic recruiter and has recruited the defensive side of the ball to take care of these problems in the near future.Akeem Ayers, Courtney Viney, Donovan Carter, Patrick Larimore, Uona Kaveinga, Steve Sloan, Rahim Moore, Anthony Dye, Aaron Hester, E.J. Woods, possibly Robert Golden. Brian Price. Folks, those are ELITE talents that Walker will use to stop the spread. Once he has all the bases covered, UCLA’ll be known as a spread-stopping machine. I guarantee it. Again, we have to remember the following points. 1) Walker is dealing with a lack of talent, in general, and does not have the talent to stop good spread offenses. Apparently, neither does the rest of the country.2) Walker has still done a great job stopping conventional offenses.3) Walker has shown the ability to recruit the talent UCLA needs to stop the spread and will stop the spread once all the pieces are place. It’s as simple as that.
We Want Walker 
Fire Walker said
Yeah, he did great against Utah and Notre Dame.
wewantwalker said
I’m glad you bring those up.
Utah: The only reason UCLA was in that game was the Defense and UCLA was verrrry much in that game until the 4th quarter. When your offense does absolutely NOTHING to keep your defense off the field, the kids are going to get exhausted.
Notre Dame is an even better example. Look at all those turnovers and notice that ALL of Notre Dame’s points came off of turnovers inside UCLA territory. UCLA held Notre Dame to under 200 yards.
Both these games are good examples of offensive mismanagement being used to blame the defense.
UCLA was 97th in time of possession. 97th. out of 119.
and third down conversion rating for the offense? 106th.
They say an offense makes its money on third down. well can’t you say the same about a defense? how has Walker been doing in that department?
Number 3 in the country.
YoMama said
How many other teams have a 1st team All American safety and a 4 year starter at CB in their secondaries? And that is not even counting Alteraun Verner. You really should stop making [stuff] up.
wewantwalker said
Our opinion on UCLA’s talent level is shared by many commentators including Brian Dohn, Bruce Feldman, and I think Tracy Pierson might have agreed as well but I’m only absolutely certain about the first too.
While I think Horton has done a fantastic job, as has Brown, I think that has to do with Walker’s system to a certain extent. Also, UCLA has gotten burned on one-on-ones due to size issues. Walker’s new commits do not have these issues.
CM said
Yet they were still ranked 113th prior to Walker.
562ucla said
Walker, took average players and gave us at least two all americans in the last two years. from a defense that was totally pathetic before he arrived. imagine doing to that a whole team. imagine when his recruits start really playing.
OCFan said
What was Bruce Davis before Walker got here? What was Justin Hickman? He made them into All Americans! It’s a testament to Walker that these players developed to the point where they achieved national recognition.
People bash Dorrell for recruiting poorly his first few years, then tell us Walker had NFL caliber material! Amazing! You just can’t win with these people.
OCFan said
Utah had a pretty good QB backup in Tommy Grady. Just in case you don’t follow football, Bob Stoops had him penciled in as a starter before Tommy was kicked out of school because he didn’t have the required number of credits. Go research this yourself.
And if you don’t think a healthy properly prepared QB can do well in a one time outing, just look to what Stanford did to SC’s #2 ranked D. SC has all americans at every positiion and still lost to a backup QB. At the Coliseum!
Case closed.
We want Walker!
Dumbfounded said
With all of the available coaches out there, you really believe Walker is the best choice for UCLA right now? If you could choose anybody, this is who you would choose? If your answer is yes, then I have to assume you are far more loyal to DeWayne Walker than you are to UCLA Football.
Let him go prove his head coaching abilities at a smaller school and work his way up to UCLA. That is what Ben Howland did and it is definitely what Steve Lavin (also a great recruiter) and Karl Dorrell should have done.
For love of Westwood, set your head coaching criteria a little higher . UCLA is not a head coaching incubator!!!
DProdigy said
Interesting to bring up the Stanford game.
If you don’t remember, Stanford only had 17 offensive points in that game (one of their TD’s was on an INT for a TD- not really $C’s defense’s fault). In addition, they only had 235 yards of total offense, as opposed to $C’s 459. Also, John David Booty threw FOUR interceptions that day, and $C coughed up another fumble.
Does that sound like a good D getting beaten up? Sure doesn’t to me.
When we played Stanford, they got 398 total yards, almost 170% of their output against the Trojans.
I would LOVE to see an explanation concerning how Walker and the UCLA D were not at fault for Notre Dame’s final drive in 2006. And while we’re discussing hard to refute situations, I’d love to hear one about how Wazzu tossed up 27 points and 545 yards, 274 of which were on the ground. In that game, Dwight Tardy rushed for 50 yards more than his previous 4 games combined, with a Yards Per Carry which was only surpassed when he played the vaunted Idaho D.
blah said
Tommy Grady was never penciled in as a starter (Bomar started over him), and he wasn’t kicked out over credits. Why do people feel the need to lie to further their agenda? Is it because it doesn’t stand on its own merits?
Utah only best 44 one time all season. That was against Wyoming, the team that finish 7th in their conference.
Seitz said
What was Bruce Davis before Walker got here? What was Justin Hickman?
Sophomores? I know this may be hard to believe, but players at that age tend to improve as they get older and more mature. Often times players are better in their senior year than they were in their sophomore year.
ABW said
No improvement from year 1 to year 2 … even though he had 10 returning starters and most of them seniors. That says it all.
OCFan said
FYI, Bomar started in 2005, but Paul Thompson started in 2006 because Grady had to transfer. Thompson came in as a QB, moved to WR, moved to QB, moved to WR. You get the picture.
As far as the reason Grady had to transfer. You tell me why he had to leave. You’re telling me Stoops kicked him out? Grady wasn’t good enough?
“Grady needed to take a summer class to put himself above the NCAA’s requirement of 40 percent progress toward his degree by the end of his second year of college, his mother, Christy Grady said by telephone. The summer school class ended up being over Grady’s head, and he took an intercession class instead. The class, which conflicted with Oklahoma’s fall practice, ends Friday.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9003691/
OCFan said
Backup QB Tavita Pritchard coverted on a 4th and 20 on the decisive drive then a 4th and goal to tie the game. That was done against the #2 ranked Trojan D. That wasn’t on the defense? If the UCLA defense had done that, would you have blamed that on the defense and Walker? Let’s be fair here.
No said
No head coaching expereince so no Walker…
wewantwalker said
what was a bruce davis before walker got here?
Apparently, a project who demanded that he NOT play defensive end.
Then, of course, Walker laid down the law. I think its safe to say if it wasn’t for Walker, Bruce Davis either might not have been drafted (where was he during Larry Kerr’s tenure at DC?) or his draft stock would me much lower.
wewantwalker said
I’ll be addressing the no head coaching experience later tonight. Stay tuned.
wedontwantwalker said
Did you watch the following games-
’06- Washington (Loss). Repeated missed tackles/assignments, ZERO defensive adjustments after the half, outscored 28-3 to close the game.
’06- Oregon (Loss). Down 20-3 in the first quarter. Game over.
’06- Notre Dame (Loss). Nice way to close out the game with the “Prevent” defense.
’06- WSU (Loss). 515 yards offense for WSU at the Rose Bowl. Pathetic.
’06- Cal (Loss). Cal scores 21 unanswered after the half. Game over.
’06- FSU (Loss). Outscored 31-7 in the second half. Way to end the year off strong.
’07- Utah (Loss). Walker’s D was totally out-schemed by a second string Ute offense.
’07- WSU (Loss). Walker’s D gives up 545 yards.
’07- Arizona (Loss- Walker’s D gives up 470 points.
Yes, UCLA’s offense has been inconsistent at best, but Walker’s D has been equally inconsistent, and has rarely shown improvement in the second half of games. Furthermore, we have seen more than our fair share of slow starts, missed tackles and blown assignments in both of his years as DC. That speaks to coaching in my book.
Perhaps you forget that a lot of the losses above came at the hands of teams with equally inefficient offenses. At the end of the day, Walker really only has ONE marquis win under his belt against $C. Does that make him a candidate for HC at UCLA? If you think it does, than you TRULY don’t know anything about football.
Keep DW as DC for at least 2 more years, than we can talk.
wewantwalker said
Did you watch the following games-
06′ Utah (dominated)
06′ Rice (dominated. and don’t tell me these games don’t matter. tell that to USC after Stanford)
06′ Arizona (dominated)
06′ Stanford (dominated, shutout)
06′ Oregon (held them to ten points in the second half)
06′ Arizona State (dominated)
06′ Notre Dame (dominated for most of the game, but Walker took personal responsibility and said it would never happen again, especially against
06′ USC (the most dominated USC had ever been in 6 years, at least)
07′ Stanford (dominated, for the most part)
07′ BYU (dominated, for the most part)
07′ Notre Dame (dominated, read the stat sheet if you feel otherwise)
07′ Cal (dominated, especially against the run)
07′ WSU (defense kept UCLA in the game until the end…freakin O sucks…see post on TOP forthcoming.
07′ Oregon (dominated, albeit without Dixon). Still some pretty serious domination and consider that Oregon put up 31 against Oregon State, a top defense)
on second half adjustments: this year vs. cal. vs. arizona. vs. USC (one TD second half)vs. oregon state comes to mind, but there may be more.
2 years, he’ll be gone and we’ll have missed out on a great opportunity.
wewantwalker said
im impressed that he didn’t go DOWN in the statistics column now that everyone knew his scheme. It’s not uncommon at all to see a sophomore slump, but not with Walker.
wedontwantwalker said
You are joking right? Your liberal use of the word “dominate” tells me everything I need to know about your football acumen. Let me set a couple things straight for you…
’06 Utah- Utah gained almost 300 yards of offense.
’06 Rice- I wouldn’t call giving up 16 points to Rice at home “dominating”
’06 Arizona- Arizona actually had the same number for first down as UCLA did and held the ball longer than UCLA.
’06 Stanford- How do you not dominate a 1-11 Stanford team at home?
’06 Oregon- Dude, are you serious? The game was over 27-6 by the third quarter. Oregon had over 250 yards rushing. Again, did you actually watch this game?
’06 ASU- Uh, ASU actually had more first downs than we did and the same yardage. Since when is a 12 point win “domination”
’06 Notre Dame- We didn’t dominate most of the game. ND had more first downs, more yardage, more time of possession.
’07 Stanford- Yippee, we “dominated” a crappy 4-8 Stanford Team.
’07 BYU- PLEASE, you MUST be kidding about this. We got outgained 435 to 236 AT HOME. We were LUCKY to win this game. Period.
’07 Notre Dame- We beat like the worst Notre Dame team in like 90 years playing a freshman QB…at home.
’07 Cal- They were reeling after the OSU loss and had a gimpy QB. Ended up going 6-6.
’07 WSU- Outgained by almost 300 yards. Do I really need to expound on this??
’07 Oregon- No Dennis Dixon. With Dixon in, we lose by 20+.
I suggest you dig deeper into the stats when you make your arguments. It would lend a little more credibility to your website…
DProdigy said
I’m interested to see if you can put forth any examples of co-ordinators that suffered “Sophomore Slumps”, unless you count Charlie Weiss at ND, but he is a head coach and they lost a large portion of their talent.
If there was a “Sophomore Slump” as you state as a possibility, how can that be defended with the number of starters UCLA returned on D relative to their competitors? If Walker’s D’s were getting more exposed with players who had been in his system for longer, what should we expect if he is around long-term?
OCFan said
Honestly, it would be interesting to see Walker take a DC job at someplace like ASU. I wonder how many recruits he would take with him.
Scott Free said
Those stats are interesting, but that’s about it. Walker is the best coordinator in the Pac 10 on either offense or defense and the best recruiter. Hands down. If it takes making him hc to keep him by all means.
wewantwalker said
‘06 Utah- 10 points
‘06 Rice- 16 points
‘06 Arizona- 7 points
‘06 Stanford- 0 points
‘06 Oregon- 30 points. which was oregon’s average for the season. Yes i did watch this game. I remember Cowan nearly getting his throat torpedoed and kalil bell scoring two late touchdowns. I also rememeber an onside kick that Oregon used against UCLA. I also remember great halftime adjustments by walker
‘06 ASU- 12 points
‘06 Notre Dame- not talking about WE. I’m talking about the DEFENSE. Walker doesn’t control the other side of the ball, kids.
‘07 Stanford- 17 points
‘07 BYU- 17 points
‘07 Notre Dame- LOL. Look at the statistics, buddy. The defense dominated, it was teh offensive turnovers that killed us. Did you watch this game? I was there.
‘07 Cal- 21 points.
‘07 WSU- “Outgained by almost 300 yards. Do I really need to expound on this??”
Yes, you do. Dewayne Walker does not control the offense. Any negative reference of Dewayne walker in reference to the offense’s incompetence is just a bad and misleading argument. 27 points wasn’t bad considering time of possession. and the D gave up when th game was out of question (poor guys were exhausted because the offense sucks).
‘07 Oregon- 0 points.
I think you should watch the games.
wedontwantwalker said
OK, so let me get this straight. You’re using an Oregon LOSS in which we were down 27-6 and gave up 250 yards rushing as a selling point in favor of Walker because he “only” gave up 10 points in the second half? Do you honestly expect anyone to take you seriously after a comment like that??
I guess I’m also supposed to be impressed by wins over mediocre mid-major teams that at the Rose Bowl?
Should I be pounding my chest after a win over 1-11 Stanford at the Rose Bowl, or a win over a wretched 3-9 Notre Dame team playing a true freshman QB.
And I’m sorry, but if you think that giving up 545 yards to WSU this year was a result of an inefficient offense, you need to re-evaluate everything you think you know about football. UCLA scored first, but from that point on, Walker’s defense simply could not stop WSU. WSU controlled the ball with long sustained drives, and ate up the clock, with Tardy rushing 37 times for 214 yards and Brink passing for 271 yards. This loss was truly the result of poor defense.
You still have yet to answer my questions about the absolute defensive failures that we have experienced under Walker…i.e UW ’06, WSU ’06, FSU ’06, Utah ’07, WSU ’07. Arizona ’07???
wewantwalker said
I used it to point out Walker can make halftime adjustments.
And sorry i haven’t convinced you, I’m through trying at this point. If you don’t think going from 113 to 34 isn’t a big deal, than you are very very very very hard to please.
Tommy Bruin said
Walker had 10 returning starters and did nothing with them. He’s probably an OK (mediocre) defensive coordinator with 2 years experience. How does that qualify him to be Head Coach at a major university like UCLA? It absolutely doesn’t! We need a proven winner with HC experience to take our program to the level it should be. Why settle for Walker – because we know him? Let’s set our sights a little higher. This is U C L A we’re talking about, not a high school team.
Are other colleges interviewing Walker for their open head coaching jobs? Why not, if he’s so great? Because he’s not qualified, that’s why.
REMEMBER UTAH
ABW said
Oregon made halftime adjustments as well .. they bled the clock. 10 points could have easily been another 21 points. Did you just pick up Football For Dummies, or did you study Football 101 with Karl Dorrell?
Its funny how Dorrell supporters are now happy to throw Dorrell under the bus in their mad attempt to get Walker the HC job.
OCFan said
Ducks had 180 yards rushing against SC this year and scored 24. AND that was against a VETERAN defense. The #2 ranked D in the nation full of high school all americans. AND Oregon was without Jeremiah Johnson, Paysinger and Colvin in their game against SC.
The Ducks had both Johnson and Paysinger health against the Bruins in 2006.
Dixon in both games at Autzen – 2006 against UCLA, 2007 against SC had 70 plus rush yards. Really UCLA played against the stronger team.
Maybe Oregon was a good team?????
We want Walker!!!
OCFan said
“Oregon made halftime adjustments as well .. they bled the clock. 10 points could have easily been another 21 points. Did you just pick up Football For Dummies, or did you study Football 101 with Karl Dorrell?”
Halftime adjustments? Not that impressed.
Oregon’s 2nd half
1st possesion. 2 rush 2 pass. punt
2nd possession. 5 rush 3 pass. TD
3rd possession. 1 rush, 2 pass. int
4th possession. 5 rush, 3 pass. FG blocked
5th possession. 8 rush, 1 pass. FG. Oregon had 1 & goal on the 3 and had to settle for a FG.
6th possesion. 3 runs to end the game.
wedontwantwalker said
Wow. Just wow. One might say this is basically futile. The Oregon Ducks could have run up another 100 yards of rushing last year if the game wasn’t out of reach by the 3rd quarter (27-6). And unless you live under a rock, the 2007 version of the Ducks is light years ahead of last years version due to the new OC that Oregon has this year, not to mention that Dixon was in the Heisman running this year, whereas last year he was just a good dual threat QB. Unreal.
Lastly, do you seriously think Walker made adjustments leading to the 10 point Oregon second half last year? The damage had been done, it was 20-3 after 1 quarter, and 27-6 in the third. Yeah, we really shut them down after it was 27-6. What a defense! Trust me, if the game were still close, Oregon would have have run for another 100 yards and scored another 14 points in the second half.
Wow, please tell me that one of you guys have some sort of clue about coolege football…
OCFan said
If they could have scored from the 3 they would have.
Their only TD drive in the second half is after UCLA turned the ball over at midfield. Give a good team enough cracks with half the field and they can usually score a TD. Especially with the best running back in the conference in Stewart.
Still SC has as many returners as UCLA AND no walkons or *2 players playing significant minutes and still nearly gave up 200 yards rushing to Oregon even with Paysinger, Colvin and Johnson out.
Just to let you know, per Scout, out of the top 50 highest rated players coming out of high school in the Pac 10, SC has 40 of those players. UCLA has 1. Considering what Walker has to work with, he needs a raise and a promotion to HC.
We Want Walker!!!
OCFan said
Seitz Says:
December 13, 2007 at 3:23 pm
What was Bruce Davis before Walker got here? What was Justin Hickman?
Sophomores? I know this may be hard to believe, but players at that age tend to improve as they get older and more mature. Often times players are better in their senior year than they were in their sophomore year.
————————
Walker was only at UCLA for Hickman’s Sr Year.
Dumbfounded said
This site is an embarrassment to any true UCLA Football fan. Your arguments are so bad that I am starting to think you are a local beat writer.
OCFan said
Walker is the best coordinator in the Pac 10 defense or offense. You can bring up Oregon or ND, blah blah blah. But you can’t disprove the fact he is the best coordinator and recruiter in the conference.
01 Bruin said
OC Fan, you claim that “you can’t disprove the fact he [Walker] is the best coordinator and recruiter in the conference”. Yet in a previous posting, you stated that “per Scout, out of the top 50 highest rated players coming out of high school in the Pac 10, SC has 40 of those players. UCLA has 1.”
If USC got 40 of the top 50 players, and UCLA got 1, how does this make Walker the best recruiter? Are there other metrics besides the top 50 players that you are using to grade Walker’s recruiting abilities?
Also, I am enjoying the debate amongst us Bruins about our preferences for the next HC. Although I am not a Walker supporter, I read this site anyways. This site is not selling Walker to me because, thus far, I have not seen any comparisons between Walker and other possible coaches. Please explain why Walker would make a better HC than somebody like Bronco, or Petersen, or Jones, or some of the other names that have been coming up.
We can debate statistics all day, and how good or bad Walker’s defense was, but in the end, not only do we have to judge the merits of each HC candidate, but we also have to compare each candidate to other candidates that are available.
Please create a posting that compares Walker to each of the available candidates.
wedontwantwalker said
I’m still waiting for one of you guys to explain to me the horrific, uninspired, unprepared defensive efforts put forth by Walker’s defensive unit against the following mediocre teams…UW ‘06, WSU ‘06, FSU ‘06, Utah ‘07, WSU ‘07. Arizona ‘07???
————————————————————————-
OCFan Says:
December 14, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Walker is the best coordinator in the Pac 10 defense or offense. You can bring up Oregon or ND, blah blah blah. But you can’t disprove the fact he is the best coordinator and recruiter in the conference.
————————————————————————-
R U serious? UCLA has about the 3-4th best talent in the league, which is basically in line with UCLA’s defensive ranking this year of 4th in total defense in the PAC-10. This is your basis of hiring him as Head Coach even though he has ZERO head coaching experience and only 2 years experience as a coordinator. Being a decent coordinator/good recruiter for 2 years doesn’t make you a top-tier head coaching candidate. If Walker were hired to coach Michigan, Texas A&M, or Arkansas, people would be staging protests and mailing in death threats to the AD. Why should our standards be any lower than theirs??
Please, come on out and let everyone know what your true agenda is. Are you related to the Walkers? Are you good friends with DeWayne? Are you $C grads?
OCFan said
Name a better coordinator or recruiter in the Pac 10. Give me some names.
wedontwantwalker said
———————————————————
OCFan Says:
December 14, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Name a better coordinator or recruiter in the Pac 10. Give me some names.
———————————————————
How is this in any way relevant to our search for a new head coach? There are probably 100+ defensive/offensive coordinators in the BCS conferences with the “credentials” that Dewayne Walker has (meaning finishing in the top 4 within conference with top 3-4 talent). If this is your criteria, then the candidate list is about 200 deep.
Please explain to me why Walker is not on the potential candidate list of any school other than UCLA. There was a head coach firing squad this year, with positions open all over the country at BCS & mid-major schools across the land. Do any of these schools want Walker? Why should we?
If you don’t beleive me, here are the words right from Guerrero’s mouth
—————————————————–
“We will look at a broad array of candidates for this position, and obviously someone who’s had successful head coaching experience would be an ideal candidate.”
—————————————————–
Oh yeah, and still waiting for one of you “experts” to explain to me the horrific, uninspired, unprepared defensive efforts put forth by Walker’s defensive unit against the following mediocre teams…UW ‘06, WSU ‘06, FSU ‘06, Utah ‘07, WSU ‘07. Arizona ‘07???
OCFan said
I didn’t realize Walker had to stop the world as a first year coordinator in 2006. I guess a change from 113 to 35 wasn’t good enough for you given the talent. Every back in 2005 UCLA faced had a career day. UCLA made Bush a Heisman winner and Top 5 draft pick thanks to 2004 and 2005.
10 returning starters is great, but not when you have backups who are walkons or not that well regarded coming out of HS. It’s amzing what Walker has done given nearly NONE of the players were HIS recruits.
Can’t name any names??????
Bobby said
“Walker is the best coordinator in the Pac 10 defense or offense. You can bring up Oregon or ND, blah blah blah. But you can’t disprove the fact he is the best coordinator and recruiter in the conference.”
Um…is that a fact? Or is that your opinion? Because there is a big difference between fact and opinion…
wedontwantwalker said
Why didn’t Walker improve from 2006 to 2007 with 10 returning starters and a bunch of seniors? I would love to hear another round of lame excuses for that one. And since when is being top-40 in conference in 2 consecutive years the calling card for excellence. As stated, talent-wise, top-40 is exactly where he should rate, so in my book that means he’s pretty average.
Again, since when does being a top-4 coordinator in your league qualify you for a BCS conference Head Coaching gig?
In any case, why would I even need to name other coordinators when over half of the coordinators in the league have only been where they are for 1-2 years. 8 of the 20 coordinators in the league have only been there ONE year.
So far, you’ve answered non of my pertinent questions.
– Why isn’t Walker on a potential candidate list of any school other than UCLA. There was a head coach firing squad this year, with positions open all over the country at BCS & mid-major schools across the land. Do any of these schools want Walker? Why should we?
-Guerreo wants a candidate with successful head coaching experience. How is Walker qualified?
– And I’m STILL WAITING for someone to explain to me the horrific, uninspired, unprepared defensive efforts put forth by Walker’s defensive unit against the following mediocre teams…UW ‘06, WSU ‘06, FSU ‘06, Utah ‘07, WSU ‘07. Arizona ‘07.
OCFan said
Here is for the stupid people.
Fact vs Opinion. Until the Dorrell was fired, who had the #1 recruiting class in the Pac 10 for 2008???
1st defense to hold SC to single digits in 6 years. 1st defense to shut out Oregon in TWENTY TWO YEARS. Never in the Mike Belotti ERA has Oregon been shut out.
If you don’t think Walker is good, name someone comparable to him that sucks and has done what he’s done. You can’t.
wedontwantwalker said
———————————————-
OCFan Says:
December 14, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Here is for the stupid people.
Fact vs Opinion. Until the Dorrell was fired, who had the #1 recruiting class in the Pac 10 for 2008???
1st defense to hold SC to single digits in 6 years. 1st defense to shut out Oregon in TWENTY TWO YEARS. Never in the Mike Belotti ERA has Oregon been shut out.
If you don’t think Walker is good, name someone comparable to him that sucks and has done what he’s done. You can’t.
———————————————-
Here’s for the nimrods who run this site.
Well, per scout.com, USC has the top PAC-10 recruiting class for 2008, and as usual, they are bringing in 6 Five-star recruits to our 1, not to mention their average rating of 4.29 to our 3.52. By the time all the soft verbals and uncommitted’s make up their minds, U$C will probably be the clear top PAC-10 class in 2008. It’s amazing that UCLA still can’t bring in the 5-star talent at the critical skill positions, especially considering that ANYONE with talent will get significant playing time. Yet, the 5-star recruits would still rather sit on the 2-4 deep bench at $C rather than play 1st team at UCLA. Sad. Bring in a legitimate NCAA Head Coach, and the recruits (particularly the 5-star) will start coming.
Yes, Walker has 13-9 to his credit, but this is the SINGLE, SOLITARY marquis game that UCLA won primarily due to his defense. What happened to his defense against UW ‘06, WSU ‘06, FSU ‘06, Utah ‘07, WSU ‘07 Arizona ‘07?? Can you say in-con-sis-ten-cy? Can you say…blown out by a crappy FSU team as a rousing follow-up to 13-9?
On a similar vein, are you really celebrating a shutout over a crippled, devastated and demoralized Oregon team that just lost to Arizona and lost it’s Heisman candidate QB for the season. A team that was playing primarily it’s 3rd and 4th string QB’s for most of the game. It was an ugly game between two injured squads. Nothing more, nothing less. Luckily, we played this game at home. If you’re going to celebrate a win like this, you’ve got a LOSERS mentality.
Anyways, I’m still waiting….Yawn…..for someone to answer….
– Why isn’t Walker on a potential candidate list of any school other than UCLA. There was a head coach firing squad this year, with positions open all over the country at BCS & mid-major schools across the land. Do any of these schools want Walker? Why should we?
– Guerreo wants a candidate with successful head coaching experience. How is Walker qualified?
– And I’m STILL WAITING for someone to explain to me the horrific, uninspired, unprepared defensive efforts put forth by Walker’s defensive unit against the following mediocre teams…UW ‘06, WSU ‘06, FSU ‘06, Utah ‘07, WSU ‘07. Arizona ‘07.
Cue the crickets…hahahahaaaaa…
And some new questions…
– Are you Dewayne Walker?
– If not, when did you guys graduate from U$C?
wewantwalker said
wedontwalkwalker
I already answered those questions about those particular games. In fact, I already told you I answered them. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you might be stubborn.
Walker’s has outrecruited Pete Carroll on his side of the ball for 2008. That is, unfortunately for you, beyond debate.
Also compare Walker’s recruiting numbers his second year and compare them to Carroll’s. Though I don’t have Carroll’s 2001 numbers (the recruiting services didn’t kick in till 2002) Walker still out-recruited Carroll on Defense. You also have to remember Walker is a DC and Carroll is a head coach and that Carroll would probably be more involved in recruiting than Walker.
Yes, I am Dewayne Walker. And no, you can’t have an autograph. stop asking 😛
wedontwantwalker said
Actually, you didn’t answer “those questions about those particular games”. If you did, please point me to your answers. Your response primarily talked about the games we won (“dominated”). I see absolutely no responses re: the ’06 UW, ’06 Cal, ’06 WSU, ’06 FSU, ’07 Utah, ’07 Arizona. You did mention the ’07 WSU game in your posts, but you blamed the loss solely on the offense. I suppose it was the offense’s fault that WSU’s Tardy ran the ball 37 TIMES for 217 YARDS. That speaks to a ball control WSU offense that held the ball for 38 minutes and a UCLA defense that simply could not get their opponent off the field. So yes, I’m still waiting, and I’m guessing I’ll be waiting indefinitely. Editor’s note: Yes, you will. Let it go, bro.
OK, I’ll bite, UCLA has a 5-3 advantage in 4-5 star defensive recruits. Editor’s note: You bit = I win. the rest of this post is irrelevant. j/k. Last time I checked, football was played on both sides of the ball. Editor’s note: I just double checked for you. Good call on this one. By your ass-backwards logic, on the offensive side, Pete is out-recruiting Walker 9-3 with regard to 4-5 star offensive recruits. So who’s out-recruiting who??? Editors note: Really? I thought you might bring this up. That’s why I addressed it. Try reading my post again. Talk about selective comprehension…and recruiting is success is measured not only by quality but quantity, which every major site does and makes perfect sense. This accounts for the disparity in the accuracy of talent. Reggie Bush was a 4 star running back, as was Maurice Jones-Drew. Michael Crabtree was a 2 star. Bruce Davis was a 3 star. Ryan Kalil was a 3 star. Booty and Sanchez were both the number one quarterbacks in the country and neither have lit the world on fire. All of USC’s runningbacks are five-stars and none of them have proven to be gamebreakers. Same with the wide recievers, minus David Ausberry who was a high four star (all this is from memory, so I could be slightly off). Quantity AND Quality. Any, smart coach would take a 2 4 stars over a single five-star, unless that five star is a freak. Did you happen to see my note about how U$C has the #1 PAC-10 recruiting class in 2008? Editors note: So the logic is Walker, the defensive coordinator, has not brought in the number 1 recruiting class in the pac-10, therefore he is a failure? Talk about ass-backwards logic. Do you suffer from selective comprehension perhaps?
I’m still not sure where you were headed with all this. Comparisons of second year recruiting classes? Huh? What? Editors Note: The longer you’re around the better reputation you have in the area and with recruits. Go look at recruiting classes…everywhere and you’ll see this trend. And Walker gets full credit for his 2008 defensive recruiting class, but then he probably isn’t as involved as a head coach would be?? So then Dorrell should get most of the credit for the 2008 class. Nice logic there. They both get credit. Walker got most of those guys, and Dorrell hired Walker. Thats how it works in coaching
Keep spinning the facts fellas… By the way, based on your responses, I’m not buying that you’re DeWayne Walker. I’m going with U$C Public Relations drop-outs, currently working as PR interns for Blackwater. Editors note: I’m actually getting class credit for the Blackwater internship, so the deal isn’t half bad.
Tommy Bruin said
Editors note: I have it on reasonably good authority that Walker was offered the DC job at LSU. It’s a rumor that you won’t find in the MSM or even blogs, so take it for what its worth. Regardless, can you seriously deny, given the turnaround on the defense and his recruiting ability, that Walker isn’t a rising star? and UTAH, UTAH, UTAH doesn’t do anything for me. Some of the other commenters at least tried to point to other games. God, I can’t believe I’m teaching people how to argue.
UTAH
UTAH
UTAH
Anyhow, even if he was the best defensive coordinator in the Pac10 (which he’s not), how does that qualify him to be the UCLA Head Coach?
NOBODY else is interviewing him, NOBODY else wants him as Head Coach. Why should we?
And retaining him should DEFINITELY not be mandatory for the next Head Coach.
I wish Walker well, it would be smart for him to get some experience at a lower tier program if he really wants to be a Head Coach.
After suffering through FIVE YEARS of Dorrell learning (or claiming to be learning) on the job, I’m not ready for another experiment.
WE DON’T WANT WALKER WE WANT A REAL HEAD COACH