In Reply to: Re: Yep. posted by barrya on September 01, 2024 at 08:56:18
You're overlooking the key element.
Can we agree that recruiting is less about the coach/school and more about the money? If we can agree on that principle, then we can have a meaningful talk about what's going on at Ucla football.
Chip arrived at Ucla when they went bankrupt. Morgan Center was unable to pay its bills, so Ucla made them a "debtor in possession" loan to keep them operating. There were zero dollars available for anything other than salaries (too high, too many), pensions (UCRS) and necessary operating expenses.
Chip arrived as the transfer portal emerged. Chip arrived when NIL emerged. Add these together and CFB became NFL, Jr. overnight. Players would go to the highest bidder and could change teams (contracts) whenever they liked.
In an NFL, Jr. world, we asked Chip to improve the program with no money. No Morgan Center money and no NIL money since Morgan Center openly opposed NIL for over a year after it was implemented nationally.
And you know what? Chip succeeded. He actually improved the program with no money. He spent whatever money he had in the portal and it worked.
But this didn't mollify our dumb fanbase who have been brainwashed by Bruin media outlets into believing star ranks matter, it's still 2005 and HS recruiting is vital to a program's success. Nope. HS recruiting is now JV recruiting. It might help, but it's mostly overhead. Remember, Chip had no money and overhead had to be avoided.
His downfall, oddly, was obtaining a 5-star high-NIL QB who ultimately lost him two crucial 2023 games: ASU and Cal, both at home and both devastating. Those losses cost Chip his support and with it, his job. My guess---guess---is that Wasserman went cold on him at that point.
We let him walk and replaced him with a novice. With strength of character and resolve to succeed long term, Ucla should've stayed the course, given Chip a short term extension in 2023 and given him more money to work with.
That path would likely have worked for us. The one we're now on looks like more Morgan Center government services program futility. The once mighty Ucla football program has been laid low and may, through neglect and incompetence, vanish in ten years.