Neuheisel, Chow ready to take ball and run
UCLA FOOTBALL
The head coach and offensive coordinator share common philosophies on where the team is headed.
Last season's UCLA football team, one that started with great expectations, didn't qualify for a major bowl game and was ranked toward the bottom among the nation's 119 major college offenses -- 101st in passing, 99th in total yards, 92nd in scoring. Since then, the Bruins brought on Rick Neuheisel as head coach and Norm Chow as offensive coordinator, men who have directed high-scoring and successful teams. Neuheisel's Colorado and Washington squads averaged 30 points or more in five of eight seasons; Chow has mentored three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks. Times staff writer Chris Foster recently had separate interviews with the coaches, who talked about their plans for the Bruins:
* Question: Have you settled on an offense?
Neuheisel: "We're formulating a scheme. I don't know if it has the moniker that all the trendy offenses have now. I certainly wouldn't call it Spread or the West Coast. I think where Norm is centered on is just being able to run the ball and protect the ball. It sounds overly simplistic, but if you can do both those things you can force defenses into a position where now big plays are available.
"That doesn't necessarily sound exciting. 'Run the ball and protect the ball' sounds very conservative. But I think if you can do both of those things successfully and commit to both of those things, the excitement then comes because the field now opens because you have to stop the run. You will bleed to death if you don't stop run."
Chow: "We're going to run the ball. To win in this game, in any league, you have to run the ball. I don't think we're going to revolutionize football. We're going to continue to do things that [Neuheisel] and I know best.
"I think now it is a matter of what skills what kids can do. We're not going to ask our kids to do something they are not capable of doing. Right now we put in base stuff that will fit just about anything, then we'll wait and see."
* Q: Have there been any differences in philosophy between you two?
Neuheisel: "It's been interesting to me how few there have been. Sometimes you have this picture of the 'geniuses' in the game as being, 'My way and only my way.' But the ones who are the real geniuses are the ones who realize that other people have ways to do these things that might be better. They are open to those kind of suggestions.
