Bruins Job Has Built-In Headache Tough Admissions Policy May Help Weed Out Candidates

The UCLA football coaching search enters week two and all seems quiet.

The list of candidates includes UCLA defensive coordinator Bob Field and former assistant Greg Robinson (now with the Denver Broncos). Bruins offensive coordinator Bob Toledo and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder may be under consideration.

What seems certain is that athletic director Pete Dalis and chancellor Charles Young won’t begin the interview process until next week, since the potential candidates have bowl or NFL games this weekend.

One issue each candidate must address - perhaps the critical issue for Dalis and chancellor Charles Young - is how he will cope with UCLA’s stringent admissions policies.

“Whoever is coach has to understand that the policy is in place, and it’s not in place at (schools) you compete against,” outgoing coach Terry Donahue said. “You’re going to experience times when you can’t get in players that somebody else gets in. If you try to fight the policy, you can’t survive. You’ll self-destruct on the hill” - the site of the administrative offices.

Donahue said admissions standards for incoming football players were tightened six years ago. Since that time, the Bruins are 43-35-1 and have participated in just three bowls - the ‘91 Hancock, ‘94 Rose and Monday’s Aloha Bowl against Kansas, Donahue’s final game.

Graduation reports released by the NCAA support his claim. UCLA’s incoming football freshmen from 1991-94 had an average high school core GPA of 3.04 - third in the Pacific-10 Conference in that span and .22 points ahead of Cal, a fellow UC system school.

In addition, the average SAT score of UCLA’s entering football freshmen was 886 - tied for third in the conference with Cal, 21 points ahead of USC. And Donahue probably realizes the Bruins’ only losses this season came to the schools with the four lowest average SAT scores in the league (Oregon, Washington, Arizona State and Washington State) and three of the four lowest average high school core GPAs.

Several members of the program, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said tighter admissions standards are Donahue’s No. 1 frustration and a critical factor in his decision to resign. They said he is weary of being told he can’t get coveted recruits into school, of having those recruits matriculate at rival schools - specifically USC and Cal - of losing to those schools and then being criticized for it.

In 1990, the year after Donahue says the admissions policies tightened, Cal began a five-game winning streak against the Bruins. The classic example of Donahue’s frustration, one source said, was Todd Steussie. A neighbor of Donahue’s in Agoura, who wanted to attend UCLA, Steussie was not academically admissible, the source said. But he was allowed into Cal and became a two-time all-conference offensive tackle during the Bears’ winning streak.

“At times we get frustrated that everybody’s not at a level playing field,” Donahue said. “But if (prospective coaches) know the parameters, you have a choice to get in or out. The standards are difficult, but we’ve proven you can survive.”

When asked if frustration with the admissions policy was a reason he resigned, Donahue laughed and said, “I’m retired. That’s all I’m going to say: I’m retired.”