Fans are flattered when this top prospect or that top prospect commits to the same University which they attended. Each new commitment breathes life into our hopes that this is part of the puzzle or even the messiah who leads our team to a national championship - or at least a good bowl game to justify a fun trip. The reality is that the high rankings of high school players is relied upon at your peril. For every Bo Jackson or Herschel Walker there are many a Ron Powlus or, the Gurus favorite stiff, Rusty Lisch. This season puts a bright spotlight on the importance of coaching at the college level.
Coaching competence is often the difference in close games rather than sheer talent level.
Coaching decisions may not be able to win every game but coaching decisions can sure lose any game. Move over Rodney Dangerfield, UCLA coach Bob Toledo claims that the Bruins aren t getting the respect they deserve. All UCLA has done is win every game against tough competition generating the number one BCS computer ranking. Apparently, no school ever feels that they are getting the national respect they deserve. Are the BCS rankings fair, probably not, but until there is a national championship playoff we will be forced to experiment with approaches that at least attempt to be more fair than the one that kept Virginia out of any bowl game last year.