UCLA hires Chow
Rick Neuheisel is already doing a fantastic job. They say a coach is only as good as his players and his staff. UCLA already had a talented team, but now they have one of the best coaching staffs in the country, as ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that Norm Chow has signed on to be the Bruins offensive coordinator.
Both Chow and DeWayne Walker were serious candidates to be the next head coach of UCLA. Now they're on the same staff. Every football fan in LA knows how good Chow is as an offensive coordinator. He was one of the early pioneers of the spread passing game and has developed quarterbacks like Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, and Matt Leinert. Any college team he coaches is going to score a ton of points.
It's interesting to see how Neuheisel has evolved has a coach. At Washington and Colorado, he effectively ran the offense and called the plays, but it's unlikely that Chow would have come to UCLA unless he was the play-caller and granted near total control over the offense. DeWayne Walker presumably has complete control over the defense as well. With two great coordinators to delegate to, Neuheisel can spend more time recruiting and building up the infrastructure of his program. This is a great day for UCLA.