Pac-10 Preview | UCLA has lots of quick moves — off the field

LOS ANGELES — Here's the long and short of it on UCLA's 2007 football prospects: If the Bruins can move as fast as their assistant coaches have under Karl Dorrell, it's going to be a lights-out season.

The revolving door kept spinning in the offseason at Westwood, much as it has in most of the regime of Dorrell, the 1999 Washington assistant under Rick Neuheisel now in his fifth season as the UCLA coach.

Four more aides are in their first season under Dorrell. One of them, 32-year-old Eric Scott, made headlines recently when he was arrested on suspicion of home burglary. No charges were filed against Scott, a graduate of Crenshaw High and UCLA, and he was reinstated from administrative leave to continue being a key in resuscitating the program's recruiting in the L.A. inner city.

The comings and goings of Dorrell's assistants would be a mere sidebar if it weren't for the fact that some of them have succeeded famously, giving the Bruins a dramatic shot of expertise and energy, and some have stunted the program's progress by failing miserably.

Or as senior center Chris Joseph puts it, "It's not always bad when you lose a coach."

Since the 2006 season ended, the Bruins lost four, all of whom were in their first year as an assistant or coordinator. Jim Svoboda, the offensive coordinator, is out, having landed at Montana State. Tight ends coach John Wristen left to become head coach at Colorado State-Pueblo. Former UW walk-on D.J. McCarthy opted out for Louisiana State, and veteran line coach Jim Colletto took an NFL position in Detroit.

Svoboda's ouster opened the door for what the Bruins feel could be a quantum step forward. Dorrell added West Coast offense disciple Jay Norvell, late of the Nebraska staff.

"He and I speak the same language," said Dorrell. "He's the only one who understands to a T what my expectations are and the terminology, and how we do this [offense]."

The Bruins like to think Norvell, 44, an NFL expatriate at Oakland and Indianapolis, will give them what they got last year from DeWayne Walker, another NFL-seasoned taskmaster who completely turned around the defensive ethic at UCLA in 2006, when they morphed from punch line to No. 9-ranked run-stoppers in the country.

Listen to defensive end Bruce Davis, whose 12 ½ sacks leads national returnees, recall his early brushes with Walker:

"When he first got here, I'd been bouncing back and forth between linebacker and defensive end," Davis said. "I said, 'Coach, I've been moving around, and I'd like you to try me at linebacker. I don't think you'd be disappointed.' "

About two weeks later, Davis found himself in an interview with the defensive staff, Walker positioned directly across from him. All that was missing was the spotlight on Davis and the tape recorder.

"You know what?" Walker asked Davis. "I think you asked me to play linebacker because you're worried about what you'll play in the NFL. I don't care where you want to play. You're going to play where I put you."

Davis' reaction: "I was like, 'Wow, this guy's serious.' "

Safety Dennis Keyes got his own snootful of Walker when the Bruins were thumped by California 38-24.

"He took me out in the fourth quarter, and the following Monday, he told me he was going to split my practice reps with [Bret] Lockett," Keyes said. "That really upset me at the time."

Keyes says he responded with some of his better workouts, and the next week, he tied for the team lead in tackles with eight, forced a fumble and the Bruins upset Oregon State.

"He'll do things like that even if he doesn't have any intention of doing it, you always feel he's serious about it," Keyes said.

It's on offense where the Bruins need to advance. After touted quarterback Ben Olson was sidelined by a knee injury and replaced by Patrick Cowan in October, the Bruins failed to top the 27-point mark in their final nine games.

In the spring, Dorrell says, both quarterbacks were charted closely, and Olson "was impressively better than Pat. He's different [from 2006], he has that edge to him, that he's ready for this challenge."

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com