UCLA Head Coach Building Solid Foundation

Karl Dorrell, one of the top wide receivers in UCLA history, is in his fourth season as head coach of his alma mater. In his first two seasons, he built a solid foundation for the future of the program and in 2005, that future began to be realized.

A year ago, UCLA won 10 games for only the seventh time in school history, opened the season 8-0 and finished in third place in the Pac-10. With its 50-38 victory over Northwestern in the Vitalis Sun Bowl, UCLA finished with a record of 10-2 and was ranked No. 13 on the USA Today/Coaches' poll and No. 16 on the Associated Press poll, its highest finishes since 1998.

Dorrell, who was named 2005 Pac-10 co-Coach of the Year by his peers, was also a finalist for several National Coach of the Year awards. the FWAA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. The Bruins ranked No. 5 nationally in scoring offense (39.1) and No. 23 in both passing offense (270.3) and total offense (431.0). The special teams units also ranked highly, with the Bruins leading the nation in punt returns (25.0).

Dorrell was hired as UCLA's 15th head coach on December 18, 2002 and introduced as the Bruins' new head coach the following day.

Dorrell came to UCLA from the Denver Broncos, where he was in his third year as the coach of the wide receivers. His record-setting receivers played very well during his time with the club.