Novelist Thomas Wolfe said you can’t go home again. Don’t tell that to Karl Dorrell.
After 15 years on the road coaching on the collegiate level and with the Denver Broncos, Dorrell ’87, a receiver on three Rose Bowl-winning Bruin teams, is back home in Westwood as UCLA’s 15th head football coach. It is with both exuberance and reverence that he takes charge of UCLA’s program.
“It has always been a dream of mine to someday return to campus as the head coach at this great university,” Dorrell says with down-to-earth forthrightness. “I’m very thankful for this opportunity. I’m excited. I’m privileged. I’m honored. I’m proud to be a Bruin, proud to be back.”
While he lacks head-coaching experience, Dorrell is not the least bit intimidated, nor is he afraid to admit that he doesn’t know it all. The staff he’s built since his hire in December includes former head coaches and coordinators (some of whom he worked under) with decades of experience, as well as young up-and-comers.
Foremost on Dorrell’s immediate list of goals is to reestablish the tradition and integrity of UCLA football. “I understand what it takes to play UCLA football,” he says. “I’m going to be a grassroots kind of coach, very hands-on. I’m going to believe in my players, and they’re going to believe in me.”
How Dorrell approaches the achievement of his goals will be just as important as what he produces, says Athletic Director Dan Guerrero ’74. “Everyone with whom I spoke holds Karl in high regard in the areas of leadership, coaching, relating to players, recruiting, the media and alumni. Karl is a man of high principles who can rebuild UCLA football to the elite level.”
Says Chancellor Albert Carnesale of UCLA’s new head coach: “There’s a sense of quiet maturity, poise and leadership that he possesses. You can spot passion without him jumping up and down.”
Dorrell wants to create a family atmosphere at UCLA, much like the one he enjoyed growing up in San Diego as the youngest of seven children. He always was active in athletics — baseball was his best sport (he was drafted by the Houston Astros) and basketball was his favorite (“I’m a frustrated power forward in a 6-foot body”), but it was the thrill of making big plays in front of big crowds on Saturdays that really got his adrenaline pumping.
“UCLA was an eye-opening experience,” he says of his first visit to the campus. “I had a certain feeling that this was a special place. And seeing the caliber of athlete here and thinking about the chance to be among them was such a high point, I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Dorrell’s four seasons as a Bruin included Rose Bowl wins in 1983, 1984 and 1986. He left UCLA tied for second in career receptions and fourth in receiving yards. Tom Ramsey ’87 was Dorrell’s quarterback in his freshman year and was impressed with him then — and is even more impressed now.
“From the time he stepped on campus, Karl was a leader by example. He worked hard, applied himself academically, carried himself with confidence, always had the respect of players,” says Ramsey, now a Pac-10 analyst with Fox Sports. “In the huddle he was calm under fire; he had a quiet discipline and pride. He’s exactly like that today.”
After graduating from UCLA, Dorrell played part of the 1987 season with the Dallas Cowboys before landing on the injured reserve. It was UCLA Head Coach Terry Donahue ’67, M.S. ’77, under whom Dorrell played, who convinced him to give coaching a try.
“[Coach Donahue] approached me after my career was over and said, ‘Karl, I think your calling is coaching,’” Dorrell recalls. “I had never really thought of it. ‘Just try it for one spring,’ he said, and I did and that first practice I was hooked. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”
That first spring in 1988 was with the Bruins as a graduate assistant. From UCLA he went to Central Florida, then Northern Arizona, Colorado, Arizona State, back to Colorado and Washington before entering the pro ranks with the Broncos. And now Dorrell is back home in Westwood, hungry to reignite a sense of Bruin family.
“We’ve had a lot of great players at UCLA and they need to support us and be excited about what’s going on here, about our future,” he says. “Younger players will see and feel that tradition of winning Rose Bowls and going to the NFL. We want those former players and alumni to be a part of the program.”
Dorrell becomes one of only four African-American head coaches in Division I football. But the color of his skin, he says, is less important than what he can accomplish for the university and what his players can do on the field.
“I understand the platform I’m on. Yes, I want to put my best foot forward to hopefully create more opportunities for minority coaches, but that’s not the dominant thing in my mind,” he says. “I want to bring UCLA football to the level where it should be. And if I take care of that business, then everything else will take care of itself.”
UCLA has a rich history of providing opportunities for African-American athletes. From Nobel Laureate Ralph Bunche ’27, LL.B. ’50 and Jackie Robinson ’41 to Kenny Washington ’41, Don Barksdale ’47, Rafer Johnson ’59 and Arthur Ashe ’66, the university has been opening doors and shattering barriers since its inception. “That lineage is inspiring to me,” Dorrell says. “UCLA has always been on the cutting edge of doing things a little differently, ahead of the curve. To be a part of that makes me want to work even harder, like I have something to uphold.”
It keeps coming back to integrity. It is imperative to Dorrell that he build good, solid relationships with his young players, that he helps them to improve both as athletes and as people.
“No matter what you want to do in life, if you are a man of your word, that speaks so highly for who you are,” he says. “The reason I’m where I am today is because of hard work and treating people right, being respectful of others. All those things add up to who I am.
“It’s really about integrity, your own name, putting your stamp out there,” he says. “In the end, that’s all you’ve got.
