UCLA rewards coaching success

Howland, Dorrell receive contract extensions and significant salary increases

David Woods (Contact)
Published: Monday, July 24, 2006

With just a few strokes of the pen, the UCLA athletic department has made great strides in changing its penny-pinching reputation.

On Friday, UCLA announced that men’s basketball coach Ben Howland and football coach Karl Dorrell had both accepted multi-year contract extensions. Howland, coming off a season in which his team fell 40 minutes short of a national title, received the more lucrative of the extensions, at seven years with a starting base salary of $1.15 million. The football team, which went a surprising 10-2 this season, saw its coach gain another five years of contract security. Dorrell will make $850,000 as his base salary.

In the past, UCLA has made a habit of underpaying its coaches. John Wooden famously received just $32,500 in his final year, 1975. With this move, the UCLA administration is breaking from its tradition and recognizing the success of its two money-making teams. In the statements from Howland and Dorrell released by the university, both coaches reaffirm their commitment to remaining Bruins for the foreseeable future, with Howland repeating his oft-quoted line that UCLA is his “dream job.”

Athletic Director Dan Guerrero, who hired both Howland and Dorrell, spoke of the return to elite status for the UCLA basketball program and Howland’s status as one of the top coaches in the country in his comment on the contract extensions. In Dorrell’s case, Guerrero spoke of his excitement for the direction and future of the program – fitting for a coach who has seen improvement in each of his three seasons.

“Karl is an outstanding leader, and we feel the future of UCLA football is very bright with him in control,” Guerrero said.

Both coaches have been at UCLA for three seasons. Last year the basketball team lost to Florida in the national championship game and finished with a 32-7 record, while the football team beat Northwestern 50-38 in the Sun Bowl for its tenth victory. Howland has reached the NCAAs in two of his three seasons, while Dorrell has made it to a bowl game in each of his three years.