Sports Information Todd Saldaña
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Todd Saldaña agreed to step down as UCLA men’s soccer coach, and the university will not renew his contract when it expires in June, the Athletic Department announced Thursday.
The agreement was linked to the discovery that Saldaña’s bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia State University – a discredited distance-learning institution – was fraudulent.
UCLA expects all its head coaches to have received undergraduate degrees from accredited four-year institutions, Athletic Director Peter Dalis said in a statement Thursday.
“While I do not equate the receipt of an academic credential with one’s ability to coach and administer a soccer program, I don’t want to distract or detract from the successful men’s soccer program that we’ve built here at UCLA,” Saldaña said in the same statement.
“I will do everything in my power to help achieve a smooth transition for the players, administration and the future coaching staff,” he continued.
Saldaña’s attorney, Bruce Gelb, said in a telephone interview that Saldaña intends to complete his degree. He also said that although Saldaña accepted the university’s decision, he was not happy with the end result.
“Obviously Todd is disappointed that his contract isn’t going to be renewed,” Gelb said. “He is disappointed that they didn’t give him the opportunity to complete his coursework. It was something he wanted to do.”
Gelb added that they are considering whether or not to sue the discredited university. However, he concedes that there may not be any assets left to seize.
Columbia State University accepted credits from other colleges Saldaña had attended in the areas where he had played professional soccer.
According to Saldaña, he spent a year completing correspondence courses from Columbia State University, reading books and writing papers before receiving a degree for the completion of additional course requirements.
Louisiana Attorney General Richard Ieyoub shut down Columbia State University in the fall of 1998.
The university found that Saldaña had received a degree from what had been identified as a “diploma mill” in the middle of the 2001 soccer season, Dalis said. The university subsequently took the time to confirm the information before deciding to address the matter after the holiday season, he stated.
“We don’t feel that there was any intent on Coach Saldaña’s part to mislead the university,” Dalis stated. “When he applied and was hired at UCLA as the head women’s soccer coach in 1998, Coach Saldaña believed he had received a degree from an institution that would satisfy UCLA’s expectations regarding undergraduate education.”
Saldaña, 40, spent one season as women’s head coach before taking the helm of the men’s program in 1999. He finishes with a 43-17-4 record during his three-year tenure as men’s head coach, earning an NCAA tournament berth each year and leading the team to the NCAA semifinals in 1999. He served as an assistant coach of the men’s program from 1989-95.
“It’s unfortunate that the position was taken by the university to hold on to the education requirement over the substance of his work experience,” Gelb said.
Saldaña’s players are not worried about his ability to land another job.
“He won’t have a problem getting a job anywhere else, that’s my opinion,” said junior midfielder and team captain Ryan Futagaki. “He’s a good person, and he didn’t do anything wrong here.
“He’s a good guy and he’s a good coach. What more can you ask for?”
Junior defender Scot Thompson also believes Saldaña will find another job, but like Futagaki, he is concerned about the season to come.
“You always hope for Todd’s family that he finds something else,” Thompson said. “With his record and the things he’s done, he’s obviously going to go somewhere and be prosperous.
“And of course my second thought is always our team and what we’re going to do to prepare for next year,” he continued.
Gelb said that Saldaña feels bad for his players. He feels that next year’s team has the potential to win the national championship based on the maturity displayed over the course of the 2001 season.
Now the search for a new coach begins. Thompson said he thinks Saldaña’s replacement should not be a newcomer to the collegiate soccer ranks.
“I would want someone who’s already established, who has already made a name for himself in college soccer,” he said. “You can be a really great player but then not have the coaching experience to coach a Division I team.”
The announcement comes close to the signing period for recruits, which begins Feb. 6.
Thompson knows what it is like to go through a coaching change.
He joined the program after the previous head coach, Sigi Schmid, left to coach the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. When Saldaña took over, Thompson said at the time he was concerned with his role on the team, scholarship money and any possible changes to the system of play.
With reports by Scott Schultz, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.