PASADENA, Calif. – The official beginning to fall football camp used to be simple and predictable.
Bright-eyed and well-rested Pacific-10 Conference coaches would join for a half-day at a Los Angeles-area hotel to meet the media and assess not only their own programs, but also the state of the conference.
That was 2009 … and before.
Today is 2010.
In 2010, it meant coaches having to arrive Thursday on the field of the Rose Bowl for the annual Pac-10 media day – the final leg of their four-day swing across the country.
And 2010 also meant a changing of the guard. Reigning champion Oregon collected 15 first-place votes and 314 points to nudge Southern California (311) for the top spot in the media’s preseason poll to win the conference, ending the Trojans’ seven-year run at the top.
Washington (209 points) was voted sixth – with one first-place vote – and Washington State (39) was at the bottom.
Preseason polls, personnel changes and new schemes seemed to all take a back seat to the flurry of travel all 10 conference coaches had made since Monday – an idea hatched by new Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott, who eagerly wanted to showcase his attractive football product to East Coast power brokers and media.
So they went … and went … and went.
“All the head coaches, you find out they’re pretty good guys when you think they’re not,” WSU coach Paul Wulff said. “We had some bonding time there. The experience was great. Just to be able to be there, physically, and have eye-to-eye contact with their media, I think they were impressed.”
First it was a trip around New York City – to Times Square (where they aired a Pac-10 promotional video on the big screen) for round-table discussions, and off to dinner with ESPN’s “GameDay” crew.
They then visited the New York Times building, rang the bell at the NASDAQ building, and finished up with a trip to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn.
“A ton of things were going on … but our main goal was to be out there,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said.
“Being with Kirk (Herbstreit of ESPN) at dinner on Tuesday, he said, ‘It’s great you’re here, but the work is just beginning.’ People on the other side of the country don’t look at Pac-10 football as real.’ ”
Maybe that is why Scott also mandated that four of the conference’s top quarterbacks, including UW’s Jake Locker, tag along to make public appearances on syndicated talk shows.
“Taking the East Coast bias head-on,” Neuheisel said, “was a bold move.”
Not all the coaches looked at it purely as a task to tackle. UW coach Steve Sarkisian and his wife, Stefanie, went to New York a few days early, leaving their children with the grandparents in Torrance, Calif.
“That was my third trip there, and the other two were one night each for the Heisman (Trophy) stuff (at USC),” Sarkisian said.
“We had a great time. I really enjoyed it. It’s a fascinating city.”
Sarkisian also admitted it was an opportunity for the coaches to trade ideas not associated with football.
“They didn’t get into the Xs and Os as much. There was good dialogue and conversation about different things,” Sarkisian said.
“All in all, the guys had a lot of fun doing it. Everyone might have gotten a little bit tired at the end … but it was a good trip.”
Of course, the parties had their funny moments – like how the two jets were divided up with five coaches apiece.
“We’re tired, but some of that was self-doing. One was a rowdier jet than the other jet. I was on the lower-paced jet,” Wulff said.
“The wilder crew did come to me and said I got a bad draw, that I should have been on their plane.”
The coaches arrived in Los Angeles late Wednesday afternoon, all staying at a hotel in Beverly Hills before arriving at the Rose Bowl on Thursday morning.
“It really has been an exciting last three days. Commissioner Larry Scott has really branched us out and taken us to the East Coast,” USC’s Lane Kiffin said.
“We all know USC (has gotten) a lot of attention over the years in this conference. But there are a lot of great teams that have made some great runs, and have done some special things that will be more recognized.”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
Oregon’s the pick
The media poll has correctly selected the Pacific-10 Conference champion in 26 of 49 previous polls, including nine of the past 10. Following are the results of the 2010 preseason media poll (points 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):
1. Oregon (15) 314
2. USC (12) 311
3. Oregon State (3) 262
4. Stanford (1)233
5. Arizona (2) 222
6. Washington (1)209
7. California 175
8. UCLA (1)134
9. Arizona State81
10. Washington State 39
INSIDE
Commuter traffic? Commodore Sarkisian opts to pilot his new Cobalt 262 to Husky Stadium these days. B2
