Byline: Randy Holtz, Rocky Mountain News
Joe Glenn wants Wyoming football to be taken seriously again.
Karl Dorrell wants UCLA football to be taken seriously again.
The dual missions are on their way to getting accomplished.
Glenn and Dorrell, who share strong Colorado ties and a passion for getting things done, are in their second year of rehabilitation projects.
The fruits of their two years of labor will be on display Thursday night before a national television audience when Glenn's Cowboys and Dorrell's Bruins face off in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl.
The battle between once-proud programs trying to retrieve that pride kicks off at 7:45 p.m. MST on ESPN. Both teams are 6-5, but Glenn and Dorrell have a right to feel 2004 is but a preview of coming attractions.
'To go to a bowl game in our second year is huge for our fans, our students and the university,' Glenn said before the team flew to Las Vegas on Sunday. 'But I think the most important thing about it is the expectations of your student-athletes get higher. The expectation level of your guys goes up, and that can be very important when you're trying to build something.'
Glenn, who led Northern Colorado to two NCAA Division II national titles, brims with personality, with spunk and verve. He has needed it, taking over a long-dormant Wyoming program that struggled through some unusually lean years under previous coaches Dana Dimel and Vic Koenning.
This is Wyoming's first bowl appearance since 1993. UCLA has been to bowls far more frequently in the past decade, but much of the luster of the baby-blue-clad Bruins has faded in recent years.
Dorrell, who prepped for his first coaching job by assisting for the University of Colorado and the Denver Broncos, is out to change that. Along with him for the ride are several coaches with Colorado ties, including assistant head coach Jon Embree, defensive coordinator Larry Kerr and linebackers coach Brian Schneider.
Embree starred at CU, then coached there for 10 years. Dorrell plucked Kerr and Schneider from Sonny Lubick's staff at Colorado State.
Glenn knows them all, developing a particularly close relationship with Kerr through the years.
'Larry and I have been dear friends for 15 years,' Glenn said. 'We've traded a lot of ideas at clinics and things and we've played a lot of golf together. But I don't think it's an advantage either way that we know each other so well. A lot of things have changed.'
Both coaching staffs are trying to change attitudes at their schools that mediocrity was OK. Glenn won't stand for that. Neither will Dorrell. Both view the game Thursday as another load of bricks in the rebuilding process.
UCLA is a 111/2-point favorite, owing largely to the fact the Bruins play in the Pacific-10 Conference and took top-ranked rival Southern California to the limit before losing 29-24 on Dec. 4.
But Glenn warns not to count out the Cowboys, who have undergone an impressive transformation despite losses against Utah and New Mexico to end the regular season.
'This team we're playing has athletes like you can't believe,' he said of the Bruins. 'They're not only very big, but they're very talented. Athletically, we'll have to be at our best and play above our heads.
'It'll take a Herculean effort, but it's doable. If they overlook us, watch out.'
It was easy to overlook the Cowboys in past seasons. Not now. Colorado State found that out last season when the bowl-bound Rams left Laramie with a loss.
Now the Rams are staying home for the holidays and the Cowboys are bowling.
It's a testament to Glenn. But he wants more. Much, much more.
holtzr@RockyMountain News.com or 303-892-5439
INFOBOX
Colorado Bowl
In addition to Wyoming coach Joe Glenn, six of his staff members and more than 30 players having Colorado connections, the Las Vegas Bowl also will feature a Wyoming opponent - UCLA- with several ties to Colorado. The UCLA staffers who once played and/or coached in Colorado:
* Karl Dorrell, coach - Assistant for six seasons at the University of Colorado under Bill McCartney and Rick Neuheisel, coaching receivers. Assistant for three seasons (2000-02) for the Denver Broncos under Mike Shanahan, coaching receivers.
* Eric Bieniemy, running backs coach - Played at CU as a running back under McCartney. Assistant for two seasons at CU under Gary Barnett, coaching running backs.
* Tom Cable, offensive line coach - Assistant for two seasons at CU under Neuheisel (offensive line) and Barnett (offensive coordinator).
* Jon Embree, assistant head coach/tight ends - Played four seasons at CU under McCartney. Assistant for 10 seasons at CU under Neuheisel and Barnett, coaching tight ends, defensive ends and receivers.
* Larry Kerr, defensive coordinator/linebackers - Defensive coordinator for 10 seasons at Colorado State under Sonny Lubick.
* E.J. 'Doc' Kreis, strength and conditioning coach - Strength and conditioning coach for 10 seasons at CU under Neuheisel and Barnett.
* Brian Schneider, outside linebackers/ special teams - Played four seasons at CSU as a linebacker under Earle Bruce and Lubick. Assistant for six seasons at CSU under Lubick, coaching tight ends and special teams.
CAPTION(S):
Photo (2)
Karl Dorrell, coach of UCLA, and Wyoming coach Joe Glenn, both of whom have Colorado ties, share a goal - to return their once-proud programs to respectability.
CAPTION: Wyoming coach Joe Glenn DORRELL PHOTO DOUG BENC / GETTY IMAGESGLENN PHOTO MICHAEL SMITH/LARAMIE BOOMERANG
