Coach Bob Toledo Is Keenly Aware of the Harsh Criticism That Has Accompanied UCLA’s Rapid Fall From the National Ranks, and He Has a Reply: : ‘We’ll Be Back’

The next thing Bob Toledo knows, he’ll be accused of everything short of putting that iceberg in front of the Titanic, though, come to think of it, having his UCLA offense compared to that of the notoriously conservative Terry Donahue might be a greater personal affront.

Why, just look at the trick play he’s running now.

A naked reverse.

Toledo has suddenly become the scourge of Bruin faithful, especially those with extremely short memories. He has become exposed as unimaginative with the ball, apart from those flea-flickers and reverses and the time he had the quarterback line up at receiver for an entire series, of course. Yep, might as well be running the fullback into the line three times in a row.

The startling thing, even for someone who knew this was part of the job when he signed up, is how it turned so quickly. A year ago at this time, the Bruins were No. 2 in the bowl championship series rankings and Toledo was the conquering hero, having reached such heights as part of a 20-game winning streak that started barely a season after inheriting a team that had gone 7-5 in Donahue’s farewell.

Come 1999, he’s just trying to go down with the ship with some dignity.

“It’s incredible,” Toledo said amid the rubble that is a potential last-place finish in the Pacific 10. “Last year, we broke the [school] attendance record. This year, we might not even average 50,000. But like I said, as soon as we start winning, people will jump on the bandwagon again. That’s how this profession is.”

Except that this is how Toledo is:

He hears.

He remembers.

“ ‘I have no imagination. We’re too soft. We don’t coach fundamentals,’ ” he said. “They don’t come out here and watch practice, they don’t know what we do. Those kinds of things.

“That’s the profession. I know what I’m doing. I know where we’re going. We’ll be back, and that’s what I’m saying. We’ll be back and those people will jump on the bandwagon again. The only thing you learn through this whole thing is who your real friends are. You learn who the true Bruin fans are, and you find out who the fair-weather people are.

“I know who they are. I’ve extended myself so far. I go to this 80-year-old lady’s birthday party and I give her a hug and kiss on the cheek and she loves me. And all of a sudden we’re losing and now she’s ripping me. I’m giving you an example. That hurts. I think that hurts more than anything else because I’ve extended myself to a lot of people and I’ve tried to do the best I possibly can and those people loved it, and now all of the sudden I’m a different guy. That’s what’s interesting.

” . . . That’s the disturbing thing. The neat thing are the people that still come around and they write me or they call me and they say, ‘Hey, Bob, we’re with you. Hang in there. We know it’s going to end.’ They’re very positive and they care about you as a person. And those are the people I care about.”

Those affirmations still get to his Morgan Center office, after the ones with an accusatory tone get sifted out by his administrative assistant, Jolie Oliver. Of course, Toledo still manages to know everything bad being said about him, even while insisting he doesn’t read newspapers and doesn’t listen to radio talk shows. That, or maybe he can just imagine what they must be saying.

But it could be worse. This season hasn’t physically run Toledo into the ground. That concern seemed at least partly realistic just before camp opened in August because he had little opportunity to recharge during the off-season, a time that instead went to family issues and tiptoeing through the minefield of the handicapped-placard scam. Even the losses--more in ’99 than the previous two seasons combined--haven’t drained his emotions.

The reaction from the outside could be worse too, not counting the few times Elaine Toledo has broken into tears after a loss, frustrated by the developments and hurting for her husband. It could be worse, because for all the shots the Bruins have taken, for all the people who sit in the stands and compare Toledo with Donahue, Athletic Director Pete Dalis struggles to remember more than a couple negative letters he has received about his football coach.

Such are the bright spots of this season.

“He has not taken the heat I anticipated he would,” Dalis said. “That has surprised me. Now, that may still be coming. But at this point, he has not taken the heat Terry Donahue took on some occasions. But, again, it’s still early in Bob’s career.”

It’s also early in Bob’s season, in one way. The USC game still awaits. Lose Nov. 20, especially if it means a last-place finish in the Pacific 10 or even a 3-8 record depending on what happens this week against Washington, and FedEx might want to open a branch outside Toledo’s office.

“I think he’ll get some complaints,” Dalis said. “Absolutely. Oh, yeah.”

In the meantime, Toledo is left to prepare for two more games, and then a holiday season without a bowl game, on the heels of back-to-back New Year’s Day appearances. Indeed, his world has changed.

Imagine when--if?--it changes back. Popular again, and vindicated.

“I know who the people are and I hear the comments,” Toledo said. “I don’t get the letters because Jolie protects me, but I feel. I know. I’m smart enough to figure out what’s going on with people.

“All I’ll say is, ‘We’ll be back,’ and people will jump on the bandwagon again. That’s all I can say.”

And when they do?

“I won’t push ‘em off,” the coach with a memory said. “ But I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to help them get on.”

*

UCLA vs. WASHINGTON

Saturday

Rose Bowl

12:30 p.m.

Channel 7

REKINDLED: Rick Neuheisel, the former UCLA assistant, and Terry Donahue have apparently made up. Page 6

TROJAN STARTER: John Fox will be the No. 1 quarterback again, but Mike Van Raaphorst might play. Page 6