An open letter to UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk about Bruins athletics

Dear Chancellor Frenk,

It’s your other pro-bono consultant here.

Congratulations are in order after you adopted some of my suggestions from late last year.

Martin Jarmond is gone, Bob Chesney is here and now it appears that you’re going to stay at the Rose Bowl through the end of an ironclad lease that essentially locked you in all along.

Nicely done.

The hiring of Tim Harris as CEO and athletic director was a bold, out-of-the-Bruin-box move that deserves an eight-clap. Unlike his predecessor, Harris gets the UCLA culture, not to mention the financial challenges that have buried the athletic department at his alma mater under a pile of debt higher than the Bel-Air hills that border campus.

If anyone can fix that, it’s the former Lakers business boss who knows how to land big deals and make things happen. Harris also seems to fully understand the importance of NIL as the lifeblood of any big-time athletic department.

He’s sharp, savvy and will be worth every penny once you sign him to a long-term contract as Jarmond’s replacement. Moving on from Jarmond made you the first UCLA chancellor to dismiss an athletic director, a courageous move at a place known for inertia.

Kudos are also in order for barreling toward the end of the Rose Bowl lawsuit mess. Once you ditched CFO Stephen Agostini and his apparent notion that moving to SoFi Stadium was a good idea, it was just a matter of time before this got resolved.

Hopefully the announcement that UCLA is staying through the end of its 2044 lease comes soon.

It was inspiring to see Harris speak so passionately about the Rose Bowl at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Field Club. The place is going to be a game-changer not just for fans who hang out in the swanky hotspot but also for your athletic department finances.

You’ve already erased one ridiculous arrangement, reclaiming control of licensing rights to the UCLA logo. That will be worth many millions of dollars as well.

For your next big move, might we suggest retaking control of Pauley Pavilion from the recreation department so that the basketball teams don’t have to pay to play there? The same goes for paying parking attendants for revenue that goes elsewhere.

This is the sort of stuff that only seems to happen at UCLA — but far less so under your leadership.

It’s also time to push back on “Calimony” now that those absurd $10-million annual payments to your sister school in Berkeley are up for renewal. The whole concept never really made sense in the first place.

How is UCLA to blame for the Big Ten and Fox not wanting Cal because it was a lesser product? Make Cal take some accountability for its own shortcomings that led it into the Atlantic Coast Conference.

All of which brings us to your new football coach.

Chesney is rocking it like early Jim Mora, except without the tantrums and mood swings. We told you the guy was a winner. He coaches with an edge and an energy not seen around these parts in many years.

His teams are tough and relentless, playing their best football when things get tight. It’s also refreshing to hear someone who fully acknowledges the need for an undefeated team to improve.

Chesney’s Bruins appear headed for a special season in Year 1, and soon the only question might be if you’ll be able to keep him. It would be wise to start formulating a retention plan in case he keeps winning.

Your bold, decisive action is reminiscent of Chuck Young, the last UCLA chancellor to fully embrace athletics and its importance to the university. Young cared every bit as much as the diehard fans, once admitting to a colleague that he believed one of his noisy sideline rants was the cause of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Bruins bench during the Dick Vermeil years.

Later, calling a UCLA game against Arizona alongside Brent Musburger, Vermeil noticed Young getting angry at an official during the broadcast, telling viewers, “Look at who’s upset, the chancellor. … He’s a competitor, look at him — get after them, Chuck! You can do it! You’re the boss.”

While your management style seems far more restrained, the early returns are equally promising. One must only look at what’s happened at Miami, your previous school, to envision what could come next at UCLA.

Two years after you fired Hurricanes athletic director Blake James, the men’s basketball team reached the Final Four. Two years after that, the football team reached the national championship game.

Can UCLA do something similar?

With you leading the way, perhaps there’s a better question: Why can’t UCLA do something similar?

Just know that you’ve spawned a new admirer willing to help. Until further notice, my free advice will complement my compliments.

Best,

Ben

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