UCLA's Plea: Can We Go Back to the Tommy Prothro Era?

Ugh.  Living across town from the Southern Cal dynasty must be tough.

But there was a time in the not too distant past when the Bruins were a match for them, year in and year out.

A match for Heisman Trophy winners Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson with their own Gary Beban.  A match with their own trip to the Rose Bowl, their own No. 1 ranking.

Yes, the era of Tommy Prothro was a golden one for the Bruins.

The longest lasting impact of Tommy Prothro was that one of his fine players, Terry Donahue, later was a successful coach at his alma mater.  Donahue's era was like that of his coach, but he never had a player like the star Terry played with, Gary Beban.

Coach Prothro had come to UCLA immediately after taking Oregon State to the Rose Bowl.  In his first season at UCLA he took them to the Rose Bowl, where they upset No. 1-ranked Michigan State.  They were called the Miracle Team before Danny Manning was even born.

Prothro could be the only head coach who has taken two different schools to the Rose Bowl back to back.  In addition to Beban winning the '67 Heisman, Prothro coached QB Terry Baker to the 1962 Heisman for Oregon State.

Prothro's rowdy unit at times featured a terrific runner in Mel Farr, and later a 154-pound wisp of a jet in Hal Busby, who could match O.J. Simpson's 9.4 hundred speed and go it one-tenth better.  Farr was particularly devastating, leading the nation with a seven-yards-per-carry average in their Rose Bowl season.

The Bruin offense clicked around Gary Beban at quarterback from 1965 through '67.  In Beban's sophomore season, Prothro's offense averaged 10.2 yards an attempt.  That means if they got the play off, they averaged a first down.  That led the nation as well.

Who was this man Tommy Prothro?  As the quarterback at Duke, he had taken the Blue Devils to the Rose Bowl.  He was known as the organization man, carrying a briefcase full of files under his arm even on the field.  He was also known as a humorist, a good ol' Southern boy from Memphis.

His five-year UCLA record of 41 wins and 18 losses set his winning percentage at a cool 70 percent—and that includes the '68 season of 3-7.

Quite a man, that Tommy Prothro.

Rick Neuheisel played for Donahue, who played for Prothro.  This just could be the start of something big.  Time will tell.