Former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell will be the new offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt, the Tennessean reported Thursday.
Dorrell interviewed with the New York Giants regarding their vacant offensive coordinator position earlier this month.
Dorrell had been the Houston Texans' quarterbacks coach for the past two seasons, following a four-season stint with the Miami Dolphins, first as wide receivers coach before becoming quarterbacks coach.
During his five seasons with the Bruins, Dorrell went 35-27, losing six or more games in all but one campaign as his teams largely struggled to execute his version of the West Coast offense. The lone exception was in 2005, when a veteran team featuring running back Maurice Jones-Drew and tight end Marcedes Lewis posted a 10-2 record.
The other highlight of Dorrell's tenure was a shocking 13-9 upset win over rival USC on the final Saturday of the 2006 regular season, keeping the Trojans out of the BCS championship game and setting the stage for the SEC's run of seven consecutive titles.
Under new head coach Derek Mason, the architect of the outstanding Stanford defense for the last two seasons, the Commodores are more likely to feature the power running game and play-action passing emphasized by the Cardinal.
Mason is already stressing "intellectual brutality," the trademark phrase describing Stanford's mindset under Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. Whether Vanderbilt can recruit and develop the same caliber of players on the offensive line and in the defensive front seven as Stanford will determine whether Mason can build on the foundation established by James Franklin.
Follow Dan Greenspan on Twitter @DanGreenspan.
