“Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.” – George Santayana
The UCLA football fans who suffered through the years 1999 to 2011 are the last people on Earth who need to be reminded of the preeminence of the quarterback position when it comes to building a contending team in college football. That dark era in UCLA football’s history not-so-coincidentally happened to overlap with the worst spell of UCLA quarterback play in living memory.
With the brief exception of Drew Olson‘s senior season in 2005, the Bruins found themselves yearning for anything resembling good, much less great, quarterbacking after Cade McNown‘s storied UCLA career ended in 1998.