Dorrell talks Stanford decision

Florida wide receiver/defensive back Chandler Dorrell was raised in a UCLA household, but will spend the next four or five years playing for one of the Bruins' biggest rivals.

Late last week, Dorrell, son of former Bruin head coach Karl Dorrell, accepted Stanford's walk-on offer. Dorrell will begin his Cardinal career as a cornerback.

Though Karl spent five years as the head coach at UCLA, he, and the rest of the Dorrell clan, were thrilled with Chandler's decision

"I think this is where my dad has wanted me to go all along, so everybody was excited," Dorrell said. "They all had their Stanford sweaters on. We're excited for the future."

"We still have a little bit of baby blue around the house, (but) I'm sure they'll be getting some Cardinal red."

Dorrell has long envisioned himself playing his college ball on The Farm.

"Stanford's been I guess my dream school for a while," Dorrell said. "I had always been in my mind that I'd wanted to go there if I had any chance to. I just feel like I really love the coaching staff at Stanford, loved the campus when I went and visited it. Academically you can't really go to a better school."

When he arrives in Palo Alto, Dorrell will work closely with Cardinal defensive coordinator Derek Mason. Karl Dorrell and Mason are friends dating back to their time together Northern Arizona. Dorrell played mostly receiver in high school, but he'll transition to the defensive side of the ball at Stanford.

"Coach Mason, because of my parents' previous relationship with him and his wife, I guess you could say I have kind of like a friend on the team," Dorrell said. "We have kind of a friendly relationship already, even though I really haven't spent much time with him. But just talking with him on the phone and on that visit talking with him about the X's and O's of the defensive backs, I really can see he's a great coach and I look forward to playing with him."

In addition to playing wide receiver, Dorrell returned punts for his high school team. He's open to a role on special teams at Stanford.

"I haven't really talked to them about special teams, but I'm willing to do everything, if it's punt returner, kickoff, kick return. It doesn't matter," Dorrell said.