SINGULAR A.D. LEAVES LEGACY OF EFFICIENCY.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

So he's stepping down, that grand patriarch of the UCLA sporting family.

The biggest surprise isn't that Peter Dalis is retiring, it's that he's been the athletic director for 19 years. Who knows? Another 19 and maybe we actually would have gotten to know him.

As it is, Dalis leaves - how should we put this? - interesting shoes to fill.

He wasn't exactly a commanding presence, not a borderline larger- than-life figure such as predecessor J.D. Morgan. He always came across like the efficient administrator, a pencil pusher and fact checker, only with ego.

Yet there was no arguing with his success. No university won more overall NCAA titles than UCLA while Dalis was athletic director, and now the Bruins have to figure out where they go from here.

Understand that for a state school, UCLA is a highly insular institution. Dalis is an alum and has been around since Red Sanders, whom he served as the football manager as a senior. There are a remarkable eight Bruins associate athletic directors - seven of whom are UCLA graduates.

There is plenty of Bruins blood from which to chose if chancellor Albert Carnesale elects to keep it all one happy little UCLA family and pick the next A.D. from the available in-house pool.

``I hope it's a Bruin, but that doesn't mean somebody couldn't come in from outside,'' said Dalis, sounding very much like Dalis. Efficiency experts know how to cover their bases.

The stoic Dalis had this way of hovering in the background at UCLA press conferences, almost blending into the shadows, as if he wanted to make sure his coach didn't say the wrong thing or, you suspected, so he knew exactly which reporter asked the negative questions.

His successor will likely have the same administrative skills but hopefully without the paranoia. Maybe he'll even pop a smile once in a while.

Dalis never gave off the impression of a man who truly enjoyed his job. Alumni who are never happy, media quick to criticize, coaches with egos - there are easier jobs out there.

It's some talent, though, if you can be the athletic director at a major university in one of the world's great media centers and almost come off as a background player. And at the same time refreshing not to allow any coach to become bigger than the program, although he did have that curious public flirtation with basketball coach Rick Pitino.

The days of well-known coaches sliding over into the A.D.'s chair have largely disappeared. It's a business job now, and Carnesale will likely look for candidates with administrative skills similar to what Dalis offered.

There are associate UCLA athletic directors of areas such as business and finance, corporate development, business operations and just operations. All kinds of officious-sounding titles that would seem to have the administrating angle covered.

Working with a smaller budget than many high-profile universities, Dalis was able to locate coaches who kept UCLA in a rarefied competitive air, so he was more than a capital-project consultant.

``It's very important you be in concert with your chancellor,'' Dalis said, and you have to hand it to him, he's consistent to the end.

The chancellor has an opportunity here to make a statement as to how he wants the athletic department run (Dalis was hired by Charles Young).

If he wants to break up that safe, family atmosphere, perhaps the comfort level that currently surrounds the athletic administration, he can always go outside.

And if he's looking for someone with coaching experience, a keen knowledge of UCLA and who's currently gaining experience as an athletic director, there's always John Robinson.