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  • UCLA Football: Football is Physical?


    UCLA's Head Coach Jim Mora

    Scott Robinson

    Today represented the first football practice for Coach Mora in two years, three months and a little change.

    And he was not the only one excited at the advent of the spring season.

    Actually, the Bruins’ kin, fans and friends packed full the first practice’s stands—the excitement was palpable. Coach Mora, decked in black shorts and a gray UCLA shirt, heralded this practice as only the beginning.

    “I’m pleased with the effort—Pleased with the attitude,” said Mora as he sipped on his Gatorade Rejuvenate after Day One. Flanked by the media and their cameras, the coach looked as though he’s done this kind of thing before.

    When asked about a starting QB, Mora was quick to quip: “[We] have to let it happen.” A calculated but experienced response—which should be expected from the sort of coach that was born into a NFL coach’s family and then spent 25 years of his own in the league.

    Meanwhile, Mora’s process of vetting out such a starter began with Kevin Prince taking the one’s, Brett Hundley the two’s and Richard Brehaut the three’s. Alongside them snapped TJ Millweard, Jerry Neuheisel and walk-on Mike Fafual, who has a slingshot of an arm, by the way.

    One practice down, 14 more to go.

    Change? Prove it.

    While it was clear this was the first team practice, there was certainly a level of focus unlike any seen in the recent past.

    Clearly, this coaching staff is attempting to prepare the team with tangible exercises—ones meant to replicate actual game-play with the purpose to translate onto Saturdays.

    One example: Defensive players were clearly instructed to strip the ball, as every moment of contact between them and the offense led to the grappling of arms. Another: the QB’s appeared to throw against a changing defense—specifically looking for the open man.

    Already, the new tone is evident: This is physical football. While no pads were on today, players were flying around and hitting—a couple of skirmishes further showed this is not the same regime from 12 months ago.

    As a matter of fact, the coaching staff may have needed the pads more so than the players: One was actually tackled right in front of the stands during the first few drills.

    To the casual observer, one might expect this sort of physical-nature in football, I mean, it is football. When compared to last year, and a “no-tackle” practice policy aimed in avoiding injuries, this squad seems a little tougher. Actually, they may have tackled more today in a “no-tackle, no-pad” practice than they ever did practicing last year…

    Assuming most would correlate the lack of tackling practice to the lack of tackling ability in a game, the question would then be “Why not tackle?” Of course, the worry with tackling in practice is the potential for injuries—especially if depth is an issue.

    Not surprisingly, it looks like Coach Mora is well-aware of the situation:

    “Part of being a disciplined football team is knowing when to pull back… We have to be careful…”

    But Mora’s not just talking—He’s doing.

    In an attempt to help mitigate injuries, Mora’s words follow the action: After being made aware of a potential helmet problem (in which eight of the ten total concussions last year were produced in practice), Coach Mora has already made a switch.

    Seems like this coach with 25 years of NFL experience might have an idea of what he’s doing.

    Coach Mora: “It’s All About the Ball”

    From the get-go of today’s practice, this squad appeared ready and willing to learn. Eager to start, Coach Klemm and his offensive line unit walked through blocking schemes well before the rest of the team arrived at Spaulding, at 3:00 in lieu of 3:45.

    Even at the end of practice, as the Westwood sunlight slowly dissipated into the western hills, the Bruins were there, tightly huddled as Mora concluded Day One.

    However, moving forward Mora’s definitely got some sleuthing to do.

    Practice Notes

    I’ll include in every practice story a few notes relating to a limited number of positions for coverage. Today I focused on QB’s, RB's & WR’s:

    QB’s:
    -Kevin Prince: albeit the first day of practice, really has trouble with the shorter “touch” passes; Multiple swing’s were either over- or under-thrown and a number of his throws hit the wrong shoulder of receivers, turning them completely out of stride.

    -Brett Hundley: He is going to excel under Coach Mazzone’s concise play-book; Had a nice spiral going throughout practice and looked like he could run a hurry-up very easily. While accuracy is not exactly the best, he looked like he was throwing for the appropriate outer shoulder in stride; Probably threw the most-catchable ball.

    -Richard Brehaut: Looks like his release might still have some baseball action in it. Number of throws came up short or low; I will be interested to see him, as a more Pro-Style QB, under Mazzone’s play-calling.

    -TJ Millweard: Big QB with a decent arm; Will need to see more of him. Less accurate than expected, but has the frame and arm strength to compete. He also had a few outlets that looked like he was “aiming” it too much

    -Jerry Neuheisel: Had a nice zip to his slant pattern receiver over the middle; Needs more arm strength for the deep route but has the smarts and know-all as a coach’s kid. I’d guess they said the same about his father.

    -Mike Fafaul: This guy’s got an arm. Definitely needs to bulk-up some, but this kid can sling it. I’d argue he was one of the more accurate of today’s drills, but probably can’t see the field until he adds another 15 pounds

    RB’s:
    -Johnathan Franklin: It was such a shame he missed the 1,000 yard mark by so little last year; He’s been putting in work, so expect a big season from him. Definitely looked the fastest up-down runner out there.

    -Malcolm Jones: Had some nice cuts there today; Looks bigger and stronger this year, so perhaps he’ll fulfill the bruiser role Derrick Coleman held last season.

    -Steven Manfro: Looks real shifty; Going to be hard for him to break the rotation behind Johnathan Franklin and Malcolm Jones, but let’s just say they don’t call him the “White Lightning” for nothing.

    -Jordan James: Took a lot of snaps with the WR's, definitely the type of player that can spread the field. Had a few nice catches and the speed/juking became evident.

    WR’s:
    -Devin Lucien: Hands. Period. Made numerous impressive catches today; In or out of stride, he got the ball and caught with his fingers. Calling it now: He’s going to be a star.

    -Jerry Johnson: Nice to see him back and 100%; With Nelson Rosario gone, his size will definitely help him see the field. Had a couple nice grabs today—Look for him to get some good looks in Mazzone’s spread.

    -Shaq Evans: Had a few drops, although they weren’t always the easiest to catch; His speed will certainly help him stay on the field. Might be the most athletic of the receiving core.

    -Ricky Mavray: Had one particularly nice catch that got the crowd going—I hope he’s healthy through the season because he might be the Wild Card in the receiving corps.

    Extra Notes:

    OL:
    -Alexandru Ceachir: Getting looks at Left Guard; Big and athletic. My gut says he starts there come the end of Spring Practice. It was nice to see Su’a-Filo throw in any pointers he could to help “Ceach”

    DL:
    -Owa Odighizuwa: Looks incredibly fast; I wonder how difficult it’ll be to match up with him when they have to double Ellis McCarthy (who was at practice, by the way) while facing both Datone Jones and Cassius Marsh

    Follow Spring Practice here on BruinsBall.com and Twitter: @BruinsBall
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