Matthew Slater, New England Patriots. Image courtesy Matthew J. Lee / Boston Globe
Scott Robinson
No, there was no helicopter. Yes, Coach Mora was in four states in one day. The official announcement came back in December and 30 minutes later began the journey from rookie college coach to Recruiter of the Year. After a few blurry-eyed weeks, a couple thousand frequent flier miles and endless hours of ear-racketeering, UCLA’s Jim L. Mora has officially knocked out a Top-25 recruiting class.
Great. That’s just great.
I really have no intentions of sliding what the new staff has done since the hire: It’s nothing short of remarkable. That’s even without considering where UCLA once stood just months ago. Undeniably, the Bruin coaches combined for one of the biggest National Signing Day surprises on February 1st. And in no disrespect to the coveted talent now legally bound to the university: Welcome aboard, gentlemen.
Here’s my problem: last I checked this team still sits on a pile of work yet to be done.
No offense, literally and statistically, but they’re coming off a few really bad years for the football program. The most recent UCLA product spewed a bevy of troubles—any of which could be pinned at multiple points during the body of work this season.
For one, remember this? A trifecta of torment: Penalties (11 – 105 yards), 3rd Down Conversion (2 for 13), and a one-way offense (286 yards passing, 37 rushing). Shutting down the run game put the pressure on a position of weakness— in doing so, well, it got a little out of hand…
And then there was no defense.
Or, we could just say 50-0. I won’t even dignify any other statistics from that one… That loss really hurt. Let’s just say it’s been a long, long season—Let alone decade.
During these years the Bruin fan-base had been calling for competition, diligence and accountability. Really, they just wanted every game to actually be a game. Instead, answers came in so many unexpected, fun forms: ones like win-loss, suspensions, run-run-pass, penalties, punting is winning or the always available static play-calling.
Oh, it gets better.
A perfect bookend to this past season: Neuheisel fired and a new NCAA record of being the first 6-8 college football team, ever. Adding salt to the wounds was every college pundit sniping at a down UCLA with all the colloquial Pistol-potency cracks imaginable. There was no doubt the regime was to be usurped.
Meanwhile, in the fray brewed a charged and displaced coach in wait, scheming: The true sleeping giant.
Relentless Pessimism
I recall not paying too much attention to the back-door of the Pete Carroll-to-Seahawks deal. I did, however, remember feeling bad for Jim L. Mora’s raw and sudden dispatching. “After only one year???” was my basic sentiment.
On the other end of the spectrum, Bruins were undoubtedly ecstatic at the news of the Trojan coach whiffing the scents of sanctions and bolting. Surely that meant some good for Westwood… But then, in Carroll’s wake, a young Lane Kiffin stormed the scene, and well, Neuheisel couldn’t translate relentless optimism to anything but relentless pessimism.
A few months passed until the NCAA hammer of judgment dropped. Pour on all the years of hearing about free cars and Yahoo reports of shady-handshakes-for-houses, and most were content in what was deemed a degree of reciprocity with Southern Cal’s bowl-ban and scholarship reduction.
Listening to a “surprised” Carroll reek of excitement about another team must have been gut-wrenching for those Trojan faithful...
All the while, Neuheisel’s squad produced a good number of stunning blow-out losses and goose-eggs—despite the opportunity that was clearly available in the changing of their rival’s guard. Time and time again, disorganized play only served to the media’s agenda of skewering the UCLA program. Rightfully so. I mean, they just weren’t really any good.
And worse, uncertainty reigned in further when either Norm Chow’s feigned interest or Shelley Smith’s conjuring of manifested sources (who knows?) resulted in a report that UCLA's Offensive Coordinator was leaving for the same position at Southern Cal.
One season later, plus a Pistol but minus a Chow offense to Utah, and it was clear the Bruin chances of stardom were stair-cased far from Neuheisel’s ambitions of a National Championship.
That kind of contention was never really in the cards during that tenure.
Back to why this is all relevant: Neuheisel’s regime recruited well but why didn’t it translate? At first glance: anytime the loss column doubles the wins, one should start wondering why Top-25 recruiting classes are even remotely related to success. In the end, what difference does it make if wins are not the result?
Opportunity’s Doorbell
At the onset of Mora’s hiring, with only weeks until Signing Day, he spoke with Greg Beachem and said the following:
“We're going to attack recruiting with relentless passion… I'm going to use the credibility I've gained in coaching in the NFL for 25 years to get myself into some of those homes and convince these kids that not only can we help them be great football players, but present them an opportunity to get a great education at one of the outstanding academic institutions in America.”
Convince them he did. And true to his word, he attacked it with relentless passion; a fervor best described as one of the best classes of 2012. So, in comes another Top-25 brood, highly touted and respected—but more so than ever is the beleaguered Bruin fan-base tempered with the reality of an on-going four-year question:
Has anything changed?
They don’t need a clever marketing scheme or catch-phrase: Those are best developed after wins. No, no—no more coach-speak or fireside chats. Please forget "sleeping giant"—the stinging reality is: Bruin football has been snoring or stoned or late for the play for about ten years now. If it were to have truly been such a giant, it should have awoken after a 13-9 victory in 2006.
In fact, if anything could be likened to ruffling up an ogre, that should be the new coaching staff: They’ve inked in five weeks what Neuheisel couldn’t have sold in the past ten months.
But is anything different?
I say, resoundingly, “Yes.” This coach does what he says. And he said this:
“I can't tell you exactly where they've been, but I can tell you what I want UCLA to become. I want them - I want us - to become a football team that plays smart, plays hard, that plays relentless. That plays with great mental toughness and physical toughness and plays with a relentlessness that is obvious to everybody that watches us play. I want us to be a team that when we are in a situation when our best is demanded, we give our best. I want to fill the program with athletes who love to compete and thrive on competition. That's what I want our football team to be.” (Jon Gold, Daily News)
And in reference to the current squad: “A Herculean task” is what really should be said about UCLA football. But wait: This is no insult to the current roster either—actually, it is more a scathing recognition of an opportunity to showcase all of their available talent. The facilities are there, and getting better as we discussed earlier, and now a coaching staff with the speculative ability of firing up UCLA into a NFL factory might have all the necessary ingredients.
It could be said that this team is now being presented with quite an opportunity. It’s size or sleeping habits? Not really sure. Hopefully it means bigger and stronger before the Spring Game. Hints are there that they will be; some are saying “it doesn’t take talent to hustle.” However, until that team, through leadership of actions (not statements), instills the sort of work ethic required to play competitively, with diligence and accountability, well, you should probably expect the same.
But if the recruiting efforts of this 2012 class indicate anything, it might represent a commitment to a new mindset: UCLA is open for business—in every position. The coaching staff has proven they can do it: They started out on a competitive path and moved quick, but not fast, and ultimately delivered.
Bruin a Super Bowl
If this staff can bring the Bruins back to hard work, toughness and accountability, then something special might be happening to UCLA. And I’m not the only one that thinks this hire could work.
They already have an example on the roster in a guy like Jared Koster: selfless, consistent and relentless. For those that don’t know his inspiring story, just know this: he would tackle for his team mates even when a dislocated shoulder was hanging out. And he did.
That’s the sort of necessary mentality.
When these young men realize that every down they play is not just for their own future, but for their team mates, their family and their fans, then that’s the moment the opportunity is realized. That’s the moment they understand that every preceding lift, snap, tweet, meal, night, practice (anything) is an opportunity.
Nice, Coach Robinson. I got Belichik on line two for you. No, really—it’s actually true: hard work and sacrifice pays off.
Here’s proof: A recent UCLA graduate who clearly embodied this mentality, of taking every opportunity to its fullest, is now reaping the product of his fine efforts. You remember, this guy:
Matthew Slater
Speak to the recent Pro-Bowler now and his mindset is unchanged since his days in Westwood. It’s no mistake as to how Slater has fared in the league. In a 2007 interview with Brian Dohn, a peek of insight is shown when Slater was asked to comment on his nod as starting returner:
“It feels good to finally have an opportunity…This is my fifth year coming up and I've just tried to bide my time and be patient, and keep trust in the Lord that He would give me an opportunity, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity I have now. I'm real excited to be able to help this football team in the return department.”
Easily unnoticed, but Dohn’s article also points towards the sort of work ethic Slater took to his game:
On the Drake Stadium track in the spring, even before speed coach Randy Horton got a hold of UCLA's football team, Matt Slater said he was clocked in the 40-yard dash in 4.30 seconds.
Here’s guessing he worked at that 40-time a little bit in the off-season to earn such a spot. With that sort of commitment it should not come as much of a surprise that later that year Slater went on to break nearly every UCLA record pertaining to returns. From his Bruin Career Notes:
Slater's three kickoff returns for touchdowns in the 2007 season set new UCLA records for kickoff return touchdowns in a season and a career, breaking the marks held by Maurice Drew and Brandon Breazell ... Slater also tied the Pac-10 season record, set by Anthony Davis in 1974 ... His 986 kickoff return yards in 2007 were a new UCLA school record for a season, breaking the mark of 626 set by Tab Perry in 2002 and his 34 returns were also a new season record, breaking the mark of 29, set by Tab Perry in 2000 ... His return average of 29.00 is the highest in school history among players with at least 20 kickoff returns in a season ... His 986 return yards also rank No. 4 on the UCLA career list.
Plays like this were the result of such a mentality while at UCLA: an 85-yard touchdown return. In hindsight, what a steal in the draft for the Patriots: Pick # 153. I’ll tell you this much: I can’t wait to watch him Sunday. Why? Well, just read what he has to say:
“For me, the mindset is relentless effort. You go out there and it’s a fight; it’s a battle every play down there. But you have to have the desire to get down there, the ‘want-to’ to get down there and make a play. For me, it just comes from the love of the game I have that’s been passed on from my dad. I’m just trying to get down there and I want to be the guy to make the tackle every time. I want to be right on the ball, out there having fun with my teammates, and realizing that that’s a very important part of the game. That’s a part of the game that often goes overlooked at the high school and college level, but it can really help you win and lose ball games, so I take this very seriously.” (Jill Painter, Daily News)
Git. Er. Done.
It’s outright simple folks: like Slater, some understand the material difference between succeeding at the highest level and succumbing to complacency. Slater put in his work and it shows.
Meanwhile, no one needs to explain the writing on the wall: there is plenty of opportunity at UCLA. If that wasn’t frank enough, 26 new recruits and a guy named Jim L. Mora should spell it out:
“I think that all these guys have a chance to play as a freshman. I think that, that what we’re looking for is competition, at all spots on this football team. Every single day it’s about competing. I would say that there is not one spot on this football team that’s secure right now and there’s not one spot that’s not open for competition.” (Signing Day Press Conference / Q & A)
The first signs of change will come this Spring—and with that, hopefully the Sons of Westwood will be rewarded with some shinola…
