It is time for the UCLA Football team to take that next step to becoming elite and the only way to do that is with a ‘Bruin Evolution’.
The ‘Bruin Revolution’ is not dead, it just needs to evolve. In the last four years since UCLA Football Head Coach Jim Mora took over the program, the Bruins have been one of the most competitive teams in the Pac-12. If the Bruins get a victory in their upcoming bowl, Mora will have gotten the UCLA football team to four straight 9-win seasons for the first time in school history.
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Imagine that… a Bruin coach with so much success in his first four years and there are those who believe the ‘Bruin Revolution’ is over. Clearly they have not been paying much attention.
Since Mora took over the Bruins, he is 37-15. Compared to his predecessors, Rick Neuheisel (21-30) and Karl Dorrell (35-28), I think it is safe to say that we have a very good coach who is doing one hell of a job in Westwood.
UCLA Bruins
Now I do agree that the Bruins have plateaued a bit, but I am going to reserve my complete judgement for after a season in which the defense is not decimated by injuries. Losing Eddie Vanderdoes, Fabian Moreau and Myles Jack is more than any team can handle… and yet UCLA still won 8 games with a chance for a 9th.
That is great, BUT, I do hold Jim Mora to one thing he said and I think it is the same thing that has the Bruin fan base patiently (or for some sects, irrationally) waiting for… a National Championship.
Now, this is quite possible, considering the progress he has made in the last four years. Recruiting has improved, their yearly record is better on average since Mora took over and there is an overall sense that UCLA is on the cusp of something great.
The only problem to solve now is getting over those humps that will allow the Bruins to be in contention for the National Championship.
Things like beating Stanford, winning the Pac-12 South Division (more than once), winning the Pac-12 Conference and getting to the Rose Bowl and/or a New Year’s Six Bowl are the things he needs to do to show that the ‘Bruin Revolution’ is still a force to be reckoned with, but to do that, some changes have to be made.
We have not even seen the peak of the ‘Bruin Revolution’.
Whether it is a new offensive coordinator, improved offensive line play, better special teams, limiting penalties or what ever other issues the Bruins have, Mora needs to make adjustments now. He needs to evolve what he has started.
We have already seen that he can do it. Take the hiring of defensive coordinator Tom Bradley for example. He had this injury-plagued defense playing at a high level all year long and it is not a stretch to think that they could be one of the best defenses in the conference and quite possibly the nation if he had all of his pieces in place.
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The point is, Mora is constantly trying to improve this team and he is close, but Rome was not built in a day, or even four years. This takes time and with the results of this season resonating in Mora’s head going forward, you can guarantee UCLA Football will be back. That this is not the end of the ‘Bruin Revolution’.
We have not even seen the peak of the ‘Bruin Revolution’.