Go Joe Bruin
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Go Joe Bruin Talks to The Den About UCLA Football, Getting Out to the Rose Bowl and What’s New in 2016-17

By Mike Regalado

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Sep 12, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Nate Sparks (23) jumps over UNLV Rebels defensive back Peni Vea (42) during the third quarter at Sam Boyd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Nate Sparks (23) jumps over UNLV Rebels defensive back Peni Vea (42) during the third quarter at Sam Boyd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports /

GJB: Is there anything new from The Den this year?

Jeff: This is going to be a big year for us. The first big changes that were made going into this year were that there are now three leadership positions of The Den that are paid interns within the UCLA Athletics Department: President, Vice President, and Director of Creative Content. All of these positions are now appointed by the UCLA Athletics Department. This is a fantastic new structure, because it gives us students a regular voice in the department. It also makes it easier than ever for us to bring our ideas to administration to continue to make The Den incredible!

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We are looking to continue all the things that make us great, and bring them to the next level. This year, we are going to brand The Den as something every UCLA student can relate to and take pride in, even if they aren’t that big into sports. We will work on producing more video content that shows how cool The Den is, engage the student body with student-athletes more often, and really make our fellow Bruins feel a part of the Den by over-communicating the student section traditions.

Kyle: We’re hoping this can be a really groundbreaking year for the Den, not just with respect to UCLA, but with getting some national attention as well. Look at something like ASU’s Curtain of Distraction- it doesn’t even work, but the rest of the country absolutely loves it. We’re looking for The Den’s “thing,” and we’re excited to branch out into some new avenues like video content and student-athlete engagement to really push the Den into the upper echelon of student sections across the country.

GJB: With school not in session for the first contest against UNLV, how will you get the word out to students to try and attend the game on September 10?

Jeff: This is one of those unique problems we face being on the quarter system. We’ve been hitting all of the new student orientations with great presentations on The Den and building excitement for football season. We make sure to tell all students that the Den Pass includes the UNLV game even though it’s before school. There will be some rooter busses that run from campus to accommodate the students taking summer classes as well. I think it will be important for us to blast it all over our social media accounts and try and get every local student so excited, that they just can’t wait any longer. The more hype we build, the better.

Kyle: I think the biggest thing is going to be building that excitement. Obviously not every UCLA student is local, but with so many kids living in Southern California, we want to let them know that this game is not one they’re going to want to miss! With any luck, our team can replicate some of our success from the game in Vegas last year, but more importantly, this game is the first chance for students to get that taste of a UCLA Football home game in the 2016 season. There’s only 6 home games, and we want to make sure our students know that just because school hasn’t started doesn’t mean they can’t get in on the excitement early!

Next: Part 3