With a new focus on offense and an almost entirely new staff, the UCLA Football team is now set to for their 2017 campaign.
The UCLA Football team now has all their parts in place heading into the 2017 season. After an atrocious offensive output in 2016, the Bruins deconstructed most of their staff and replaced it with a new offensive ideology.
UCLA Football Head Coach Jim Mora did not evolve the program. He ripped it up and started over again.
The change was needed, but it does give the Bruins a major hill to get over.
It is not that they will have their third offensive coordinator in three years or a completely new system to learn, it is that every offensive position group, sans tight ends, will have a new coach to learn from.
| Position Coach | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| Offensive Coordinator | Kennedy Polamalu | Jedd Fisch |
| Quarterbacks | Marques Tuiasosopo | Jedd Fisch |
| Running Backs | Kennedy Polamalu | DeShaun Foster |
| Receivers | Eric Yarber | Jimmie Dougherty |
| Tight Ends | Rip Scherer | Rip Scherer |
| Offensive Line | Adrian Klemm | Hank Fraley |
Related Story: The 30 Greatest UCLA Football Players of All-Time
With the firing of Kennedy Polamalu, Mora went to an up-and-comer out of Michigan. Jedd Fisch was the QB coach for Jim Harbaugh and was responsible for the success of the Wolverines most recent quarterbacks Jake Rudock and Wilton Speight. With Fisch now in charge of the Bruin offense, it was up to him to put together a staff of his liking.
That included making himself coach of the quarterbacks. The awkward part about that was UCLA already had Marques Tuiasosopo as their QB coach. That was quickly resolved when Tuiasosopo took the same position with Cal.
Mora then did what many expected might happen and relieved Adrian Klemm of his duties. He then brought in Hank Fraley to replace Klemm as well as DeShaun Foster to fill the running backs position left by Polamalu.
UCLA Football’s New Direction and Staff (cont.)
The Bruins then had one last spot to fill when Eric Yarber took a position with the Los Angeles Rams, who are also reshaping their staff. Mora then plucked Jimmie Dougherty who had a cup of coffee at Oregon after just getting in from Michigan.
As for Rip Scherer, he is the only remaining offensive coach from last season. So there is some consistency here, despite the overhaul. But with that, there also a few other constants that the Bruins can benefit from.
With Dougherty coming to UCLA, he reunites with Fisch as both worked together at Michigan last season, so that is a plus for the passing game. The positive in the running game involves Foster who was mentored by Polamalu and is familiar with how Mora runs his program.
Hopefully that meshes with the consistencies on the roster. So far we have Josh Rosen coming back from surgery for his junior year and there are five running backs the Bruins can choose from, including three upperclassmen.
On the line, the Bruins only lost Conor McDermott, so there are four returning starters as well as a handful of back ups to work with. The receivers have depth with some talent, but as Bruin fans know, there is work to be done here.
The question now is “how does it all come together?” Fisch said he wants to have a multi-look offense which will work with several different positions and players. It should be similar to what Polamalu was attempting to do, but Fisch might understand his personnel a little better to make it work.
Whereas is seemed Polamalu tried to force a new philosophy on the offense, Fisch sounds like he wants to use all the talent that is available to him in multiple sets.
Next: UCLA Football: National Signing Day Report Card
We will get to see what his creation brings and how the new coaches develop their positions groups when spring practice comes around in a few weeks. Though there is reason for optimism, there is also a reason to be cautious. With this new system, it could be instantly successful, but the reality is that it might take time to mold into what Fisch plans to run.