UCLA Football: The Bruins’ brilliant move with their Spring Game

The UCLA football team has announced the date and information of the spring game, as well as beginning details regarding spring practice… and it is a brilliant move by UCLA Athletics.

UCLA Athletics is not messing around. They wanted to hire Chip Kelly as the new head coach of UCLA football and they got it.

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But the excitement is just beginning as the AD is looking to boost the overall image of the Bruins with Kelly in charge and what they have done with spring practice and the spring game is a huge step in the right direction, which I will soon get into. First, let’s get into the details:

UCLA Football Spring Game Info

Date and time: Saturday, April 21, 11 a.m. PT

Location: Drake Stadium (UCLA)

Tickets prices:

• Season ticket holders and Den Pass Holders – FREE
• General admission – $10 pre-sale, $15 day of event
• Kids 3-12 – $5
• UCLA students – $5

UCLA Football Spring Practice Schedule (Winter)

• Tues, Mar 6 – 7:15 a.m.
• Thur, Mar 8 -7:15 a.m.
• Sat, Mar 10 – 10 a.m.
• Tues, Mar 13 – 7:15 a.m.
• Thur, Mar 15 -7:15 a.m.
• Sat, Mar 17 – 10 a.m.

Now let us get into why this is a brilliant move by the UCLA athletic department. In previous years, spring practice started in April, coinciding with the beginning of spring quarter with three practices a week for the next four weeks.

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This year, spring practice, at least from a hype perspective, is going to last almost two months as there will be seven weeks between the start of spring practice and the spring game.

It starts with two weeks of “winter” practice (three practices a week) before they take a two week hiatus for finals week and spring break. The “spring” portion of practice is not out yet, but expect a similar schedule, though it will be interesting to see how they spread out the remaining practices in the three weeks before the game.

Additionally, all practices are open to the public. The viewing area will be at Lot 8, across from Spaulding Field. This is another brilliant move by UCLA football. Allowing fans and media to observe the first practices of the Kelly-era, will have more people talking about the Bruins as we get a preview of what they will look like this fall.

It also has not been announced if the spring game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, though it would be another brilliant move to make that happen.

These are excellent moves by UCLA. Like the Rick Neuheisel era, this is beginning with a roar, but it is a lot smarter and a lot more calculated. There was going to be a lot of attention on the Bruin football team no matter what. This aggressive display of marketing will only amplify that. Well played, AD.

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Stay with Go Joe Bruin as we will be releasing our position group previews before the start of spring practice. Go Bruins!