UCLA Football: What we learned from the first part of Spring Practice

With two weeks of spring practice in the books, the UCLA football team now has the direction they want for the program, and this is what we learned about the team in that time.

The UCLA football team is currently on a two week break from spring practice. Back on March 6, the Bruins began their first spring with Chip Kelly and even though there were only six practices, there has already been a lot of information coming out of Spaulding Field regarding the direction of the Bruins.

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The essential feel of these first two weeks is that things are fast, precise and Kelly and his coaches are looking at every option for every position. Kelly said that he has not seen film from last season and wants to get his own perspective on the team. That has been evident with how Kelly has been running practices.

Fast and All At Once

With limited time, Kelly has found a way to get everyone a ton of reps all at once. Practice is usually broken up into 10-15 segments of drills and/or 11-on-11s/7-on-7s. For example, to get every quarterback as many reps as possible, he has put five QBs at the line of scrimmage throwing to five receivers (individual to the passer). Defensive linemen are lined up in rows going through stances, fundamentals and contact drills right next to each other. This is to give the coaches more time to coach all at once and more chances to see what everyone can do.

If coaching needs to be done, they do not stop the drill, but rather pull the player out that needs instruction and replace him with another player so that the drill can continue. Whilst with the coach, the player gets the information he requires and is then inserted back into the drill, with the position group not skipping a beat.

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Position changes

Obviously Chip Kelly isn’t afraid to shake things up with this UCLA Football roster. The Bruins ended the 2017 season with Boss Tagaloa as the starting NT and Moses Robinson-Carr providing depth at the TE position. Just a few short months later Tagaloa has been penciled in as the starting offensive center and Robinson-Carr looks to see some serious minutes along the defensive line.

The willingness to move players around is a clear indicator of Kelly’s philosophy when it comes to roster building. He wants bigger and longer players especially along his defensive line. Tagaloa is listed at 6-3, but it wouldn’t surprise if he was two inches shorter than that. Robinson-Carr fits the part much better being listed at 6-5.

It’s a refreshing mindset to see especially since Mora seemed unwilling to shoulder blame and admit mistakes in the latter stages of his time with the Bruins. In our opinion, that showed itself consistently in personnel decisions.

Is this the end of position changes on this roster? There’s no way to know for sure and fall might bring it’s own set of changes. For Kelly, roster-building is a never ending puzzle.

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Players that have left the program

Roster changes didn’t just come in the form of position changes but also in player departures from the program.

DB DeChaun Holiday, DB Octavius Spencer, DB Will Lockett, RB Jalen Starks, OL Stephan Zabie and DB Denzel Fisher have all either left the team or left UCLA at this point. Starks was rumored to be gone before the bowl game as an academic casualty but many times moves likes these come when a coaching staff meets with a player and explains that playing time might be hard to come by. In the case of Fisher, he intends to graduate from UCLA in June and transfer. He’ll have a chance to make an immediate impact as a graduate transfer in another program.

Departing players are often stigmatized. Either they couldn’t stay healthy, didn’t have the talent or were kicked off the team. It isn’t black and white like that though. While every new coach is going to examine his roster and look to streamline it and make it more effective, some players can recognize when they’ve exhausted their opportunity and look to make a move for themselves elsewhere.

Modster starting with the 1s

It isn’t just a new head coach for the UCLA Football team. They’ll also be looking for a new quarterback to lead them on the field. Incoming freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson might have already been anointed the starter by the fan base but DTR won’t arrive until the fall. Kelly isn’t going to give the starting job to a player who isn’t technically on the roster. So that gives Devon Modster, Matt Lynch and new graduate transfer from Washington, K.J. Carta-Samuels,  the opportunity to impress the coaching staff.

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So far Modster has been the go-to QB, but this is by no means set in stone. Modster has picked up where he left of and at the present moment is the most experienced Bruin. Still, the competition for the starting QB spot is not over. Modster was battling with another backup to Josh Rosen form last season, Matt Lynch. Though Lynch is a QB Kelly can use (he is a dual-threat QB and is very good on his feet), he has not elevated his game or yet done a lot to stand apart from Modster.

There is no starter at any position

Before the start of the last practice of the “winter” session of spring practice, Kelly had told the media that even though there are certain players starting or playing with the first team offense and defense, not a single player has locked down a starting spot. With the players still getting adjusted to Kelly’s system, and more players coming in for the “spring” session, and then fall camp, Kelly wants to continue to look at all of his options. It is also giving certain players the chance to get reps with so many players suffering from injuries this spring.

He Blinded Me With Violence

There is definitely a sea change with the defense. New defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro is expected to have the Bruin defense play more aggressive (though anything is more aggressive compared to what Tom Bradley did last season).

Azzinaro came from his only season at Cal where he bolstered the defensive line. In 2017, the Golden Bears had an average rushing defense for the Pac-12 (still better than UCLA’s 287.4 ypg), as they were 7th int he conference, limiting opponents to 164.1 yards. What is interesting about this stat is that it is a massive improvement from their 2016 campaign when they gave up a conference-worst 272.2 ypg.

That is what we should expect from this UCLA team, except it will have an added ingredient: violence.

From the first practice, new DL coach Vince Ohgabasse was heard screaming that he wants “more violence”. If that is not a way to get aggressive, then I do not know what is. The Bruins need that change in cognition and it looks as if they are getting there sooner than later as the defense has been playing with a rejuvenated sense of determination, something the players are adhering to. It also helps that the coaches are intense in their own right.

https://twitter.com/CoachRoyM/status/975940907781337088

Still Issues With Depth

It is true, things are going well as they can be, but it does not mean that the Bruins’ problems from last season are gone. Right now, Kelly wants to see what he has on the roster and from there, him and his coaches will make the appropriate changes. Unfortunately, tne one thing they cannot immediately fix with practice is the amount of players they have.

UCLA has depth issues with both the offensive line and the linebackers. The OL has some back up coming in the fall as six freshmen will help thicken up the line, but as of now, they are still pretty thin. Additionally, there are several players that are injured and one that has left the program. One of the quick fixes to this is the position changes, with the most significant being Boss Tagaloa moving from DL to center.

It is going to be interesting to see how the Bruins balance the LBs as they are moving from 4-3 to 3-4. With the need for more LBs, the coaches are going to be playing with an EDGE rusher (a DL/LB hybrid) and the nickel position (a LB/DB hybrid).

So far it seems to be working, but this will not come to fruition until everyone is as healthy and/or the roster adds more bodies. One good piece of info coming out of camp is how certain players seem to be emerging and thriving in the new system, most notably ILB Mique Juarez who has walked a rocky path in his first two seasons with the Bruins. Not only is he showing the skills that made him a 5-star recruit, but should help bring more violence to the defense.

Injury Report

The following players have been limited in practice (indicated by their yellow jerseys) or have not practiced at all:

• OL Michael Alves (back)
• DL/LB Jaelan Phillips (wrist)
• CB Keyon Riley (shoulder)
• DL Greg Rogers (shoulder)
• CB Colin Samuel (shoulder)
• LB Lokeni Toailoa (hamstring)
• OL Jax Wacaser (Unknown)
• TE Caleb Wilson (foot)
• LB Josh Woods (shoulder)

New Players Joining the Roster

During the first part of practice, only one new player has joined the team, WR Kyle Phillips and he has looked good for his first time with a college team and is progressing nicely.

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After the spring practice break, he will be joined by fellow receiver, Chase Cota who was a huge pick up for Kelly during this last recruiting cycle. Cota is said to be one of the most college ready receivers coming to Westwood and should fit in nicely in Kelly’s system. With that being said, it is possible we see a lot of him in the fall and possibly land a starting spot.

The other players heading to Westwood are all transfers and you know what that means other than depth? Experience.

The LBs thicken up with junior college transfers Je’Vari Anderson and Tyree Thompson coming in, but the biggest addition to the “spring” portion of practice will kick up another position battle up a notch.

QB Devon Modster has been impressive (though there is still work to be done), but he will have do even better as Washington graduate transfer K.J. Carta-Samuels will finally be on campus. Though he is not the prototypical Kelly QB, he brings experience and skill (he worked behind Jake Browning and received instruction from Chris Petersen) that will require every QB on the roster to up their game.

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Spring Game

The second half of spring practice is yet to be scheduled, though April 3 seems to be the return date. Go Joe Bruin will bring you that information as it becomes available.

As for the Spring Game, it is scheduled for Saturday, April 21 at 11 a.m. at Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA.