Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Football: 2018 coaching/position grades via the B-Team Podcast

By Nathan Eberhardt

PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins on the sidelines during the second half of the game against the Washington Huskies at the Rose Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 06: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins on the sidelines during the second half of the game against the Washington Huskies at the Rose Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 11
Next
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

A-. . Quarterbacks. . DANA BIBLE

Hanna: Dana Bible was working with a true freshman and a grad transfer who was known for accuracy issues. So the fact that Wilton Speight was able to manage the offense the way he did towards the end of the season and that Dorian Thompson-Robinson was able to even have the spikes that he did against Washington and Cal says that these guys got more comfortable with things as the season went along.

Speight just seemed more accurate. You know, he had his moments for sure of bouts of inaccuracy, but he seemed more in rhythm as a quarterback than he had from what I remember at Michigan, anyway.

DTR against Washington and Cal had notably good games, and he started out the Arizona game very well before he took that hit. It seemed like he was starting to find his stride. Bible I think we can give a solid B+ to. I think that sounds about right.

UCLA Football: How many games can the Bruins win in 2019?. light. Related Story

Eberhardt: I’d go so far as to say an A-.

Hanna: I can’t give an A- until I see DTR take the leap.

Eberhardt: When he takes the leap, I’ll give Bible an A. He led DTR from a freshman with one year of quarterback experience to where he was. He took a grad transfer who, frankly, was a bit of a mess, and —

Hanna: He was discarded by Michigan. He didn’t leave Michigan voluntarily, let’s put it that way.

Eberhardt: Yes. The last three games of the season, in particular, he was remarkably better than at the beginning of the year or right when he came back from injury. So to take someone at that level in their career and help them be comfortable and help them continue to grow, it says a lot about Speight’s maturity and his self-awareness, but it also means that he’s being taught well. I’m sure Kelly was part of that, and I’m sure just being in an offense that is functional is a part of that too, but that’s a symbiotic thing: I think that being taught to be that comfortable also makes the offense functional. And I think that you have to give Dana Bible credit for that.

Hanna: I think that’s all very fair, actually. So, you might have talked me into an A-.