Frosh out of ideas - LONG post w/jump

The more and more I think about it, the more and more I wish "the legend" would be replaced by someone with far less pedigree but able to ascertain tangible results on the field.

I am a Bruin who is now employed by USC. Earlier this week, I had lunch with someone who is very high in the SC athletic food chain and thoroughly knowledgeable about football. This person's assessment of SC program was not blindly complimentary. Instead it was honest. The good and the bad were side-by-side. When this person turned attention to the UCLA program, the observation was that CNC's strength and gift is not being an OC, rather it is with trained athletes executing a game plan. For me, this is the rub. Two years ago, Petros Papadakis correctly observed the difficulty in installing the West Coast offense. That observation and the fact that the Bruin coaching staff cannot make adjustments to the personnel they have today, still rings unsettlingly true.

i was getting pretty excited watching the early recruiting by CRN especially after the good classes he's brought in the last couple of years.

but i guess i'll stop keeping track of the recruiting because like coach says they'll be young and unable to contribute!!

usc-44
ucla-0

And I'll bet it isn't just freshman that are confused!!!

Haven't posted in a while. I played football all four years, but my graduating class was only 88 so we had to play a little more often.

That said, as a sophmore I got pulled up for the varsity games almost every time. I was named best offensive lineman as a sophmore.

Varsity came around, and some kids who got kicked off the team came back. Together, a good portion of the offensive line (4 out of 5) were kids from my grade.

My dad coached football for years in Texas, then moved back up to the midwest and coached for a couple of years at a small school. He coached two years at a school that had not won more than 3 games the previous 3 seasons. I will always remember that line from the principal the day my dad was hired.

My father at that small school never lost a game, and tied once because after one overtime in that small school league the game was over. I went with him to practice all the time with my dad back then.

I would have given almost anything to play tight end in high school because I grew up practing making sideline catches and dragging toes. But I sacrificed, I played offensive line becasue I wanted to win more than I wanted personal glory. I got that from my dad. He was always quick to remind me that no one has ever won a game of football against a team by themselves. I understand that people are at some point going to feel they are getting a raw deal. What the staff needs to do is replace that in these kids' minds with the pain of losing as a team. If you don't care more about the team losing than your personal goals, go play by yourself. This is a team sport. Act like it.

Carroll was right on with his tweet. They are not using the freshmen talent on the field. They seem to be just giving them some experience for the future. I thought CRN said the future is now. The season seems all but lost now. No post season on the horizon.

I think a lot of it has to do with luck. 1 in every 5 top recruits turns out to be a stud. UCLA has a history of getting commitments from the top of the class busts.
If only we had more MJD's.

This isn't rocket science and there isn't any reason for confusion. If the freshman want significant playing time they need to execute ALL phases of the game. The running backs need to block in pass protection and catch the ball. The wideouts need to make reads, run precise routes, catch the ball, and block down field. A running back that can't block or run a pass route becomes one dimentional making it easy for the opposing defense to predict what's coming. I go to the games and have seen the missed blocks and sloppy routes that might have worked in high school but won't work now. Time for the freshman to look in the mirror and stop feeling entitled.

GO BRUINS!

The offensive play has been disappointing, and I sometimes wonder whether Pete Carrol was right to be so bothered by Norm Chow getting too much credit. His performances with the Titans and Bruins have not been too magical.

On the other hand, how many programs succeed with Freshman and JC transfers anchoring the offensive line? The Bruins can't run because they can't open holes. They can't pass because they can't protect. QBs that get lit up are less confident in the pocket (with good reason). The cupboard was bare. The talent pool is growing. Young guys become older guys pretty quickly in college.

I think the coaches are just looking for somebody to step up. The receiving corp would be a good place to start. They were just bad last week. Even the seniors. Too many drops and false starts.

Give the young guys and the coaches some time to mature.

You should break down the posters this way.

VB
Preseason: Starter (1)
week 1: Man-Child
week 2: Needs to be consistent
Result: Confident

BeReal
Preseason: Second-team (2)
week 1: (2)(saw significant time)
week 2: (2)Gold says he wants to get him plays.
Result: Wait, what?

CalGirl
Preseason: Fifth-string (5)
week 1: (5) (zero posts)
week 2: (5) (zero posts)
Result: Confused

Nice post, Jon. If the problem with our team is that we are young and lack experience, why not give the young bucks experience this year? That way, we can't use lack of experience as an excuse next year.

It sounds like Jon Gold wasn't good enough to secure a starting spot.

The sections usually reserved for UCLA fans are now being sold to Trojans via their alumni association.

Anyone know if UCLA still gets the same cut of the sales or is Neuheisel costing the program more than just his salary?

Jon- a word of warning. Be carefule with Adam Maya. That guy is a TROJAN hack, who took glee putting down the Bruins in print. He may be a nice guy for all I know, but deep down, a leopard never changes his spots.

Frosh confusion regarding their roles is the least of our problems. They should be ready when called. Craft moved back ahead of Brehaut for Stanford because Brehaut blew it in practice that week. Also, this is all complicated by the fact that a couple of the guys you talk about chose to do something stupid enough to warrant suspension.

What's more bothersome is that, regarding offensive personnel in general, the coaches seem to just be throwing sh!t against the wall to see what sticks. They seem to reach wildly different conclusions week by week regarding the same players (freshmen or otherwise). I'm all for open competition and reassessment, but a lot of this seems knee jerk, and might reflect tension within the staff.

Jon provides a great storyline here...and to me it all goes back to the coaching...CRN is fine...SO FAR...CNC on the otherhand is getting shown to be too old fashioned...take it from one older man to another...RETIRE CHOW...let's get some newer quicker offense installed that takes advantage of all that damned speed we recruited...wildcat/spread/pitchouts/screens...ANYTHING BUT RUN RUN PASS!~

Losing is frustrating, but people fail to see that we have a better product! HANG IN THERE PEOPLE!!!

Im as die hard a fan as there is and yes it hurts to have a losing team, but there is a master plan for the future and we need to trust the players and coaching staff. Keep working hard and forget about the giant scheme of things. WIN THE GAME 1 PLAY AT A TIME!

Jon, this is interesting, but when you're 3-4 and have lost four in a row you need to try different combinations to see what works. Freshman typically don't get any playing time at all.

Thigpen got many chances, but the Rameriz is finally healthy and was the pre-season starter - makes sense to give him a shot. Now he's out and we'll see more of Thigpen. No big deal.

Hasiak continues to get time. No big deal. Ekbatani is a good player too.

Xua-Filo has been great so has locked down his minites. Confident but also the best player available hands down at his position.

Brehaut is a true freshman. Early in the season we needed to give the team the best shot at winning so Craft was a logical choice. Now that we are pretty much in the tank, it makes sense to focus on the future and give Brehaut some experience. Makes sense.

I don't see a real issue here except that the Bruins just are not very good yet, but the post is definitely interesting to think about!

Only one way to fix this program...fire CRN. If he is allowed to continue his terrible coaching, the future of UCLA football will be just like the present...embarrassing.

out of the 17 comments, Javy's makes the most sense

Ahhhh, I see now why you like Mica Kia so much......your both backups

"...you're both backups"

ouch :)

Javy, encourage people to buy tickets. It's gonna suck to see more red than blue in the Bruins section of the Coliseum.

So the freshmen are confused? Isn't it the job of the coaches to make sure every player knows his role?

If there is confusion on the field, it is the coaches to blame.

Neuheisel and Chow have had their chance. Time to produce on the field and quit making excuses. Maybe Randall Carroll was right?

Did Jon ever score 4 touchdowns in a single game?

This is BS. I played football too (irrelevant) and it is every football players job to do what you have been coached to do no matter the situation, opponent, or your place on the depth chart. If you want to complain about the coaching I would agree, but to blame the fact that the players don't know their roll...that's BS. Your role is to be ready no matter what, end of story. Rise to the occasion.
In our case either the coaching is poor or the ability for the players to comprehend is pitiful. On defense, whoever has outside contain, DE or OLB has to stay at home. We have been susceptible to the cut back and misdirection for years because the outside contain crashes down rather than staying at home. If by chance they do stay at home they miss the tackle. That is part of football 101...keep contain and tackle. See Cal running backs, Oregon running backs, and Arizona wide receiver reverses. Apparently UCLA football failed football 101. "I AM DYING FOR..." improvement.

Go to the games. Show your team you care!

Pretty lame story John Gold. Receivers and RBs may be in the game for a certain # of plays, but that is no guarantee that when that play is run it works or even gets played out (Procedure penalty, holding, blitz, sack etc.) I was excited as anyone when Carroll came in. His 1st play I had my binocs on him the whole time and every time he comes in I watch him. I have yet to see him run a decent route.

Losing hurts. The quickly disappearing faith in the team and coachs is what will hurt this team even more. Instant gratification is what everyone wants and expects. Good luck on the rest of your lives w/ that attitude.

Good things come to those who wait and work hard. We will get to the promise-land! And it will be under CRN's watch. And to add to that, NC doesn't need to be here and yet he is. It was never about the money. He's a winner and he will find a way to make it work, if given the time.

Go CRN!!!
Go NC!!!
GO BRUINS!!!

I'm not saying he, or any of the other freshmen, are doing anything right. But I've never seen a group of freshmen quite so jerked around. Freshmen are usually expected to either A) redshirt, B) be RARELY used or C) start. You don't see many true freshman backups out there.

"Maybe Randall Carroll was right?"

...And THAT'S why comments/tweets/etc like that are so detrimental to a rebuilding program.

I'm not saying he, or any of the other freshmen, are doing anything right. But I've never seen a group of freshmen quite so jerked around. Freshmen are usually expected to either A) redshirt, B) be RARELY used or C) start. You don't see many true freshman backups out there.

I can think of quite a few just from across town. Devon Flournoy plays and they have not thrown to him at all. Garrett Green was a backup QB, but they played him on special teams his 1st year.

Randall, stop texting those recruits and study your play book.

Jon - I have really like your blog, but lately not so much. The quality of material is poor and this topic is a prime example. Most posters here agree and you should take note. I am finding your material confusing and maybe you have a case of freshmanitis yourself.

Clearly this team is struggling, but if you and Adam (do you really need to use him for credibility?) cant figure out that a receivers touches totally depend not on what CNC and CRN are calling, but WHAT the FROSH QB is executing then you need to have another chat.

Thigpen is a scat back and should get some touches, but should not be confused with a feature back such as Ramirez (no longer in rotation) or Franklin.

Anyway, much like this football team you started strong and have hit a bit of a rough patch. I hope you can turn it around.

Stafon Johnson touched the ball three times his freshman year at the end of a blowout and couldn't redshirt.