Less than two months ago, UCLA’s 2012 recruiting class looked just about dead in the water. There was quantity but little quality, and most scouting services had the class ranked in the middle of the Pac-12.
Flash forward to Wednesday, and it seems as if two months is an eternity.
Bolstered by a coaching staff full of energetic recruiters, Jim L. Mora and Co. took to the home stretch down a lap and chugged along, bringing the Bruins’ class up from the depths.
By the time Mora addressed the media on Wednesday after 25 prospects had signed with UCLA, he looked spent.
For good reason: In just seven weeks, the Bruins turned a forgettable future into one peaking with promise, ranked in the top-12 nationally by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.
“We’re tired; it’s been a long process,” Mora conceded. “We had a lot of ground to catch up, a lot of ground to make up, but we hit it pretty hard. I don’t know if we’re satisfied at this point.”
With a haul that includes the top defensive lineman in the west, No. 2-rated Ellis McCarthy of Monrovia, and the No. 3 quarterback in the nation in Old Tappan, New Jersey’s Devin Fuller, perhaps some satisfaction is in order.
The Bruins addressed gaping needs at wide receiver – particularly with a signing day bonanza that included 15th-ranked Jordan Payton out of Oaks Christian – linebacker and defensive back. UCLA also fortified its offensive line with five commitments, including early enrollee junior college offensive tackle Alexandru Ceachir.
“When you think about where the Bruins were the night they carried Rick Neuheisel off the field on that cold blustery night and where they are now on Feb. 1, there’s not too many people like us who follow the program that this was going to happen,” said Rick Kimbrel of Rivals.com. “What they did is phenomenal. And to think they only did it in five weeks.”
The Bruins were cover ground quickly because Mora identified and targeted a group of coaches who had already built relationships with many of the players who would eventually become UCLA signees. Only six of Rick Neuheisel’s 16 verbal commitments ultimately signed with the Bruins on Wednesday, though some were offered greyshirts but ultimately declined.
For the new UCLA coaches, the pitches changed, but the connections did not.
“It’s a trying situation but the main thing you do is you get in on them and you be straight truthful,” said new defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin, whose close family connection is considered a primary reason tha the Bruins landed McCarthy. “Brrutal honesty is what I call it. Some may take to it, but at the end of the day, everybody will be able to go to sleep knowing you have good karma.”
McCarthy’s signing alone was proof that UCLA had not angered the gods, as he provides the team’s top overall recruit in more than a decade, a bonafide superstar up front.
“What UCLA really needed to address was an elite defensive tackle – and they got the best guy available – so it’s a victory,” said Brandon Huffman, Scout.com West Regional Recruiting analyst. “It’s a guy at a position of need in Southern California who has the whole country after him. Just because they only got one, it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad.”
McCarthy will have a chance to contribute immediately to help lift a defense that ranked in the dredges of the conference the previous two years.
That was a common theme for Mora at his signing day press conference, that many of the class could see the field early as part of what he’s considering an “open competition.”
“Today seems like maybe it’s Christmas for this class, but for us, really every day is kind of like that because we’re evaluating 80-some players who are already on this roster,” Mora said. “We’re getting to know those guys and see who they are and get to know where their mindset is. Every day we get a chance to do that. For us, there’s a level of excitement because we love to coach football.”