AssistINTROS: Eric Yarber Pt. 2

Throughout the week, I’ll be bringing you some of the opening words from the new UCLA assistant coaches. A very energetic group, with a common purpose. We’ll start with new UCLA wide receivers coach Eric Yarber, who came to the Bruins from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

JG: How worried are you about your depth?

EY: “In this offense, four guys are going to start, but the backups are going to have to be just as good as them. They’ll be starters themselves. We’ll play so fast, we can’t have a drop off. Those guys have to play at a consistent level and be just as good, fundamentally.”

JG: You talk about instilling confidence, and that’s something that has been sorely lacking, particularly at the wide receiver spot…
EY: “It’s a lot of it, confidence in their abilities. I put them in a situation that everything is game-like, everything is fast. Fast, fast, fast. Then I put them in an environment where they have success. That breeds confidence. I show them it’s working. All these drills we do, let me show you how it carries over into the game.


(On Devin Lucien)…
“Devin is the first one who came in here, the first one, and asked, ‘What can I do to get better? Give me some tools.’ I said, ‘Believe in me, I’m going to take you places.’ I said, who’s your favorite wide receiver in the NFL, I go into the file cabinet, and I say, ‘This is who you’re like, Brandon Lloyd.’ I gave him film on Lloyd, Greg Jennings. Look at these tapes, come back in here we’ll look at them together. We’ll critique these guys together. (He’s talking a mile a minute) Sorry I get excited about this. Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, they lived in my office, watching pro film. That’s the same thing Devin is going to do. What he’s doing now.”

JG:You mention Brandon Lloyd, he went to Illinois. Greg Jennings, I think Western Michigan. CJ and TJ, Oregon State. None of these were Ohio State, Miami, USC 5-star recruits…

EY: “I don’t care about the star rating. That doesn’t tell me what he has in his heart, his work ethic, desire, passion. That tells me some publications gave him a certain number. It doesn’t equate between the two.”