After two weeks, UCLA appears to be close to finding a new defensive coordinator.
Former longtime Penn State assistant Tom Bradley, who was named AP Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2005, is close to filling that role for the Bruins. Once finalized, he will become UCLA’s third defensive coordinator in as many years, following Jeff Ulbrich and Lou Spanos — who left to coach linebackers for the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans, respectively.
Bradley’s status as a leading finalist was first reported by Bruin Report Online last night, and confirmed again by FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman this morning.
The Bruins had actually “sniffed around” Bradley a year ago, according to ESPN, but he opted to spend a season as West Virginia’s associate head coach. He also helped coach defensive linemen.
Here’s a closer look at the veteran college assistant.
Defensive credentials
Bradley’s resume is about as impressive as any UCLA could have hoped for in a candidate. He was one of the key architects in making Penn State into “Linebacker U” — a title that the Bruins started tossing around recently. In 2002, his third season as defensive coordinator, Bradley turned the Nittany Lions into the No. 11 defense in college football. From 2004 to 2009, they never fell out of the top 10.
He was once thought of as Joe Paterno’s potential successor at Penn State before the Sandusky scandal blew up Happy Valley, but he has also been mentioned for a few head coaching positions as well — most notably at Pitt.
Whereas UCLA took a shot on an up-and-comer last year in promoting then-linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, it is now going with a veteran who has proven his chops over several decades.
Schematic fit
UCLA has run a base 3-4 defense since Mora arrived before the 2012 season, but that scheme became much more flexible in this past season. The Bruins had already used a nickel look occasionally two years ago, but went to that much more heavily this past season.
The team also used a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker, moving former All-American Anthony Barr closer to the line of scrimmage in 2013. In 2014, that role sometimes fell to Owamagbe Odighizuwa or Deon Hollins, depending on the down and the look.
That the Bruins’ defense has become increasingly amorphous bodes well for a transition into a Bradley-run defense. Although he helped coach part of a 3-3-5 scheme at West Virginia last season, Bradley usually ran a 4-3 defense in his years at Penn State. But if UCLA still sticks with a 3-4 base, he probably has the coaching experience tinker around with that too. After all, he still has plenty of talent to work with in the front seven, even after the losses of Odighizuwa and Butkus Award winner Eric Kendricks.
There’s a question of how well he can adjust to Pac-12 spread offenses, but up-tempo schemes have become so common across college football that that isn’t the issue it would have been three or four years ago. West Virginia handed Baylor — first in the country with 87.5 plays per game — its only regular-season loss, holding the Bears to a season-low 4.03 yards per play.
Smart Football has a more in-depth look at what Penn State’s defense looked like under Bradley and Joe Paterno.
Penn State legacy
Most people in this country likely associate Penn State more closely with the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal than anything else. Fair or not, the darkest chapter in collegiate sports history has stained the Nittany Lions program.
And Bradley is as Penn State as they come — a former defensive back who became a graduate assistant, who then spent five years coaching running backs and receivers before moving to the other side of the ball for two-plus decades. Mostly coaching linebackers and defensive backs before becoming coordinator, he also became interim head coach for four games after Penn State fired Paterno.
On the first day of the Sandusky trial, a victim testified that Bradley once saw him showering with Sandusky, and refused to leave the two of them alone. “There was one time that Coach Bradley had come in, and I can’t say what his thoughts were, but I think he was suspicious because he stayed in the shower until we left,” the victim said. Bradley also testified before a grand jury, although details from that testimony are scarce. He also briefly lived with Mike McQueary, who became the key witness in the scandal.
Bradley’s biggest endorsement on this front comes from West Virginia’s then-athletic director Oliver Luck — the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. The elder Luck, who has a law degree from the University of Texas, insisted that he found no problems when vetting Bradley.
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
“He was certainly somebody I’d been watching for years,” said WVU athletic director Oliver Luck, who actively recruited Bradley.
Luck said he read — twice — the Penn State-sanctioned Freeh Report that criticized university administrators for a culture that allowed Sandusky to sexually abuse boys and accused Paterno of covering up the allegations. Luck said he talked to countless people who know Bradley and is convinced he had no connection with the Sandusky scandal.
“For me, it was an opportunity to get a guy who has coached extraordinarily well and has a great track record defensively,” Luck said.