I was talking to a few friends who are either UCLA football or NFL alums the other day. There were some interesting thoughts that came from them. Thought I would share.
One of the friends was a long time NFL lineman and he felt the reason the offensive line is "soft" is because they stand up in a 2 point stance the entire time. He said we are plenty big enough to have bigger push. He feels if they were in 3 point stances more and "pushing" instead of "catching" like they are required to do so much in a spread offense they would have greater success. He felt success was more about mentality which is built from running a type of offense and emphasis on the running game. He didn't think we should completely get rid of the spread, however. He just feels we should incorporate NFL schemes into the offense.
Most of the guys felt comfortable with the results of the season considering all of the injuries and starting a freshmen qb.
Many of the guys felt the culture UCLA places more emphasis on 113 total national championships than being great in football. They felt Mora is producing EXACTLY what the administration wants i.e. kids graduating, 9-10 wins per year, competing to get in the Pac 12 championship, beat SC more than you lose and a major bowl invite every 6-8 years. If you happen to get in the playoff conversation during that time great but the administration isn't putting this as a requirement for success.
There was a consensus that we need "faster more sudden" WRs and RBs to compete with teams like SC and Oregon. But, the feeling is we can't get the type of players we REALLY need without cheating to a HUGE degree. In fact, to quote one of my friends who's an NFL alum "we will need to risk major probation to get the type of kids we really need to win a championship."
No one really had much to say about the defense. The conversation really stayed more on the overall state of the team and the offense.
One of the friends was a long time NFL lineman and he felt the reason the offensive line is "soft" is because they stand up in a 2 point stance the entire time. He said we are plenty big enough to have bigger push. He feels if they were in 3 point stances more and "pushing" instead of "catching" like they are required to do so much in a spread offense they would have greater success. He felt success was more about mentality which is built from running a type of offense and emphasis on the running game. He didn't think we should completely get rid of the spread, however. He just feels we should incorporate NFL schemes into the offense.
Most of the guys felt comfortable with the results of the season considering all of the injuries and starting a freshmen qb.
Many of the guys felt the culture UCLA places more emphasis on 113 total national championships than being great in football. They felt Mora is producing EXACTLY what the administration wants i.e. kids graduating, 9-10 wins per year, competing to get in the Pac 12 championship, beat SC more than you lose and a major bowl invite every 6-8 years. If you happen to get in the playoff conversation during that time great but the administration isn't putting this as a requirement for success.
There was a consensus that we need "faster more sudden" WRs and RBs to compete with teams like SC and Oregon. But, the feeling is we can't get the type of players we REALLY need without cheating to a HUGE degree. In fact, to quote one of my friends who's an NFL alum "we will need to risk major probation to get the type of kids we really need to win a championship."
No one really had much to say about the defense. The conversation really stayed more on the overall state of the team and the offense.
