Coach Mora: Over the Wall "Tradition" is "Completely Unacceptable" & Not Part of UCLA
by Nestor on Dec 21, 2011 12:16 PM PST
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New UCLA football coach Jim Mora has just issued a great statement destroying the over the wall BS associated with our program (via Jon Gold):
"It's completely unacceptable and it will not be part of the program going forward. It's a right not a privilege to play football for the UCLA Bruins. With the commitment you make when you sign on to play here, comes a commit to do whats asked of you buy your coaches on a daily basis. I can just tell you, in no uncertain terms, that that tradition will no longer be a part of tradition going forward. Dan Guerrero and I have spoken about it, and we both agree that the culture of UCLA football needs to change as part of the interview process. We're going to do all we can to make sure we change it."
Good stuff. I am assuming Mora probably said that "it's not a right, but a privilege." He added:
"I'm not about making threats, and I'll keep that between the players and myself, but I can tell you that my general feeling is that if they feel they want to skip out of practice and jump over a wall, then they might as well just keep going. They're not a part of what I want to be a part of.
This is a welcome statement from Coach Mora. One has to wonder why we didn't see this kind of decisive pronouncements and action from the previous coach regime.
Still while this is a welcome move, for the short term Coach Mike Johnson can follow Mora's welcome lead by suspending all the seniors who were the key organizers of this silly stunt yesterday. As Coach Mora said since they decided to jump over all the wall they may as well keep going.
There is no reason for the seniors who organized the over the wall nonsense to return to action against Illinois. Their actions made it clear that they don't really care about this game. May as well hasten their departure and set the tone for a new era of accountability at UCLA.
GO BRUINS.
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"It's a right not a privilege"
hopefully they got that backward.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 12:20 PM PST reply actions
Probably meant "buy in"
Credit to Gold for getting this up fast. I think he probably needs to polish it up a bit. Totally understandable.
saw the video on BRO
Mora just had a brain fart
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 1:16 PM PST up reply actions
Mora on Loose Cannons
He is about to go on after the current commercial break.
Listening right now
Mora is pissed. I love what I’m hearing.
do they archive this?
Sounds like it’s ‘must-listen’ material.
answering my own question
http://www.loosecannonsshow.com/pages/video/?uri=channels/441823
about 21 mins in on hour 1
Thanks for posting VB!!!
I’ll take a “Listen”.
by GogetemBruins on Dec 21, 2011 1:19 PM PST up reply actions
he sounds fired up
it’s good stuff. You can virtually hear the grit oozing out of him. ;-)
by VeniceBruin on Dec 21, 2011 1:23 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Scroll down to the Mora picture/video for the full interview.
http://www.loosecannonsshow.com/pages/video/
The 3rd hour they are playing a repeat of part of the interview and statement.
Go Bruins!
Really?
Listened to the clip and this is way off on a tangent, but, really, Pat O’Brien is a “Loose Cannon” now? I remember when it was Chet Forte and Steve Hartman in the early to mid 90s before I moved to Florida.
Now it is “You’re so hot, I wanna do coke off your t!**s O’Brien!?!?!?!” Hard to take anything that guy says seriously . . .
Cant’ believe he still has a job in broadcasting.
by orlandobruin on Dec 21, 2011 8:54 PM PST up reply actions
The dude is hitting basically every point he can so far.
Hope that the follow through on all of this is there.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
As I posted on another site--
Definitely do not start those seniors. And if there is a sophomore ready to take the spot. do not start those juniors.
The game is next to meaningless so use it as a teaching point.
Speaking of Gold
some interesting tweets
#UCLA QB Richard Brehaut suspended for Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl for violation of team rules.
#UCLA Tony Dye, Alberto Cid and Isaiah Bowens academically ineligible for Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 12:40 PM PST reply actions
???
don’t get Brehaut’s deal .. New coach and OC who loves to pass, KP will be a non-factor so it lines up well for Bre to impress the new staff with leadership and commitment and he talks about playing baseball and then gets himself suspended .. Looks like it Hundley’s team from now on …
Let RB play 2nd string catcher.
Hundley is 10x more able as QB. Very fast and smart too.
I think he means for next year.
No way Hundley plays on NYE.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 1:31 PM PST up reply actions
Given Prince's injury history (knock on wood)
We may not have a choice. Hopefully we won’t need to use him in the Wilting Rose Bowl.
by VictoryLemonade on Dec 21, 2011 6:46 PM PST up reply actions
We would play a walk-on or another position player
before wasting a year of Hundley’s eligibility on a meaningless bowl game.
There is 0% chance he plays.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 6:51 PM PST up reply actions
Mora is off to a good start so far
Let’s see if he can back up his talk with results.
Christian Ponder: Super Bowl 50 MVP for the Minnesota Vikings
For Basketball Reasons
I would suspend the seniors
But why would Johnson suspend them? He only coaches them for 1 game and needs to win to look good and get a new job so I doubt he takes any action.
Definitely like the comments by Mora though. He at least appears to already be instilling the no nonsense and accountability aspect he promised
Love this attitude.
More R. Lee Ermey, less Gomer Pyle.
by Bruined 4 Life on Dec 21, 2011 12:54 PM PST reply actions
Got my Christmas wish...
Thank you Coach Mora!!!
Anyone have any idea what RB did to get suspended?
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
I dunno.
If they win the Pac-12 and beat PUSC, I don’t care if they go over the wall. But it’s absurd for a team with a losing record to be so self-indulgent. Of course, the two do go together.
Jim reminding me of his dad!......................Cool stuff.
Coach Mora is a grown man. When he looks into the players eyes and tells them that on the next level, there are more serious consequences for sh*t like that! That’s when he will really look and sound like his dad. And that’s when accountability will really sink in to the guys.
Basically, it’s time to grow up or out guys. There’s no faking it where Mora comes from. CJM will teach them that in the NFL, people get fired, the very same season they get hired!
It’s put up or get out..Go Bruins………..
A wise man once told me
As a manager, sometimes you have to shoot the lead buffalo to turn the herd. I say Mora needs to shoot some lead Buffalo, make a statement. It is hard since he is not currently coaching the team on a day to day, but he can absolutely deal with any and all underclassmen who were involved.
I can't understand why this stupid tradition didn't get nipped in the bud a long time ago.
It would be neat if the tradition had been to climb over the wall to get into practice, but not this. I like the way our new guy handled it. I just wish he had not put Chianti Dan’s name in there.
Yup.
Run practice, but keep the gate locked. The players can go over the wall to get back in.
The over the wall stuff is ridiculous to keep in the name of tradition. UCLA Football is at a low. Dorrell and Neuheisel have two of the worst records among UCLA coaches and had to be fired. Resurrect the tradition of having a winner on the football field before even considering bringing back over the wall. I bet when that happens, the players won’t go over the wall anymore. You know why? Because winning will feel better than skipping practice.
Contrast this to some of our historical gym rats like AA who Howland couldn’t keep out of Pauley. AA is great, not because of natural gifts, but because he works harder than everyone else. That is what UCLA athletics is about.
by Westwood is the best wood on Dec 21, 2011 2:12 PM PST up reply actions
+1
AA was UCLA Athletics defined. We need to find at least a few Arron Afflalo’s to lead the pack for both basketball and football
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 21, 2011 5:52 PM PST up reply actions
I know that the women's swim team has a tradition
where on one practice, they suddenly jump out of the pool, race to touch the Bruin statue outside Ackerman, and then race back to the pool to resume practice.
I could live with our football team doing something like that. Then again, they should earn it like our non-revenue sports do – by winning consistently.
I was on the track team in the 80's
We were at the men’s pool doing a workout and the entire Men’s swim team jumped into our pool and started chanting UCLA, UCLA fight fight fight and we chanted along with them, it was very cool. I remember thinking the make up of the teams were so starky different in terms of race and social economic backgrounds but we were all united as Bruins and it was great. That is the kind of thing you do not jumping over some wall and skiping practice. We had a great time, the swimmers got out of the pool and we both we back to practice.
pssshhh
who needs a men’s swimming team? I mean, it’s not like we had Olympians or perennial national title contenders or anything. Bunch of dudes splish splashing, please.
[/sarc]
We had one tradition in rowing: throw the coxswain in the water after winning a race, and a brutal 2-hour practice immediately following any loss to U$C.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
How crazy would that be?
Lose to $C and run 100 yard sprint and bear crawls until you puke right after the game.
Something our coach had us to when we lost to Westchester my senior year. Went right back onto the field following the game and did this.
Go Bruins!
It was a pretty effective tool
if at least to just send the message.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Westchester
Can’t stand the comets myself. As long as I’ve been around the poach the best bball talent (along with Fairfax) from around the city under bogus terms.
OT: They’re changing the school next year to “bring back more local students”. In effect they’ve made the school a combination magnet programs and forced most kids out academically (and effectively, racially ). Short read here. .
Men's swim team
I honestly still can’t get over the fact that we do not have a men’s swimming program. Its disgraceful.
Played on the baseball team
We tried the over the wall stunt in 2000. Needless to say, the bleachers smelled like vomit the next day. We never did it again.
by 0725brui on Dec 21, 2011 2:50 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
They can go over the wall
the next time they put up 50 or more on SC…
whoa, was not expecting that to not be scaled down
sorry about that
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 2:46 PM PST up reply actions
Is this real?
Or did you make this?
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
it's real. check the UCLA Athletics FB page. just came out ~5 minutes ago.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 2:48 PM PST up reply actions
someone needs to photoshop a Mario Bros. hat on Mora
and the slogan as “IT’S ME, MORA!”
maybe some pics of red shells and banana peels.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 2:53 PM PST up reply actions
Or we can just photoshop those hard helmet stickers
It’s a Chianti Dan initiated “tradition”!
by Nestor on Dec 21, 2011 2:55 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Honestly...
Now that I think about it.
Over the wall… (weak ‘tradition’ that won’t die)
Helmet stickers…. (meh tradition I think we were better off without)
UCLA Stripes… (awesome, traditional look that the Techfits have yet to accomodate)
Home uniforms… (awesome tradition that was recently revived but needlessly moved away by our own athletic department)
We are getting rid of the wrong traditions.
by Westwood is the best wood on Dec 21, 2011 3:06 PM PST up reply actions
Anything Chianti
comes up with sucks!
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that counts" - John Wooden.
Looks like we can look forward to a whole series!!
When the marketing department sucks, they really get after it, don’t they?
by Westwood is the best wood on Dec 21, 2011 2:55 PM PST up reply actions
OK... I've been a Creative Director, Art Director, Designer, etc., and this graphic just SUCKS!
And is the work of rank amateurs.
Love that Mora is taking a hard stand
but I’m bummed to see him give props to the fat man on this one.
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that counts" - John Wooden.
I don't care what Mora says
I will judge him through his actions. For all we know, this shit will happen again next year and Mora might not do anything about it. We all know coaches are a lot of talk anyways. I’m not impressed by Jim Mora until he actually does something on the field worthwhile.
It was still the right thing to do
He got out in front of this before it really got out of control. the local and national media loves to go after us for this type of stuff. Mora coming out and making the statement he did is perfect . Now, like you said, he’ll have to make sure he follows through come next year.
Go Bruins!
Everything in context
This was the right way to handle it, he did what he could do and was supposed to do. He can’t do anything on the field till September.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I've heard 3-4 Mora interviews and he comes across as being edgy, direct and holding little back.
I don’t know anything about his NFL coaching style, but from what I’ve heard so far I wouldn’t want to be in his dog house.
I liked the all-whites actually, and the idea of having alternates
We just used them for the wrong game. And it’s a safe bet we won’t see them anytime soon after 50-0.
by Kenneth Powers on Dec 21, 2011 6:53 PM PST up reply actions
I'd like to go back to our old unies, and make the powderkeg blue really pale on the away unies.
And I’d like us to serpentine out of the huddle when we’re not in speed up mode.
I want our traditions back — the ones that marked our brand and made us winners.
The serpentine had a purpose.
We had a strong side and a weak side. If the strong side was left, for example, the guy on the left side was on the right side of the huddle, so we would serpentine to get him on the left side. If it was a strong side right play call, then the guys would just turn around (no serpentine) and run up to the line and get set. That said, it was very, VERY cool to watch us serpentine out of the huddle.
(Which makes me think of “The In-Laws,” with Peter Falk saying “Serpentine, Shel, serpentine!”)
More from Mora...
He sounds legitimately livid. Good for him. I love the idea of him saying “over the wall!?!?” in the same tone as his dad saying “playoffs!?!?” haha.
Of course, none other than Embree defends the "tradition."
by orlandobruin on Dec 21, 2011 8:45 PM PST up reply actions
Hey lay off Embree, guys
he’s the best fair catcher in the NCAA!
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 21, 2011 9:00 PM PST up reply actions
Dumbass also was part of the fight in Arizona...
Fumbled against Stanford during a key stretch, the list goes on.
and complained about UCLA on twitter
Rosario had some nice Sportscenter worthy catches during huge losses. Embree’s stat line usually read 0 0 0
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Dec 22, 2011 10:31 AM PST up reply actions
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