Reaction to Presley/Viney Transfer
by Tydides on May 6, 2011 2:59 PM PDT
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PrintTransfer rumors have been in the works for a while, and with today's LA Times post and subsequent official release from the UCLA site, the transfers of Morrell Presley and Courtney Viney are a done deal.
Given how CRN has shaken up his staff in the offseason, transfers aren't surprising news, but major moves like this often shed some light on the internal state of the program. What we do know is that both players were having difficulties finding playing time on this roster. One positive interpretation is that our new coordinators are being upfront, honest, and communicating clearly with their players. We've seen in our major programs how a lack of communication and accountability can end up hurting the program in both the short and long run.
The concern here is that Presley, and Viney to a lesser extent, was not utilized by the coaching staff properly, leading to a lack of development and frustration for all parties. Given the poor offensive production of the past few years, it certainly appears that Presley was not given the right opportunities to succeed under Chow, Moore, and ultimately, CRN. Presley was their chance to be creative offensively, and so his lack of playing time pretty much says it all about our vanilla offensive schemes.
While transfers out of the program are rarely pleasant, I do like that Viney is due to graduate this year. Good for him.
None of this changes the expectations around CRN's upcoming make or break season, but it will help if our coaching staff understands the opportunity lost represented by these transfers and takes a hard look at the roster to make sure that they're utilizing their remaining talent properly.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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In the long run
this is better for the program. Nothing worse than having a player remain in the program when he clearly would rather be somewhere else. That situation can lead to a “cancer” effect in the locker room. I’m not saying that these two were “cancers”, just that their leaving can be seen as healthy by not letting it get to that point.
I agree that Pressley didn’t get an opportunity to develop and that is a shame. It’s a negative mark on CRN’s tenure. He was unable to place the young talent on the field in a dynamic way that would produce positive results.
The positive in all of this is that Barr must really be standing out to take over MP’s starting spot and secure it. Hope the TE out of Loyola and the younger Nelson will be able to provide depth at the position this year because MP’s departure could possibly create some issues there.
Agree on allowing players to leave...
…since a team dynamic can be compromised.
First…congratulations to Courtney Viney on soon becoming a fellow alumni. Best wishes for his ’graduate work" and future potential in the sport.
As far as players leaving…certainly the coaches should rightly carry much of the blame, but ultimately the player is the one who must be ready to produce when given the chance.
Specifically, MP may have the raw talent (has that ever been seen, even in practice situations?), but seemingly wasn’t equipped to be game ready when given his limited opportunities in games. Not until this Spring had he even started to approach the weight for TE.
If MP had the speed touted out of HS, and more importantly, the ability to consistently catch the ball, he could have been used as a slot receiver (even before the inception of the FBack in ’10). It is his responsibility to develop his talent and have the willingness to improve on the potential he showcased in HS.
This premise was recently proven by David Carter who used his limited chances to excel well enough in ‘10 on defense to be drafted, even though he wasn’t properly coached up during his Bruin tenure.
That said, I do wish Morrell the best and hope he can find the team that will allow him to step in right away and excel.
by C.T. in Boston on May 7, 2011 4:19 AM PDT up reply actions
I have a friend in the football coaching world
who tells me MP is one of those guys that excels in high school because of his size compared to others that then falls flat in college because he “has no heart.”
Yet another indictment against the Rick and his recruiting acumen. It would seem he is going after highly rated players to create some splash in the media, but isn’t truly vetting the guys.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
Sad but true...But not only Rick, but all D-! coaches are guilty of that trait...
…since are evaluated by their STARS!
Mexi,,,in reading your many posts, I am going to assume you have been watching the program for years (decades?). That said, you may agree with my appraisal that Terry Donahue’s teams seemed to have many unknown, “no name” kid would come off the bench as QB, RB, WR, and would blow your mind on being able to produce. Regardless of star status.
The consensus thought then…why the hell isn’t this kid starting (answer…there was someone consistently better in practice).
I’m always saddened by these kids who are blue chippers coming to our program, who are more interested in their press clippings than learning how to become the best football player he can be.
by C.T. in Boston on May 7, 2011 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions
Believe it or not, I knew nothing of college football before '97
It was all NFL for me until I went to school, now it has supplanted the NFL in my heart. The things I have picked up about CFB before ’97 I just absorbed along the way, and that which I have picked up about UCLA football before ’97 I picked up here.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
congrats to Viney for graduating
And good luck!
by Bruin Dad and Grad on May 6, 2011 5:39 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
I'll mention my two posts that were in the fanshot...
It all comes back to the offensive (no pun intended) line They couldn’t pass block, so we played Harkey constantly as basically another lineman, and we couldn’t pass, so Pressley wasn’t involved much. When he was involved, so were a lot of drops. Bad situation all around.
I think this is a perfect storm of poor coaching, poor judgment by the players themselves, and inability to produce. Specifically Morrell. Was not coached appropriately at Fback, played out of position, was not coached to catch (apparently none of our players were), then he messes up, sits, cannot break into the rotation as he’s on the coaches’ sh@$ list, and when he did play he was overwhelmed and didn’t get enough playing time to get a rhythym. Sad. We could have used both of them this year.
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
Given the poor offensive production of the past few years, it certainly appears that Presley was not given the right opportunities to succeed
Given the poor work ethic and multiple suspensions from the program Presley robbed himself of the opportunities to succeed. The only thing we will miss from not having Presley around this year is the annual “Presley suspended from the program” storyline.
There are clearly problems
with the individual player and the coaching staff. Neither is blameless.
by silverlakebruin on May 9, 2011 8:40 AM PDT up reply actions
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