Mora Sends a Signal of "Culture Change" in His First Official Hours As UCLA Head Coach
by Nestor on Jan 9, 2012 10:12 AM PST
in Football
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PrintToday is Jim L. Mora's first day as the head football coach at UCLA. He has started it off with a bang:
Redshirt sophomore defensive end Wesley Flowers and freshman tight end Raymond Nelson violated team rules and are no longer members of the team, while junior defensive back Randall Carroll is no longer enrolled at UCLA.
"At UCLA, we have a high set of standards that we expect every student-athlete to adhere to. Unfortunately, these three gentlemen choose not to do so," Mora said.
Mora held his first team meeting of 2012 earlier today.
HTs Kenneth Powers and muircoach.
The note about Wesley Flowers is somewhat surprising. The news about Raymond Nelson, unfortunately is not all that surprising at this appoint. Same goes with Randall Carroll, who has had multiple suspensions in this program since arriving in Westwood.
I guess one of the obvious takes here is that all this is part of "culture change" that we have heard from Mora dating back to his comments following "over the wall" flap. We welcome that. However, we have to keep in mind that we heard about "culture change" from Rick Neuheisel. We also heard about cleaning up the "underbelly" during Karl Dorrell. We have all gone through this routine before.
There is also the matter of number of scholarships. I think UCLA fans can stop worrying about number of scholarships Mora and his coaches will be handing out for the incoming class of 2012. I imagine we will see few more moves pertaining to current roster in the coming days as Mora, coaches and the current players figure out the level of commitment to the current regime and also towards re-establishing the UCLA football program (instead of dreaming about going over the wall).
While we are hopeful that these moves will send a signal to rest of the program, the results of "culture change" will reflect through discernible positive trends through performances of our student athletes both off and on the field. There is a lot of talent, the previous regime stockpiled in this program. While some of these moves may have been necessary, our expectations for next year will not change. We will not want to see "cleaning up the underbelly" as an excuse for underperformance next season.
GO BRUINS.
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scholarships
college sports are great when it comes to this magic word. “Scholarship” when it comes down to it if any college sport is in need of a scholarship they will take a veteran player (junior or senior) who hasnt really touched the field at all just a guy that will maybe get a chance in a blow out or someone who was recruited by another coach and a change happened so thats not really the current coaches “guy”, they will offer to wave the student athletes one year sitting out to and eligibility hold if they transfer and or drop their scholarship. its just a nice way to say “hey you will never play for me and i dont want to waste any more of your time but i need your scholarship, do me this solid and ill do you one”
This isn't oversigning.
Nelson and Flowers were kicked off the team for violating team rules, and Carroll is academically ineligible. You have no idea what team rules they violated, and there are rumors that Carroll left the university to train for the Olympics, so don’t go around throwing allegations about Mora cutting kids to get “his” guys in the program unless you know wtf you’re talking about.
Formerly AllHailMightyBruins
oh i know that
There is also the matter of number of scholarships. I think UCLA fans can stop worrying about number of scholarships Mora and his coaches will be handing out for the incoming class of 2012. I imagine we will see few more moves pertaining to current roster in the coming days as Mora, coaches and the current players figure out the level of commitment to the current regime and also towards re-establishing the UCLA football program
this is what i was talking about
Just because I wrote that
That doesn’t mean there was anything inappropriate with the actions taken by Mora today. So to use that graf to imply that Mora did something wrong is totally inappropriate given you have no idea the violations that took place. Also, Carroll was dismissed by the school for academic reasons.
wait what?
i was just explaining the oversigning i wasnt accusing anyone of anything. I know people are worried about scholarships i was just trying to put their minds at ease. i guess i shouldnt write about oversigning haha
Poor timing
The practice of oversigning is pretty common, but you’ll see it mostly on the elite teams in the SEC. UCLA does not have a history of doing that. It was just an odd place to bring it up so your comment can be misinterpreted.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
vindicated
thank you. i was just trying to help. haha common practice if people are wondering how people deal with scholarships or if we are about to run out or what not
doesn't follow anyway
derf, your idea of oversigning, from what I read, doesn’t make any sense anyway. Oversigning is when you start pushing veteran guys off that as you stated "hey you will never play for me and i don’t want to waste any more of your time but i need your scholarship, do me this solid and ill do you one."
All of these guys that were kicked off we could have used or could have contributed in the future. All three had potential to contribute in the future, especially Carrol.
oversigning?
just a question, but I don’t see what the issue is about “oversigning”? I mean if you give a guy a scholarship, does that mean you are obligated to keep him on scholarship for 5-years even though they are never going to see the field? Regardless of team rules, if a player has taken a redshirt year, then had two additional years, and after the 3rd year the coaching staff sees that this guy is never gonna play, is there a moral perception that you have to keep him on scholarship?
Read
this article from the Wall Street Journal. Explains it pretty well.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Thanks
Off-topic, but just to clarify, so over-signing is when you tell players that they don’t have a scholarship anymore, and you bring in a bunch of recruits, but not because they violated rules or ineligible or anything like that.
So I’m assuming UCLA doesn’t historically do that? Do we ever boot kids off the team and leave them on an academic-scholarship or something if they aren’t playing very well? Or we usually keep them on all 4/5 years regardless of how they play? I mean, I always thought if a college player wasn’t cutting it, then they could go get another scholarship at a smaller school. Misguided?
Scholarships
are annual, so they can be revoked each year.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Bill of Rights for student-athletes
Maybe I should make a disclosure that I’m not an expert on ncaa regulations. I’m sure that where there is a lot of money involved, there’s a way to find loopholes, bend the rules, or simply break them. It’s sad that an athletic department can simply revoke a student’s scholarship if they choose to. Fortunately, one of our own, Ramogi Huma, is trying to bring some reform to the ncaa. Link below.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9S5KV201.htm
Btw, I’m not pointing fingers at any school or program. I’m simply glad that there is some awareness. Thanks derfnabac for your posts.
by Trueblue'09 on Jan 10, 2012 8:55 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
I'm assuming "Dismissed" =
never will return to the UCLA Football Team?
So much potential. Such is life.
footballwise, yes
but if Carroll decides to improve his grades at a JC he can re-enroll. But he doesn’t seem like the type of disciplined human being who would do that.
Word is
he’s going to focus on track in hopes of making the Olympic team. Good Luck to him, I hope he’s able to accomplish this goal.
Go Bruins!
Olympic Hopeful
I remember when UCLA track and field used to be the place Olympic sprinters used to come to prepare. See Mike Marsh, Steve Lewis, Danny Everette, Henry Thomas, Evelyn, Flojo, JJK, Amy Acuff….What happened.
Hail to the Hills of Westwood.
What happened...
The balance of power in track, and particularly the sprints, has shifted to the SEC. You’ll hear the same defeatist canards about academic standards.
by TfXc79 on Jan 9, 2012 8:09 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Interesting...
I think Carroll and Hasiak were two guys we lost to UCLA that year and were really bummed about. Coincidentally, both never panned out.
Culture Change is exactly what we need...
…ask the SF 49ers…the day Singletary threw Vernon Davis off the field during a game and then followed it up in his post game interview was the day the 9ers became relevant again…! Mike’s press conference quote after the game;
“[As for] Vernon, it was something I told everyone at the beginning of the week. I will not tolerate players who think it’s about them when it’s about the team. And we cannot make decisions that cost the team and then come off the sideline nonchalant. No. You know what? This is what I believe, I’m from the old school. I would rather play with ten people and just get penalized all the way until we gotta do something else rather than play with 11 when right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team. I told him he would do a better job for us to take a shower and watch the game on the sidelines rather than take the field.”
Maybe Mike can be our D coordinator….back up some of the “Culture Change” Mora is doing….Great job, Coach! i am pulling for you!
Hopefully Mora will change culture more than Singletary,
because the 49ers didn’t get any better until the real culture changer, Jim Harbaugh showed up. Harbaugh has shown us that a program can turn around in 2 years. Singletary would be great though, as a DC.
Not so sure.
I once wanted Singletary to be our head coach. Then promptly watched him swim in circles with the 49ers. Taking for granted that Mike was no head coach, his specialty should have been defense, right?
In 2010 the 49ers were 6th in rushing defense with an average 96.7 yards per game. They were 24th in pass defense with an average 231.1 yards per game. They were 13th in total team defense with an average 327.8 yards per game. So, just a little better than middle of the pack.
This year (2011) the 49ers were 1st in rushing defense with an average 77.3 yards per game. They were 16th in pass defense with an average 230.9 yards per game. They were 4th in total team defense with an average 308.1 yards per game. They now share the same tier as traditional defensive stalwarts Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
Wow.
Can’t say I am shocked considering Carroll’s past. He got off on the wrong foot way back when with the “gangsta” tweets about Norm Chow. Flowers’ dismissal will hurt our depth on the D-line and not sure of Nelson would have ever got too much playing time.
I think that this is a net positive for the program. UCLA looses some talent, but Coach Mora appears to have made it clear what will and will not be tolerated going forward.
Here’s to hoping Coach Mora and staff will close hard in the coming weeks before NSD.
I wish all the best for Carroll (and the other two, to a lesser degree)
I had such high expectations for that kid. Even now, I still hope he figures something out.
Such a playmaker.
Feel terrible about all the wasted talent that has moved through this program in the last 4 years and is still sitting around undeveloped. That is the class I have most closely followed because it’s my graduating class.
I played against almost all of these So Cal recruits at some point, either in a summer passing tournament or actual games. It’s rough seeing this happen. Kid couldn’t get it together. Sad.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
And neither could the coaches
we have wasted too much talent in our two revenue programs. That’s not all onthe kids. i think th ecoaches are equally responsible.
These are hand picked “students” who they have failed to teach and develop.
Not a good sign of where we are.
sjh
RE Carroll:
Too much talent, not enough effort.
Only partially true
We didn’t use his speed on O and when we did our QB’s couldn’t get the ball anywhere near him. We never developed packages to take advantage of hm.
On D and special teams he played hard and made the most of his opportunities.
sjh
All they ever did with Carroll
was send him long and throw bombs to him. No slants, no throws underneath that hit him at full speed, no bubble screens. A terrible waste by the coaches.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
That's what he should have played
but he wanted to play WR, and Neuheisel allowed him to, which got him to commit to UCLA in the first place.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Let's Not Mistake Action for Accomplishment
At the end of next year we will know whether Mora has done something special or was merely flailing about.
sjh
All this hype about 4 and 5 star recruits
Guys like Carroll epitomize all that is wrong with simply going after players that rivals or scout gives a high ranking to. Besides the inherent unpredictability in assesing how 17/18 years old boys will mature into 22/23 year old men, rivals.scout simply go by numbers. They do not measure heart/will/desire/effort. Essentially all the things that our team lacks.
Let’s get guys that want to play football, will play hard and unrelenting and then let the chips fall where they may. Yeah, getting trounced by U$C by 50 hurt, badly. But you know what hurt more? Seeing missed tackles, penalties, and guys quitting on the team. I for one would much rather see a less talented team that played their guts out and left everything on the field .
Carroll was never a quitter
and had a big heart on this team. He didn’t go about problems well and lost concentration but he always did what was told of him.
Him (and many others) have been failed by the previous staff.
"A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it." Miles Davis
Point Taken
I was speaking more generally about the team as a whole, and my dislike for simply getting caught up in the rivals ranking. If you want to talk about how previous coaching staffs failed players, hell you are pushing an open door there with me.
Sooooo, 3 fallguys and Mora is all smiles.
We are watching you CJM.
Let’s see where this goes from here.
Go Bruins……………..
I don't think so.
This was Mora’s response to specific acts. Two broke rules. One is academically ineligible. All are out. I don’t think you should read anything else into it other than there is obviously a new sheriff in town.
Formerly AllHailMightyBruins
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