Well it’s here. The first football season of Rick Neuheisel era in Westwood begins with this - Rick Neuheisel and Brigham Harwell, the uber talented DL who is looking to make his own come back - on the center stage:

Photo Credit: Steve K. Zylius, the OC Register

And according to Bud Withers of the Seattle Times (not CRN’s favorite newspaper) no doubt who has won the first battle:

A new sheriff was in town Thursday for Pac-10 football media day, and a great cluster of press guys surrounded his circular table as he finished lunch.

He was Rick Neuheisel, UCLA's new football coach. You might have heard of him. The throng around him in Los Angeles was every bit as thick as that for USC coach Pete Carroll, so Neuheisel has already won his first battle.

I am sure there are lot more battles coming up some of which he is going to come up short. However, Neuehisel once again gave clear indications yesterday how things are going to be different in Westwood. Let’s take for example his comments on Ben Olson. Yesterday in response to the DN story about BO putting in 14 hour workout sessions Bald Eagle wrote this here on BN:

Unfortunately a 14 hour workout session isn’t where BOis going to develop these skills. Will it help him perform better on the field and hopefully reduce the likely of future injury; I believe so. And success on the field will help solidify his position as the team’s leader. For now he has been chosen as the leader of this football team by the coaches. But what will he do to engender the support of his teammates? Make them believe in him?; make them put forth that extra effort in the 4th quarter when we’re down by 6 and need a score to pull out a win?

Certainly success on the field will do that. But I believe he needs to do more. As a married young man with an important life outside of school and the gridiron, he needs to find a way to connect to his teammates off the field. Pat Cowen was far more successful then Ben at this. PC’s ability to get the team to work harder for him and believe in his abilities (which arguably are inferior to BO’s) is a testament to PC’s leadership qualities. I’m not sure what things BO needs to do with his teammates so they believe that he is their leader. Hopefully that is where CRN can help. More than mechanics, or reading safeties, CRN and NC need to mentor BO and provide him with suggestions on how to become the true leader and not just the chosen one.

Well Neuheisel channeled Bald Eagle yesterday (emphasis added):

"For Ben to go where he wants to go, for us to go with him, he needs to win the players over," Neuheisel said after the Bruins were picked to finish fifth during Thursday's Pac-10 media day. "That'll be interesting if he can do that. I'm hoping, and that's what we're going to start with in earnest; how to do it."

Olson enters training camp, which starts Aug. 5, as the starting quarterback, a position he figures to hold for the third straight opener even though he is still recovering from offseason foot surgery. But Neuheisel said Patrick Cowan, who was given the job in the spring, had the ability to lead, although that is now meaningless since Cowan's career ended with a torn knee ligament in the spring.

"There were a couple of times in the spring where the ball wasn't where it was supposed to be, and (Olson) would get mad at the receiver," Neuheisel said. "It could have totally been the receiver's fault, but that's not the way to do it. You tell him, `That's on me.' Now, the receiver says, `He's got my back."'

Junior college transfer Kevin Craft, who seemed overwhelmed in spring practice, is Olson's backup, but redshirt freshman Chris Forcier and incoming freshmen Kevin Prince and Nick Crissman will also compete for the backup spot.

"UCLA football needs the quarterback to play well, and (Olson) is getting the first chance," Neuheisel said. "Play well, but understand playing well is having guys wanting to play with you."

Not sure what else I can add to that. We will always be supportive of Olson. But this is it. This is his time to finally take advantage of the opportunity his new coaches are giving him. It certainly sounds like he totally dedicated himself this off season in making a come back, but now comes the part of taking control of this team as a leader on the field. We are all hoping Olson will take advantage of having coaches like Neuheisel and Chow around him who are not only two of the best offensive minds in the country, but also have established that they will not shy away from offering frank and precise evaluations on their players. This is something we haven’t seen out of UCLA coaches not just in past 5 years, but in decades. This kind of mindset is refreshing if not Howlendesque.

Speaking of mindset Harwell told folks about what the offensive line has been up to this off season:

"This offseason they keep hearing how bad they are, and I keep reminding them how bad they are," UCLA defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said of the offensive line. "I tell them in the weight room, and they get mad. So I'm telling you, I've never seen the offensive line work so hard. They'll be ready. They have a huge chip on their shoulders. They know everyone is pointing at them. They know."

No one will be happier than all of us here who have pointed to the OL as one of the two biggest question mark of this season (QB being the other). We are rooting for these guys and rooting for us to be completely wrong in our lack of confidence at this current snap shot of time.

Going back to Neuheisel, Mark Saxon from the OC Register has this bit on him changing up the practice pace:

Neuheisel will try an approach that he first refined when he was head coach at Washington. At the beginning of fall camp, he will divide practices in half. In the first session, the first and third units will be on the field. Later, the second and fourth units will take snaps.

In between, from 4:20 to 4:40 p.m., the entire team will practice special teams.

What's the point of shortening a day already limited to 180 minutes by NCAA rules? Neuheisel said he is trying to get players more snaps under the eyes of the new coaching staff.

For more on the coverage of yesterdays media day here are more reports from the Press Enterprise and the OC Register (a worthless Marcia Smith piece swooning over Neuheisel and Carroll). Dilbeck from the Daily News also hits on the evolution of UCLA/Southern Cal rivalry with Neuheisel in the scene and pointedly made this observation:

It's not completely unlike the situation presented to Tim Floyd when he first took the USC basketball job. Only whenever Floyd was asked about playing in the shadow of UCLA, he would go on and on about Arizona. Barely recognized the Bruins' historic success.

Well we all know how that worked out for Timmeh. Good for Neuheisel for not taking that approach. Right now he is playing it right which has even his one of his most ardent critics – Bud Withers - believing:

Maybe this can work, in a way that Washington didn't. He is back at the place where he fought his way up from walk-on to Rose Bowl MVP, a place he ought to know and love like no other.

We can’t wait to find out … this year (and beyond).

Fired Up, Ready To Go.

GO BRUINS.

We will start this Wednesday with Brian Dohn’s report on Ben Olson’s efforts to get healthy again. Olson has been throwing for the first time in two months and has been putting in a grueling regimen of 14 hour day of football rehab. Last week Olson allowed Dohn to tag along with him for a day in his off season, which resulted in a revealing article from Dohn. You have read the whole piece because it will leave no doubt about Olson’s dedication and commitment to leaving UCLA on a high note.

What I liked most were the following grafs (after hearing from Chow what his QBs need to do this off season):

It is 3 p.m. and administrative assistant Lea Bean is the only person in the football office when Olson walks in and heads to the conference room. He pushes a few computer buttons and is watching an NFL team's offense run read routes. He has seen the tape time and again, but watches and rewinds it like this is the first time because his focus is to see when the safety tips off the coverage.

He also dials up a video of last season's disastrous Notre Dame loss in which he was injured. The offensive line is in shambles, missing blocks and getting pushed around the line of scrimmage.

"Every time you watch a tape, you try to take a different angle," Olson said. "When I watched the Notre Dame game, I watched my mechanics. It's something different each time. And coach Chow will talk on one play for 10 minutes."

More than an hour flies by as Olson also watches tape of several NFL teams, and of Chow's offensive system when he was at USC. At least four times a week in the summer he does this.

"During the season it's much more film," Olson says. "Way more. In training camp, we're either on the practice field or watching film. You have to watch film with a purpose."

Dohn also reports that Olson looked sharp in 7-on-7 drills and then slipped out something amusing (emphasis added):

Olson is sharp, hitting receivers in stride, but he is clearly tired and his foot is bothering him. His release is more labored than when throwing with the Texans duo earlier in the day, and by the end of it he is taking few reps and talking to the younger quarterbacks more.

Olson admits to being worn out, which is understandable since this is just his second day back, but he still must get treatment and ice his foot before leaving campus. Again, he mentions his foot being sore.

"It's kind of afraid of soreness," he says. "I remember how it happened (planting his foot). It was kind of a weird thing, so I'm kind of nervous any time something doesn't feel right. And you know there is a screw in there, too."

The start of training camp remains weeks away, and the season opener is not until Sept. 1. Olson understands his role as quarterback of one of the Pac-10's premiere programs opens him to scrutiny not felt by teammates or other quarterbacks in the nation.

So after all these months of downplaying the potential of UCLA football, Dohn has finally calling Bruins having one of the “premier programs” in the Pac-10? :-) We will see if this a new trend.

Anyway, going back to Olson as I mentioned in my notes on QBs, I think what he needs to focus on this season is work on managing the team. Assuming he can get protection from a patchwork OL (which is a huge question mark itself), he needs to work on managing the team within Chow’s scheme and focus on minimizing his mistakes. There is no pressure on him right now to be a John Elway ala savior of UCLA. If he can provide same kind of production Wayne Cook did in his junior year after coming back from his injury, UCLA will have a shot. And we are all rooting for Ben.

Well going into this camp Olson is going to be pushed by our young signal callers. One of them happen to be Kevin Prince, who according to Dohn has been looking good:

One of the more impressive freshman during the summer passing drills has been quarterback Kevin Prince, a Crespi High of Encino product. Prince has looked sharp and shown good arm strength during the 7-on-7 drills, and several of the veteran players remarked to me that he looked very good.
From what I'm hearing, Prince, fellow freshman Nick Crissman and red-shirt freshman Chris Forcier will be battling for the third string spot during training camp.

Besides Prince, Crissman, Forcier, and Rasshan there is another QB who is looking to be in this year’s camp. Dohn has more on – Tyler Tuiasosopo – a familiar name for all Bruin fans who is walking in as a QB into our football program.

While TT is coming in, UCLA is losing yet another OL. Aaron Meyer is leaving the program. The redshirt senior who was listed 3rd in the depth chart at LG following spring came at LG, has not been able to break through at UCLA. He is on track to graduate this summer so he decided to not return for his 5^th year. Wish he had stuck around. But oh well. At least he got a great education. Good luck to Aaron.

We will end this walk with a note on OC Register’s “UCLA Blog” where Marcia Smith was concern trolling yesterday re. our ticket sales from this season comparing them to the program from across town (completely discounting the record of these two teams from last few years). One of the commenters blasted back trying to put some sense into Marcia:

You failed to mentioned that UCLA begins their home schedule when school is not in session and won’t be for nearly another month. Not that the addition of the students would be enough to fill the Rose Bowl, but it would have been at least an attempt to be fair in your reporting. And chances are pretty good that the band won’t be there as well but you can beat that dead horse in another article.

Maybe the Register can do us UCLA fans a favor and keep Marcia’s reporting on the SC blog. I still chuckle at Marcia’s article a couple years ago that it was okay to ask SC players for their autographs. I guess she never had a nephew turned down for one by Leinart or Bush.

She didn’t respond back to her reader in the comment threads of her “blog post.”

GO BRUINS.

Achilles gave us a lot to think about in his post on blogs and traditional media coverage of UCLA. I agree with many of his points concerning how the newspapers in Southern California still hasn’t figured what to do with blogs. They – as in the main beat writers – who cover UCLA and other major athletic program in town still haven’t shown the ability to understand college football/basketball blogsphere and how to engage it both indirectly (by interacting with us) or directly (by launching their own effective blogs).

Sure they are trying. The OC Register has now launched their own “UCLA Blog” (without linking BN or any other UCLA blogs in it’s “blogroll”). Brian Dohn is working away on his DN blog along with Adam Rose, a Trojan alum on LAT’s “What’s Bruin.” Kevin Pearson and Jeff Eisenberg are giving it a go on Press Enterprise. They all should be commended for the effort they are putting in (even though we often do not agree with their commentary and observations concerning UCLA athletics).

However, I think the problem these guys are having is that they have failed to connect with the zeitgeist of the greater Bruin Nation time and time again as demonstrated in their coverage of UCLA football during the Dorrell and Lavin eras. And the collective frustrations have been compounded by the perceived bias on our part in favor of the Southern California athletic program (not just the football program). This is where I diverge a little from my dear friend – Achilles – who posited the argument that coverage is more slanted towards the Trojans because of the newspapers need to sell papers:

If a paper’s coverage is more slanted to SC, I really believe that it is because they’ve decided that’s what sells papers, not because the editor or writer went to SC. Case in point, btw, is the way the LA Times covers the Dodgers and Angels. The Angels are a much better team with a way better record and way more exciting players, but the Times covers the Dodgers like they are the better team. That’s because the Dodgers are more popular and sell more papers.

The most important beats in LA are the Lakers and Trojan football. I’m positive of that. Coverage of those sports sells the most papers. So, they are going to get the coverage. UCLA basketball might arguably be as good as Trojan football, but college hoops does not sell papers the way football does.

I think there is lot more to this explanation than just the need to sell papers. First, let’s take a look at the attendance record of the UCLA and Southern Cal football programs from last three years (and their respective attendance rankings both in the nation and in the conference):

So few thoughts just by taking a look at those numbers:

Given the kind of program record wise Southern Cal and UCLA had last three years, those attendance figures for UCLA football is not bad at all.

Sure the number last year was inflated a little because of the highly anticipated Notre Dame game, and from my understanding UCLA has programs giving tickets to high school kids, still the numbers are pretty damn impressive considering how mediocre the Bruin program was and how unexciting the product (at least in terms of offense) we Bruin fans had to endure from our home team last three years. 

I think that undercuts the argument that coverage of UCLA is not marketable in the Southern California area.

In addition to attendance records statistics, we have seen online the evidence of passion of UCLA alums, students and fans that make up this Bruin Nation. I think the community that has been built here is a pretty good example here, which in terms of numbers (traffic  stats – we don’t really need to go into them – they speak for themselves) stacks up OK against any national program in the country. Likewise the thousands of members of who are posting on Bruin Report Online, Bruin Zone, Bruinville, Bruin Gold and other UCLA online communities further disprove the theory that there isn’t a market for UCLA sports fan in Southern California. The intense hunger and passion for Bruin athletics is clearly evident through the strength of all those communities that make up the greater Bruin Nation. So, I am sure as UCLA alum or student I find any explanation offered by the folks who run the Southern California news papers that centers around the idea that covering UCLA athletics is not a good business decision for them adequate.

Let’s delve into the frustrations of Bruin Nation concerning the perceived unbalanced coverage of Bruin and Trojan athletics. I think one of the main reasons we as Bruin fans have been so frustrated with the Southern California newspapers, specifically the LAT is based on its lack of scrutinty of the run of scandals at the Trojan athletic department compared to how its reporters usually swarm all over UCLA’s athletic department whenever issues have arisen out of Morgan Center. We all remember what happened when Deshaun Foster’s SUV scandal broke in the local media. There was so much incredible public pressure on the Morgan Center that Foster didn’t even get to finish the season. In comparison, Foster’s transgressions look like child’s play when stacked up against the allegations around Reggie Bush. We also remember the public pressure on UCLA athletic department via the local media outlets such as the LA Times when the handicap parking scandal broke at UCLA. The outrage from the local media and us – UCLA alums and students – made sure that UCLA athletic department did the right thing by taking immediate/corrective disciplinary measures against the Bruin athletes who committed those transgressions. 

Compare that to what has transpired in the local media last 6-7 years. It took the reporters at Yahoo.com and ESPN to scoop two of the most dramatic athletic scandals impacting the two marquee figures representing the Trojan football and basketball programs. Despite having access to Heritage Hall, the local beat reporters were scooped badly. It’s been so bad they have been scooped badly by measly bloggers on BN, who did a simple google search to find out the dog cruelty history of Todd McNair (who by the way has also been implicated in the Bush scandal). While OJ2 was allegedly taking in thousands of dollars from runners of sports agents, the LA Times was spending time "reporting" on non-existent violation in Coach Wooden’s  contact w Kevin Love. Even the former chief editor of the LA Times – Bill Dwyre – was recently caught admitting that the LAT perhaps could have done a better job following up on stories concerning alleged transgressions by Trojan athletes.

We can go on and on. We have had chronicled many of these stories on BN which also included the ridiculous and over the top effort of LAT’s Trojan beat writer – Ben Bolch – to elevate the Southern Cal basketball program by comparing our non existent hoops 'rivalry' with JustSC to that of Duke v. North Carolina. So I don’t think the explanation that the coverage is slanted because Trojan football is more marketable is sufficient because we have seen the slanted coverage figure in college basketball as well.

Perhaps one explanation could be that the Trojan athletic department does a better job in pushing out their public relations. They can spin around the local scribes and columnists like no other as evidenced by Plaschke’s infamous comment of Pete Carroll running a football program that “follows the rules.” May be the Heritage Hall does a better job compared to Morgan Center in packaging information with their spin and making their coaches available to the right sources to make sure they always get ahead of the story. Lot of these reporters are probably under pressure of deadline and are looking to take the easy way out by cutting and pasting what is being spoon fed to them.  That still doesn’t excuse their failure to cover what has transpired across town with the same intensity they covered UCLA.

I do think there is something to Achilles’ argument that slanted coverage could be due to newspapers need to sell papers. But as I have shown above that can’t be the only explanation because that is not enough to assuage the concern among Bruin fans resulting from incidents mentioned above among many others over the years.  One thing is for certain, I think UCLA athletics department needs to get it together in managing their PR game.  Dan Guerrero has done a good job in changing the mindset in our athletic programs. However, in addition to addressing the situation re. Pauley’s restoration, he needs to get his people who are currently running the media relations department some help. We will continue to offer our suggestions here when we can. But it is up to UCLA’s officials to make sure they do what they can to shape the media narrative in their favor in today’s complex and rapidly changing media landscape. Otherwise, UCLA will continue to find itself in a disadvantaged position in Southern California’s traditional media landscape which has been slanted against the Bruins.

GO BRUINS.

We will start our walk with some bad news from the football front. As uclafan11 already noted Christian Ramirez has been declared ineligible for the entire 2008 season. From Kevin Pearson at PE.com: 

UCLA tailback Christian Ramirez, who was expected to compete for playing time in a deep UCLA backfield, was ruled ineligible because he did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will be forced to sit out the 2008 season.

Ramirez, a converted safety who could have moved back to defense this season if needed, can count this as his redshirt season. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. He is allowed to practice with the team.

"This is unfortunate for Christian and for our team" said head coach Rick Neuheisel. "I'm sure Christian will work hard to ensure this situation does not occur again. The rest of our running backs will just have to step up."

Needless to say this is very disappointing. I have always been high on Ramirez. I loved what I saw out of him last year. However, when it comes to academics there is no compromising at UCLA. Let’s hope he has learned a lesson and comes back with purpose and determination next season. As for the depth chart, we have decent depth at TB. What will be interesting is who will replace Ramirez as KR in the depth chart. I would think this will really present an opportunity for Jonathan "Jet Ski" Franklin to step up.

Speaking of depth chart may be there is some more shuffling around on the horizon at the right side of OL. From Dohn:

UCLA offensive lineman Nick Ekbatani, who spent his first two years in the program as a guard, is playing right tackle during summer passing drills as the Bruins look to replace injured starter Sean Sheller.

Haven’t heard anything official from the coaches yet. But this is a sign that Ekbatani is probably in the mix for competing for the starting spot vacated by Sheller’s injury. He will be competing against Harris, Chandler, and probably Edwards for the starting spot. Competition bodes well for the team.

Elsewhere, Pac-10’s official site have released a generic preview of UCLA. There is nothing earth shattering in that link, but throwing it up there for those who’d like to read every piece of Bruin related info out on the internets.

Speaking of Bruin football related football info, if there is anyone on BN who is a NASCAR, UCLA football has a special deal for you. Apparently the AD and the Auto Club has put together a package for both the Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the UCLA/Tennessee game. I drink Coke and don’t watch NASCAR. But if it works for you, get on it.

We will end the walk with a note on Ben Ball. Coach Howland recently returned to Pacific Palisades (I feel cooler already in this hot Mid Atlantic summer dawn just typing Palisades) for his annual youth basketball camp. The Palisadian-Post has the details:

A hush fell over the Palisades High gym Monday morning when UCLA men's basketball coach Ben Howland gave his opening speech to the aspiring players who signed up for his third annual summer youth basketball camp.

When Howland talks, you listen... and learn.

"I see a lot of talent out here," Howland said after players were assigned teams in one of three divisions--the SEC (grades 1 and 2); the PAC-10 (grades 3 and 4) and the NBA (grades 5-7). "Possibly some future Bruins."

He should know. Howland led UCLA to its third consecutive NCAA Final Four in March and his defense-first philosophy has caught on up the road in Westwood.

"We want the kids to have fun, but we also want them to learn the fundamentals of basketball," said Howland, who was delighted that 210 kids signed up--70 more than last year. "This is a fun week."

Read rest of the report here. It’s always fun when Coach Howland shows up.

GO BRUINS.

You can just feel the football camp being around the corner. We have an exclusively football focused BN walk lined up for today. Let’s start our walk with Norm Chow. Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise sat down with our offensive coordinator, who offered the following pre Fall camp thoughts:

*On not having QB Pat Cowan this season: "Pat Cowan the human being was as important to us as Pat Cowan the football player."

*On Ben Olson: "Pat and Ben hada tough time in their careers because they were always looking over their shoulders. Hopefully Ben won't have to do that and will be relaxed when he plays. You don't want him to feel unsure. He has to know that even if he doesn't play well, that he is still the guy."

*On the offensive line: "I think we have a good offensive line. I don't think we have the depth. Do we have enough good players is the problem. No one is going to feel sorry for us. We just have to go do it."

*On tailback Kahlil Bell, who Chow said is an NFL-quality running back: "He is a major player in all of this. I really think he is critical to our success."

Chow was also the focus of a recent article in Tennessean.com reporting how the Bruin offensive coordinator has found peace after his return to college football. True to his form Chow gave his frank and honest opinions on the team as he prepares for pre-season practice in couple of weeks.

Chow gave his thoughts on Bell above. Well Bell is apparently looking “great” in 7-on-7 drills:

UCLA running back Kahlil Bell continues to look great in 7-on-7 drills and will be ready for training camp. He is showing great acceleration catching the ball and moving laterally. The only inkling he is coming off reconstructive knee surgery is the brace he is wearing during the drills.
Technically, Bell has not be medically cleared to practice, but he told me recently he expects that to happen in early August, when he is examined by the UCLA doctors.
Bell, who is expected to be UCLA's top running back this season, added his legs feel great, other than the fatigue he is experiencing from the 7-on-7s and the hard work he is putting into his rehab.

Re. that brace, according to Pearson he is going to wear it throughout the season. As we have already discussed (and Chow alluded to above) Bell is going to be a huge key for our offense this season. So the news above is a good sign with the usual caveat we have to be cautious about getting our hopes too high from 7-on-7 reports.

Elsewhere, Ted Miller from WWL’s Pac-10 blog continued his project of ranking all Pac-10 positions for this upcoming season. According to his evaluations Bruins have the second best kicker and the second best punter in the conference. Lord knows special teams is going to be a huge key to this season if we are going to scrape out some wins in our difficult schedule.

Lastly, a little programming note. Apparently FSN has decided to cancel “Bruin Rewind.” It’s kind of a bummer. After being subjected to Dorrell’s weekly press conferences all these years, I was finally looking forward to a show featuring weekly recaps from a UCLA football coach. Oh well.  I see this as an opportunity for our athletic department to stamp their own narrative in the Southern California’s media landscape by rolling out their own official YouTube Chanel. Question is are they going to step up and do what they need to do to adapt to the world of new media landscape?

GO BRUINS.

Thanks again for all the feedback to my notes on depth chart. Please keep them coming. I will get back the defensive side of the ball in a few days (if not sooner). Let's start this Monday by catching up with a little news and notes around the Bruin Nation.

Looks like the Bruin Olympic contingent has come together and once again the Blue and Gold will have an awesome representation in the World's center stage. From the official site:

Looking to add to its rich Olympic history yet again in 2008, UCLA will send a total of 36 athletes and coaches to this summer's Olympic Games, which will be held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China. Of the 36 Bruins traveling to Beijing, 31 are athletes (27 former, 3 current, 1 incoming), and five are coaches.

UCLA was one of the nation's most successful universities at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, ranking No. 1 among all universities in number of different medalists (19) and number of Olympians (57 representing the United States and 13 foreign countries). Of the 19 medals UCLA took home in 2004, eight were gold, eight were bronze and three were silver. If UCLA were a country, it would have placed 14th overall in the medal count.

A majority of UCLA's 2008 contingent will be representing the United States (28). Seven other countries will also be represented by Bruins, including Australia (1), Bahamas (1), Belize (1), Canada (2), Korea (1), Poland (1) and Singapore (1). A large number of the UCLA athletes and coaches will be competing in the areas of women's track & field (7) and softball (6). Other sports represented by Bruins include: men's soccer (4), women's soccer (3), women's water polo (3), men's water polo (2), men's track & field (2), men's tennis (2), women's swimming (2), women's beach volleyball (2), men's indoor volleyball (1), men's rowing (1) and women's gymnastics (1).

Good luck to all our men and women in Beijing. You can read rest of the details on our Bruin Olympians here.

Switching gear back to football Achilles posted the grim opinion on our OL. Ted Miller from WWL's Pac-10 blog has put together a ranking of the Pac-10 OL units which ranked UCLA's as the worst in the Pac-10. Nothing surprising there. As I have said already let's hope the combination of Chow's scheme, Palcic's coaching, and Neuheisel's relentless enthusiasm will inspire our patchwork unit to emerge as a serviceable one. But right now the odds are stacked against us.

Yet there was good news re OL from Dohn:

I'm told UCLA center Jake Dean's MRI on his injured foot came back fine and that he is expected to be ready for training camp, which begins Aug. 5. He is still suffering from plantar's fasciitis, but should be fine.

That's good to know. But still as we have seen with Roll, it's hard to stay healthy with a nasty injury such as plantar's fasciitis. Also Dohn noted that LB Josh Edwards is in a walking boot, but should be ready for camp and that Harwell looks and feels ready:

I spoke to UCLA defensive tackle Brigham Harwell last week for a few minutes before one of the workout sessions, and he is in incredible physical shape. He also said he feels healthy for the first time in years (he had ankle and knee injuries throughout his career) and plans on dominating the middle of the line of scrimmage.

Here is to Brigham finishing his senior season just like Hickman and Davis.

Staying with football, Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise submitted his ballot for the Pac-10 football season. He has UCLA finishing 5th.

We will end this roundup with a little hoops. Malcolm Lee, one of our incoming Ben Ball warriors recently led the U-18 US Team to a silver medal at FIBA:

UCLA freshman-to-be Malcolm Lee scored 13 points, but the U.S. fell to Argentina, 77-64, Friday night in the championship game of the FIBA U-18 Americas Championship. The U.S., now 33-2 all time in this tournament, will still advance to next year's U-19 world championships by virtue of finishing in the top three.
"It seemed like everything we tried to do to stop them, they had a counter for it," Lee said. "At the end of the first half they'd go into the post and we'd help and they kicked it out and would shoot a three. Then in the second half we backed it off a little bit and the posts basically went one-on-one ... They ran their plays, they are really well coached and the best team won tonight."

I am sure the experience Lee earned from playing in this squad will get him even more prepared for this coming season. Can't wait to see this kid and rest of his freshmen classmates in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

Let’s finish up my notes on our offense by going through the current depth chart of our wide receivers and TEs. Just like the running back position, these are two units which will be stacked with options. Some of the receivers who are returning from last season could emerge as reliable options, while there is also some exciting potential among the newcomers in this year’s freshman class. The question here again is who is going to step up, adapting to the new coaching regime, and taking advantage of Chow’s offensive scheme.

So here is how the depth chart looked at the end of this year’s spring ball:

*noted red-shirt and ^ denotes walkon

At first blush, it looks like a pretty deep rotation (without taking into account the newcomers from this year’s class). However, let’s take a close look at the numbers from this past season:

Those numbers are kind of grim. None of these guys were in the Pac-10 leader boards in terms of receptions and receiving yards. Among last year’s UCLA receivers only Brandon Breazell found himself in the Pac-10 leader boards, finishing 9^th in receiving yds/game (51 rec., 810 yards, 62.3 yds/game). We didn’t have a single WR in Pac-10’s top-10. [See 2007 Pac-10 stats]

Yet, among the returning guys there are few who showed ability make plays. We will start with Marcus Everett who is another Bruin who will be trying to make a comeback from an injury plagued season. During his time here Marcus has shown he can be a player. He has shown that in number of games (headlined by the Notre Dame game in South Bend and the 13-9 two years ago) that he can make those money catches. He is one of those key seniors who is part of CRN’s revitalization plan. The question around Marcus is whether he can stay healthy and step up to be a consistent performer.

Consistency will also be the key issue for Dominique Johnson and Gavin Kethcum. Johnson has the size and athletic tools for emerging as a key target for UCLA QB. Again we have seen what this kid can do. But like Everett, Dominique will have to show he can step up in a consistent basis.

Gavin Ketchum also has all the physical tool to emerge as a dependable receiver in Chow’s offense. He didn’t get a lot of opportunities during the previous regime. So hopefully he will make the best of out of the opportunities presented by the arrival of new coaching staff, and earn himself a spot in the rotation through hard work this off season and the Fall camp.

Now, Everett, Johnson, and Kethchum are "possession" type of receivers. Among the returining receiving corps, the guy who has the potential to use pure speed to emerge as a game breaking is Terrance Austin. Terrance was one of the most highly recruited WR. He was the headliner in Dorrell’s 2006 recruiting class. However, coaches from previous regime was never able to take advantage of his talent and put him in position to be successful (well that goes for most of the offense). Let’s hope heading into his third year at UCLA, Austin finally experiences a breakthrough. As noted during spring practice reports Austin, Everett, and other wide receivers are finding their options in Chow’s offense to be simpler (per Dohn’s notes this past spring):

It used to be UCLA's receivers had two choices on a pass play - run the designed route, or a go-route. It was a source of frustration in a complex, confining system under former coach Karl Dorrell.

Now, when a receiver stands at the line of scrimmage, his job is the look at the defensive backs and one of the linebackers, then choose from a variety of route options off a simple read.

It is simplistic, UCLA's receivers say, but new offensive coordinator Norm Chow's offense provides plenty of freedom.

"The way the play is designed, it's easier to determine which route to do," Bruins receiver Terrence Austin said.

"How it was last year, it was like, `OK, I got two and that's it.' There could have been an alternative route, but it was just not designed in the play. The routes given now are more instinctual. You don't have to think about it. It's common sense."

UCLA fifth-year receiver Marcus Everett said there are at least two or three variations on routes for each play, with go-routes also in the equation.

"We have a couple of read routes where we can do one route, or if the defensive back plays a certain way, we can do another route," Everett said. "It gives a lot of leeway to the receivers. As long as the quarterback and the receivers are on the same page, it'll be a good thing."

Well the phrase – "on the same page" – gives me nightmares in the context of UCLA football (from last few years). However, it has sounded different in the context of Ben Ball. Let’s hope after all these years of mediocre coaching, Chow and Neuheisel’s leadership finally establishes a strong foundation for our WRs and rest of the offense, which will not make it such a challenge for everyone to get "on the same page" every years.

As for rest of the depth chart in terms of WRs, not sure how much we can expect from Ryan Graves and Jamil Turner. I think they will get a chance to make some plays here and there, but they will have to show remarkable development from last spring, to make an impression this Fall.

They will have to show the same kind of impression Taylor Embree made this past Spring:

Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

So keep an eye on number 82, the son of former Bruin assistant Jon Embree had an impressive spring camp during which observers noted "his high level concentration and his hands." I imagine if Embree continues on the same path, he will have a chance to make meaningful contributions this upcoming season.

Now let’s get to the new comers. And all eyes will be on Nelson Rosario. And for a little intro here is a little bio from a tv station from San Diego (his hometown) which ran before his senior season:

Rosario went on to have senior season that earned him All American honors (SuperPrep) and ranked as one of the best wide receivers in the country. He has the height 6-6. He has the speed and has shown good ability to run his routes. The question around him whether he has put on some weight to go with that 6-6 frame. He was listed at 6-6, 218 per his scout.com bio. Lot of eyes are going to be on him this Fall camp.

Fall campers will also keep an eye on Antwon Moutra and Jerry Johnson. According to Dohn Antwon has been getting "rave reviews" from team-mates. Dohn has gone ga ga over Moutra!

I was on hand for another of UCLA's 7-on-7 passing days Tuesday, and several newcomers continue to standout. One is speedy receiver Antwan Moutra, who is now drawing double coverage because of his ability to get down the field.
The buzz is Moutra should give the Bruins something they lacked recently -- a downfield threat with big-play ability.

Dohn added his caveat about how the observation was based on 7-on-7 drills but he is trying to base it by comparing to his notes from previous season.  Again I should caution folks that although that kind of report is always encouraging, I think we should temper our expectations and wait to see how he performs in the Fall camp. According to scout.com’s bio Johnson has "adequate speed but runs good routes." He seems to have the size (per his bio at least) to perhaps compete for playing time right away. But I guess we will have to wait and see how he performs this Fall camp as well.

Let’s move over to TE, a position that hasn’t gotten much attention since the departure of Marcedes Lewis. Logan Paulsen has most experience out of any of receivers in terms of starting games from last year. He has the potential to emerge as a key contributor in this offense provided he gets the opportunity in Chow’s scheme. Given how Chow’s simplistic offensive scheme is based around slicing and dicing up the opposing defenses based on what they give the offense, there is a good chance Paulsen and rest of our TEs will be called upon a lot this coming season. Ryan Moya is another Bruin bidding to make a strong comeback (seems to be a theme? Doesn’t it? We have already hit that note with Carter at RB and Everett at FL) at the TE spot.

As all of you know by now Chandler is being moved over to the OL, which means freshmen Corey Harkey will most like step into the rotation this Fall. Here is the note from Dohn few days ago where he noted "Harkey has the ability to be UCLA's next great tight end once he gets acclimated to college". That was based on an observation from a player in the team. Again, let’s hope the promises of potential seen during these 7-on-7 drills materializes during Fall camp and the actual games.

So all in all, wrapping up my notes on offense, seems like we do have some decent (but unproven and in some cases totally inexperienced) talent at WR and RB position in our offense. Our coaches will no doubt do everything they can to patch up an injury ravaged OL and do what they can to protect an injury riddled BO, while trying to bring up our young QBs up to speed as efficient game managers. To say that this will be an enormous challenge is an understatement. There is a reason why seasoned analysts and experts are channeling BN in terms of expectations. Again we should keep in mind how these are all kids who are experiencing their 4th OC in as many seasons.

However, as many have observed already on BN, for the first time in years there is a sense of hope. We will see if our players will be able to step up. There is a sense of hope that our coaches will do everything they can to make sure the right scheme in place putting our players in position to succeed. For the first time since Cade’s departure I am excited about our offense (while mindful about the challenges noted last few days). Should be fun. We will take a break from the depth chart analysis for a bit and get back to it with a look at our defensive side in few days.

GO BRUINS.

Now that we have discussed the two biggest question marks around the unit, let’s shift our attention towards our running game. To start let’s go back to what Neuheisel and Chow told us back in April:

Neuheisel: "We’re formulating a scheme. I don’t know if it has the moniker that all the trendy offenses have now. I certainly wouldn’t call it Spread or the West Coast. I think where Norm is centered on is just being able to run the ball and protect the ball. It sounds overly simplistic, but if you can do both those things you can force defenses into a position where now big plays are available.

That doesn’t necessarily sound exciting. ‘Run the ball and protect the ball’ sounds very conservative. But I think if you can do both of those things successfully and commit to both of those things, the excitement then comes because the field now opens because you have to stop the run. You will bleed to death if you don’t stop run."

Chow: "We’re going to run the ball. To win in this game, in any league, you have to run the ball. I don’t think we’re going to revolutionize football. We’re going to continue to do things that [Neuheisel] and I know best.

"I think now it is a matter of what skills what kids can do. We’re not going to ask our kids to do something they are not capable of doing. Right now we put in base stuff that will fit just about anything, then we’ll wait and see."

I mentioned in my notes on our QBs about how for Ben Olson (or any other UCLA QB) to become effective they will have to focus on being more of a game manager than a gun slinger. For Ben or any other to become a successful game manager, it will be essential for UCLA to feature a consistent running attack, which hopefully will flourish taking advantage of multiple options (or at least potential of options) available in our depth chart.

So let’s review with what the coaches had to work with at the end of spring football:

** denotes red-shirt
^ denotes walk-on
() indicates number of games started in 06

And here is a look at their stats from last season:

In addition to looking at running stats we also need to look at the receiving stats of our backs. We can probably expect Chow to ask his QBs to throw a lot of quick, short passes to our RBs (based on our experience in watching Chow offenses at Southern Cal, NC State and BYU):

Let’s start with Bell who didn’t waste any time sending a signal last season that he was a Pac-10 level running back:

Before his season ended at Washington State, Bell was on track to have a great season. As the highlights show above, he has all the tools of emerging as a dependable running back. The question he will have to answer is whether he will return to the same form he was showing before he went down. Let’s hope that he is completely healed up and ready to go. Coming into last season there were lot of stories about how he had rededicated himself to football after some hiccups during his initial years at UCLA. It was great to see him emerge as a dependable option out of the backfield. It would be great if he can return to form, and provide Chow with a valuable weapon in the backfield.

That brings us to Raymond Carter, who was a pretty highly recruited 4 star running back out of Crenshaw High School in the small 2007 recruiting class.  Just like Kahlil, Raymond is also looking to come back from an injury, which quashed his hopes for making an impact in his freshman year before it even got started. Raymond (like Kahlil) was held out of practice this past Spring, however from what we hear, he will probably be ready to go this Fall Camp. As noted earlier on BN, Sporting News singled out Carter as a possible "comeback player" because of his "breakaway speed." This is a guy I am looking forward to see getting some action because he was billed as RB who had the ability to be a "playmaker," something we haven’t had in our RB rotation since the departure of MJD.

Speaking of playmaker and freshmen, let’s talk about two of our freshmen tailbacks. There is Aundre Dean. Instead of describing his playmaking abilities, I will just go ahead and post these highlights that we put up in March (during the heat of Ben Ball season):

Aundre Dean ... Running Back ... Katy Texas from Bobby Gerry on Vimeo

I mean there is not much I need to add to that. Some folks are wondering whether AD will emerge as a starting RB this year. I don’t think he will. However, I do believe that he has the potential to make the same kind of impact as Foster did his freshman season. We will see how that works out.

Along with Dean, Bruins will also welcome Milton Knox into the fold this Fall. As we have written before Milton is the other part of "Thunder & Lightning" combination of this recruiting class. Now Milton is listed at 5-7.5, 196 in his current scout.com bio. He might get redshirted this coming season. However, he can be so explosive out of the backfield that he might just break into the rotation if is able to impress the coaches in Fall Camp. So if you live around Southern California, I would highly recommend heading down to Westwood for practices this August to see just how our running backs are looking.

But we are not done yet. Let’s get back to some of the returning backs who are currently listed on the depth chart. Christian Ramirez had a great spring camp and he finished off on a nice note during the scrimmage. He started the season at the safety spot last year. He was moved to TB after the injury to Carter and immediately made an impression during the Stanford game. However, he didn’t get another shot following a key fumble against Cal. So it will be interesting to see where he emerges in the depth chart following this Fall Camp. He certainly has shown the ability on the field. If he can keep at it, he can also emerge as another option for the coaches in this crowded backfield.

Speaking of "speed" don't forget about Jonathan "Jet Ski" Franklin, the incoming freshman RB-DB who happens to be a reality TV star. There is a chance Jet Ski could get redshirted because of the options we have at RB and infusion of talents such as Hester and Woods at DB. However, don't be too surprised if Jet Ski finds himself a spot in the special team because of his speed.

At FB Theriot did a serviceable job last season after the injury to Michael Pitre. Right now the position is thin. Tobi Umodu is a converted LB who has never played the position. So, I think it will be interesting to see whether Chane Moline remains at TB, if Dean (and Knox) emerge as viable options right away this Fall. It might not be a bad idea to shift Moline to FB. He has the size to play the position. And with his TB skills with him at FB, Chow might be able to put together the classic dual threat combo ala Roger Craig and Tom Rathman many of us Niners fans enjoyed back in the Day. Don’t forget we have Derrick Coleman coming in as a freshman in this year class. At 6-0, 220 Coleman might get redshirted this year as the future at FB, but you never know given the lack of depth at FB position.

Speaking of doing an admirable job, Craig Sheppard did just that last season when he had to step up as our running backs were going down towards the end of the season. I imagine he is going to make the youngsters compete hard to take over this position during the Fall Camp. At the very least his game experience from last year will be helpful to the entire unit.

So in conclusion, this is one position our coaches will have options. They will have a lot of young talent at their disposal. If they can put together a diversified running attack featuring fully recovered and healthy crew from last year and blend them in with the talent of the young crew this year, it will a great development for our entire offensive unit. A dependable running attack will allow our QBs to manage the game more efficiently, and more importantly allow Chow to put together his patented schemes keeping the opposing DCs on their heels.

GO BRUINS.

Let’s shift our attention from the least glamorous position in the offense to the most glamorous one – the quarterback.

And you know where the story begins in this position. Anyone who considers himself or herself a UCLA football fan should know the story of Ben Olson. If you need to refresh your memory on the story of Ben Olson, the center piece in previous regime’s efforts to reestablish the UCLA football program, then simply read up the posts in this section. It hasn’t been a fun story for neither Olson nor UCLA football program to date. However, there still might be a glimmer of hope for Olson to leave Westwood with a positive and satisfying note. That hope depends on not only how Olson recovers from his unfortunate physical injuries, but how he prepares himself mentally heading into his last season in Westwood.

Going back to the post on our offensive line, I mentioned Palcic’s last season at UCLA during which he helped mold an offensive line anchored by Ogden and Parker that carried us to the Rose Bowl. I think it is also worth recalling that OL helped protect Wayne Cook, who was another quarterback who was coming off a devastating injury from the previous season. Now Cook wasn’t as heralded as Olson or other QBs I will note down below. Yet he was able to emerge as a signal caller who was able to take advantage of the protection afforded to him by that OL as an efficient game manager. Right now it’s a huge question mark in terms of the kind of protection Olson will get from the patchwork OL. But if the OL does come around and is enable to provide protection, it would be imperative for Olson to emerge as an efficient game manager taking advantage of the coaching and tutelage of Norm Chow (and Rick Neuheisel). As referenced before, Chow already went on the record following spring ball that he expected all of his QBs (including Olson) to spend lot of time in the film room. Our hope is that Olson has done exactly that this off season in addition to working hard to rehab from his injuries.

As noted multiple times before it took Carson Palmer almost a season and half to finally grasp Chow’s system (as simple as it may be). So it is probably unrealistic to expect Olson to develop into an All Pac-10 QB in just one season. However, I think coaches should expect from Olson that he will emerge as a veteran QB with experience who will make a concerted effort to minimize his mistakes, take advantage of some of the talent at our skill positions (as we will go over in upcoming posts), and take in Chow’s teachings to emerge as an efficient QB.

As far as returning QBs with experience Chow/Neuheisel do not have a lot to work with. Here a look at the numbers from 2007:



Stats via ESPN.com

We all feel awful for Patrick Cowan. He has been nothing short of a warrior during his time at UCLA and the Bruin Nation will be eternally grateful in his role for preserving our record 8 win streak. There is a chance he will get a medical redshirt and come back for his sixth season. However, there is chance that option not worked out (for i.e. what happened with Pitre). Also there is the question whether Cowan will want to come back for his sixth season given the options who might emerge for UCLA in the forms of QBs discussed below and the arrival of blue chip QB Richard Brehaut. In any event, I imagine coaches will encourage him to stay close to the program as he could play a nice role in mentoring the young QBs in the coming years.

MBT is gone. As for OR at this point he is still insisting that he wants to stick with his current position. I imagine he has gotten tired of the switching back and forth between WR and QB during the previous regime. He did get his chances due to the injuries to BO and PC last year. But as the stats bear out he wasn’t all that effective. To his credit he tried to make the best out of a horrific situation in which he showed flashes of his athletic talent, but it was no where close to being enough to show his potential effectiveness as potential game manager in Chow’s scheme. OR is being persistent though. He did  what he could to make a case for him. However, he didn’t crack the top of the depth chart as he was listed number 4 in the depth chart behind Olson, Craft and Forcier. He took some snaps during the recent spring scrimmage during which he completed 4 of his 7 passes for 60 yards and 1 TD. However, to date neither Chow nor Neuheisel have mentioned him as the future at our QB, even though they have not shown any indication that they would force him to play at WR.

So let’s move to the guy listed number 2: Kevin Craft. Neuheisel and Chow didn’t waste any time to bring him into the program following their arrival at UCLA. He does have a solid resume to back him up:

He completed 313 of 511 passes (61.3%) for 4,231 yards, 44 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a redshirt sophomore at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) in Walnut, CA ... Led team to a record of 10-3 and Southern California Junior College championship ... Named first-team All-American by J.C. GridWire

Those are pretty impressive numbers. However, as expected Craft was getting used to playing directly under the center after primarily playing in shot gun formation in his previous years. Here is a shot from the spring scrimmage ....

Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

... during which Craft completed 11 of 24 passes for 95 yards, throwing 1 TD and 1 pick. He had a slow start during the scrimmage but as Chow had mentioned "he came around at the end," and that he needs to spend more time getting "used to the rhythm" of Chow’s offense and get a better understanding by … again spending time in the film room. Craft also recently indicated that he is getting more comfortable with his surroundings at UCLA:

Craft, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, chose UCLA over Hawaii and SMU, and with two years of eligibility remaining and two experienced seniors ahead of him, most figured he'd redshirt.

That impression didn't change much when he was mostly inconsistent and overwhelmed during spring practices.

The overwhelmed part may change when preseason practices begin. Craft said he's found a comfort level with both Norm Chow's offense and his teammates.

"The first day I got to school here was one of our first spring practices -- I didn't know anyone on the team and I had no idea what was going on with the offense," he said. "So I'm just a little bit more comfortable with the offense and terminology, but more importantly I'm a lot more comfortable with all the guys on the team."

Craft should pick things up quicker than most. For one, he's seen action at the Division I-A level, having started his career at San Diego State, where he was forced onto the field because of injuries as a redshirt freshman in 2006.

So right now there are some reasons to be hopeful about Craft (BTW he is listed as a solid 6’5/210 in the official site) but it remains to be seen how he looks in the Fall camp after his off season homework assigned by Chow.

Behind Craft right now we have Chris Forcier. Forcier is intriguing because he is probably the best "dual threat QB" among the current options available to Chow and Neuheisel. Per his official bio Chris threw for over 5,000 yards and 60 touchdowns, while rushing for over 1,000 yards and 18 touchdowns in his high school career. He showed off his mobility during the spring scrimmage:

Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

He completed 4 of 6 passes and at least according to one observer had "looked sharp" during the scrimmage.

Forcier’s task this off season in addition to spending time in the game room is working to gain more strength filling out his 6-3/185 frame and also improve his arm strength. It will be interesting to see the reports coming out from this Fall camp. Because for Forcier to emerge as a viable option this year he needs to show the coaches he is physically ready to handle D-1 defenses going up against Walker’s unit on a day to day basis.

Besides Craft and Forcier the Bruin coaches will have two true freshmen in this year’s fall camp: Nick Crissman and Kevin Prince. Kevin Prince as has been already discussed on BN is an interesting story and could perhaps make a play to break into the depth chart (recall how he was a "huge hit" at Steve Clarkson’s camp this summer). Chow and Neuehisel didn’t waste any time to jump on this kid and make a scholarship available for him in 2009 season. So they must have seen something in the film that’s intriguing to him. However, this kid is also coming off an injury so he remains a question mark/curiosity heading into this Fall camp. As far Crissman is concerned, I think we can probably expect him to redshirt this coming season and get ready to make his bid for a spot in the rotation starting next spring.

Before we finish here, I think it is worth it to go back to OR. Again it is more than understandable how frustrated this kid must be given how his playing career has worked out in Westwood and how he was yanked around in different positions in the previous years. However, as we have mentioned before, I think it would be very interesting if the coaches consider use him as a "slash" WR/QB option out of the backfield. We brought it up last year and the year before. After all the guy who epitomizes that position – Kordell Stewart – burst into the national scene under the tutelage of a certain QB coach we all know too well. Just something to think about. 

So those are my notes on our signal callers. As you can see right now we have lot of questions, which we don’t have any answers. The situation might get cleared up a little during Fall camp, but IMHO we are really not going to know until we have a few games under the new coaching staff. As we get ready for a year during which we are going to got through a lot of growing pains, I hope the coaching staff is not afraid to take chances and perhaps go with new options at this position, looking ahead to our future. Either way it will be very interesting how it all plays out. I am rooting for a happy ending for Ben Olson, while at the same time excited about what the future holds with other options available at Chow/Neuheisel’s disposal.

GO BRUINS.