Bruins return to Spaulding Field this afternoon at 3:45pm, for the second of their fifteen Spring practice sessions. There is a lot of "excitement" in the air. Ralph brought in Joe Fauria to get people fired up and come out to practice. WATCH:
Okay then. Ralph also caught up with former Bruins quarterback Wayne Cook after first day of practice. Here is the video. Cook sounds "excited" about the "fast pace" football at Spaulding. Cook has nothing but praise for the coaching staff. He also talked about true "competition" at the quarterback spot. It all sounds fun and it's not surprising given Cook works for UCLA.
However, color me skeptical until I see 8/9 regular seasons and a victory against Southern Cal. None of this will matter if we don't see the results on the field. Anyone can go through the practice reports and the Spaulding Roundups here on BN in Neuheisel's first spring. You will find posts and videos replete with references to "culture change" and how the Bruins were picking up the "pace." We have heard it all before.
Some additional notes after the jump.
- Peter Yoon from ESPNLA has a nice piece on Jerry Neuheisel, who has been nothing but class since his arrival at UCLA. Neuheisel is a real long shot when it comes to making a dent in the QB competition. That said you have to be impressed with his attitude and how he is going about in approaching the competition. You also have to be impressed with his comments about how he didn't come to UCLA to play for his Dad, but he came to Westwood "to be a UCLA Bruin." I really hope the Bruins are never in a situation to have to depend on him, but who knows he may get his shining moments just like his Dad, before he is done in Westwood.
- Jon Gold has a quick post on Noel Mazzone's thoughts on first day. The new Bruin OC should have a lot to chew on in his first few days closely monitoring (and coaching) the progress of 6 QBs - seniors Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut, redshirt freshman Brett Hundley and freshmen Jerry Neuheisel, T.J. Millweard and (walk-on) Mike Fafaul. Pe Mazzone "everyone is still in the race."
- ICYMI - Arizona State has become the latest Pac-12 program to launch a full throttle renovation of their football facilities. House of Sparky has the details of an impressive $300 million renovation of the Sun Devil football stadium. Of course over here in Westwood Chianti Dan thinks there is nothing wrong with Spaulding
That's what we have for this morning. If you all are heading out to practice today, please make sure to share your notes and thoughts here on BN. You can fire your quick fire takes here in the comment threads. You can share extended reflections in the fanpost section and you can always post pictures and links of relevant pieces in the fanshot section.
Yes, we have been around so long that we tend to be pragmatic about outlook on our program after years of incompetence under Chianti Dan. Nevertheless, we still appreciate the info. Keep it coming.
GO BRUINS.