Thanks to Edward Lewis of the Bruin Sports Report for posting the videos of Coach Mora and Coach Ulbrich.
It's time for everyone to wake up and start understanding what our coaches are shovelling each week. So, we're going to look at what they said and what they really mean
Let's look at Coach Mora's post-game comments.
Unfortunately we couldn't get [today's crowd] a win and that's really disappointing,I know, to everybody in the stands and, certainly, to us. There's nobody more disappointed than those guys in there. But, I just want the people who are buying in, I just want them to know that we appreciate it and we notice it. It means something to us and we're gonna go out and keep fighting and try to invite you to keep coming back to the Rose Bowl.
So, what exactly is Coach Mora really saying?
What he really means: We're a mediocre football team. We know most of you who came today left early. We know you have no faith in us, as evidenced by the fact that most of the crowd went home before the start of the fourth quarter. You will come back for the Arizona game, but really only because you've been doing that for years. We already have your money and neither myself nor anyone on my coaching staff plans to ante up to provide any of you with any kind of refund.
The second thing is I understand they caught me and Brick getting into it a little bit on the sidelines. I've known him since he was 21 years old. Since he was just a lil babe coming into the pro football world. He's one of my closest friends and we are both very passionate and very competitive. If you don't have that fire, then something's wrong in the business. If you don't have that respect where you can have difficult conversations with each other, then something's wrong and the last thing we think about during a game is where the camera is. Man, we're fighting to win and we love each other dearly. He's one of my, like I said, one of my closest friends. He's one of the fiercest competitors that I have ever been around in my life. This guy played ten years in the NFL for one team. Do you know how hard that is to do? That speaks volumes for his character and I challenged him a little bit and he responded and we hugged and made up. Well, we didn't have to make up because that's just our relationship. So, please don't read anything into that except other than that two guys that just die to win, are passionate about football, have a long history. And, that's all there is.
What he really means: If I keep spinning and telling you how much I love Brick, I'm sure almost all of you will believe it, rather than focusing on how much we embarrassed both ourselves and our university today on national television by having a shouting match with each other. I'll find a way to fire him with less fanfare later, after you've all forgotten about today.
I think that it's an emotional environment and you need to play on that edge. Sometimes, you step over that edge and you need to be able to draw it back. We did have a couple of costly penalties. We've really improved in terms of penalties this year. I think you guys know that. I think going into this game we were only 3rd in the Pac-12 in penalties which is a huge jump for us. But you get keyed up. These are young men still. They're still growing. Some of them are kids still. Part of my job is to try to teach them how to control their emotions at critical times and, sometimes, it is going to be a little bit messy. I've never been in a football game where it isn't messy...where there aren't emotions in play...where there aren't mistakes. There's a human element to every competitive sport. So, this isn't like you're taking a test where the teacher says, "Turn off your cell phones., make it real quiet and pull out your number two pencil." There's a human element involved. We just got to keep working through those things and get better on the other end.
What he really means: We're not being penalized this year as much, but when we are they cost us more yards. We're down from 8.1 penalties per game to 7.2 penalties per game, but our penalty yards per game is down only about 5 yards per game. While that may be better and we may not be the Raiders of the Pac-12, we're still in the bottom quarter nationally.
It's just the passion of the game. How many of you guys have been on the sidelines coaching a game ever at any level? Whether's it pee-wees...I mean, I'll go to my kids' pee-wee games and coaches are like, "Arrrr!" grinding and it's a game in front of 12 fans. If you're a competitor, which we are, then those things happen. That's life! If you can't accept that, then you shouldn't be doing this. If you're gonna make a big deal of it, then you don't understand sports. I would hope no one would make a big deal out of something as stupid as that. because, if they do, they don't understand what competition really is and they don't understand what passion really is.
What he really means: You may have never seen two coaches go at it like we did, but you don't know what you're talking about if you make a big deal of this. I know this was a big deal, but I'm sure as hell not going to admit that to anyone.
It's like any loss. You pick yourself up. You dust yourself off. You learn from your mistakes. You draw closer together. You lock out the noise more. You focus on the positives. You lean on each other and you continue to battle. That's what you do. This is a competitive sport, a competitive environment. We're a competitive team. No one is going to fold it up. You just keep fighting. That's the only option you have. You've got two options really. You can quit or you can fight. And, we will choose to fight.
What he really means: What the heck do you expect me to say? Of course, I'm going to say we choose to fight.
Every loss is disappointing. You put so much into it. These young men...they put so much into it. School started up this week. It was their first real week of school. So, there's that added to it, but they're disappointed but they're not defeated. They're going to continue to work hard to get better. They're going to continue to focus on the positives and learn from the negatives and we're going to come back out and battle next Saturday. That's what we do, but they were disappointed. We were all disappointed. This what we do. This is our passion. This is our livelihood. This is what we love. So, when we don't succeed, it's no fun.
What he really means: We got our asses kicked today and I have to find a nice way to tell you that.
We were able to move the ball between the twenties and, going into this game, I believe we were one of the top two or three teams in the country in Red Zone offense. We didn't get into the end zone, nor did we get it through the uprights like we needed to do to compete with a team like that. I thought Brett making that play at the end of the first half to get into the end zone to make it 21-10 was huge. It felt like, if we could come back out in the second half, we were getting the ball to start the second half, and take it down and score, we could get ourselves right back in it. They got us stopped and then they went down and scored. So, it switched real quick on us right there.
What he really means: I thought the 41-yard field goal we missed was a "makeable kick", just like I thought the 55-yarder was a "makeable kick" last week. I'm crazy for continuing to send out our field goal team to try anything over 40 yards, but I'm going to keep doing it. I'm just glad you didn't ask me about my decision to kick a field goal when the ball was at the two yard line instead of going for it and trying to get the touchdown. And, in hindsight, I know that against Oregon, we should have chosen to put our offense on the field first to try to score first and grab the momentum in the game first.
Well, first of all, I think you need to remember that Oregon is a really dynamic offense, probably one of the most prolific offenses in college football over the course of the last few years. They've been doing their thing for a long time. They've a great quarterback in Marcus Mariota. There's not many games that they play where they're felt little or nothing. They score points. They get yards. That's what they do. This Pac-12 is wide open. But other than that, it's a little bit of everything. It's them making plays. It's them having great athletes. It's them catching the ball. It's us trying to get it right and maybe not getting it right on a play or popping a gap. Sometimes, you get beat or not put your players in the right position. It's everything. You can't just say it's one thing when you play that many plays. It's a lot of things. I'm not trying to avoid your question. Every game is like that win or lose.
What he really means: Their coaching staff is able to get the best out of their players and me and my coaching staff are not.
Effort? Did you see our team fight to the end there? How could you ever question our effort with the way we played in the fourth quarter. You have to give credit where credit is due. That's a very, very talented football team that's been together running the same system for a long, long time. Veteran quarterback...our effort is always fantastic. I don't mean to jump on you, but the word 'effort' I get a little bit sensitive too because 'effort' to me means guys who are quitting. Guys that aren't giving their full everything to a game and, when you see the way we fought to the end, I don't think you can question effort. It can be execution. It could be scheme. It could be a more advanced team then you are at the point, but it certainly wasn't effort.
What he really means: Whew! I thought you were going to ask about playoffs and I was going to have to call Dad in to address that for you. Effort? I'll talk about that all day. It may have looked like we battled to the end, but our clock management sucked. Brett routinely let 20 seconds slip off the clock before snapping the ball. We call our offense a tempo offense, but we take our sweet time once we get to the line and that leaves us without the time needed to reward the effort we try to put in.
Every loss is different. Every loss has its own formula. The important thing for us is to go back and regroup and stay focused and lock out the noise and get back on track. I am very confident that this team will find a way to do that. Just knowing how these young men have reacted thus far.
What he really means: We got our asses kicked by Oregon again and, if, by some miracle, we are actually able to win the Pac-12 South, they will probably do it again.
This is a passionate game. I love Coach Mora and we're both extremely passionate people and we're both defensive-minded people. Unfortunately, it happened. I should have handled it better is what it comes down to.
What he really means: I threw a childish tantrum when my boss tried to hold me accountable for our inability to stop their offense.
Good, bad, indifferent.There's always a response from both of us, especially when the defense is on the field. I just responded in the wrong way. I should have responded better.
What he really means: I was an idiot for responding that way.
About 30 seconds into it.
What he really means: I like the bigger paycheck I get now that I'm our defensive coordinator. I didn't want to give that up.
I'm not sure exactly. I was in a moment...obviously, I lost a little bit of control and I can't do that. I can't do that. That's not a good message for my players. I've got to handle it better. My strength is my passion. My weakness is my passion.
What he really means: I acted like a five-year old.
Like it or hate it, that's what I am. I try to be honest with coaches and players and honest with you guys. At times, there is no filter. Maybe I need to start developing a filter. Maybe I need to start controlling my emotions a little bit better. I know that on a sideline of a game, I shouldn't respond that way.
What he really means: You can bet I won't make that mistake again, because if I do I'll probably get fired.
No, it's one of those things we're both such passionate people. He's so passionate and I'm so passionate. They see that fire from us. And, like I said, it was a weakness today from my standpoint, but it can be a strength at times too for our players because they know there's no crap with us. There's no bullshit with us. They get to see the honest truth. The majority of times, that's a positive thing. Today, it wasn't, obviously, but it can be a positive thing, for sure, because we're both very honest. If we've got a problem with you, you know about that. We deal with it right there. We're not the type of coaches or people that talk behind each other's back or let things linger. We deal with it.
What he really means: I'm just glad you aren't going to see the screaming match that ensues later tonight.
I think had we followed that up with some erratic behavior and some erratic play calling and we had kind of lost control, maybe that would have been the message. The fact that we both got composed. He got composed. I got composed. We recovered and got back to the game plan and went back to the sidelines and started working on our adjustments. I think that to our players, they're accustomed to the passion. They're not accustomed to the passion in that sort of setting and that sort of outburst and, at the end of the day, I've got to put it on my own shoulders. I've got to respond better.
What he really means: I showed why I shouldn't have been promoted from linebackers coach today.
Honestly, I tell this to my players all the time. This coaching thing for me is like the cream. My dream was to play and I'm just trying to create the best opportunities for my players. That's all I'm trying to do. I could care less honestly. I might like you guys individually, but I could care less about the public perception. I really could. Maybe that's a flaw of mine and maybe it's not. I care about the coaches I coach with. I care about those players in that locker room. I just want to put them in the best position where they could be successful. I want to put them in a position where they can fulfill all their dreams. I got to fulfill my dream. Whenever I let them down...whenever we play like that, I feel like it was my fault. I really do. At the end of the day, I've got to help them with better calls. I've got to help them with better preparation. I've just got to keep working. That's all I know.
What he really means: I have no business running our defense.
Adversity is always an opportunity to grow...always an opportunity to get better. We came out. We didn't play as well as we wanted to, obviously, and we've got to fix it. I'm going to be the first one to point a finger at myself. I'm going to continue to do that and I'm going to continue to work and try harder and get this thing remedied.
What he really means: We got our asses kicked today. What else do you expect me to say?
We tried to be on the simple side, probably more of an NFL approach that way. The NFL defenses...I mean, shoot...The Seattle Seahawks ran three defenses in the Super Bowl. It's simple. It's fundamental. We tried to embrace that. I've just got to give them more options is what it comes down to. It's always on me. It's never on these guys. As exotic as some of these collegiate offenses are very...they're just tricky because there's a lot of different stuff to them and sometimes when you're just really fundamental and you're disciplined...at the end of the day, it comes down to me. I got to keep more options is what I've got to do.
What he really means: I created a bad defensive game plan and it cost us the game.
We've got to be better than this and it starts with me. Especially against the run, it's something that our group takes enormous pride in stopping the run and we didn't do that today effectively...not well enough by any means. So, yeah, we've got to fix it. Whether that's just becoming more disciplined in our run gaps and at the same time, me giving them a little bit more variety.
What he really means: Oregon just ran over us. It may have been a simple plan, but we couldn't execute it. I am learning on the job.
They threw the ball 19 times. We never stopped the run. We never got into pass rush situations. That's what it comes down to.
What he really means: You know we aren't as good as last year on defense. If we can't stop the run, our opponent has no reason to pass. So, we aren't going to get many sacks.
Thanks to Ryan Kartje of the OC Register for the video of Mazzne. (Note: Putting up 500+ yards and not scoring enough points to win makes you good enough to be ASU's offensive coordinator. It doesn't get you back the O's in your name.)
Brett really battled out there today running the offense. He did a good job running the offense. There's nothing to be happy about, but I think where we made improvements was our protection was a little more solid this game. That's a really goot front we played against. We created some more space for Brett that he could use his legs in some of those situations when the guy's covered. Sometimes, they cover us. I thought he did a nice job with that and I think the outside kids did a nice job of rallying, especially in the second half, of rallying to Brett when he got out of the pocket.
What he really means: Brett made me look like a better OC today, especially after Bruins Nation re-posted that video of me at our first signing day.
I hadn't talked to those guys yet so I don't know if Malcolm [Bunche] got a ding. I haven't seen Coach Klemm yet because he was off talking to his guys, so I don't know what happened there, but he came in and did a really nice job for us.
What he really means: Klemm gets paid more than me. So, obviously, I report to him and he hasn't told me what happened.
Paul did a nice job. You know who else did a nice job was Nate. I'm really happy with those guys. I don't know what we rushed for or what Paul did, but he really...he's still young. Nate's a freshman and he's a sophomore. I really felt that they got better as they game went on which is what good backs do. It was fun watching him run.
What he really means: Coach Polamalu has solved our problems at running back, even if I still can't call plays that get us into the end zone.
So there you have it: a detailed accounting of what our coaches said and what they really meant. It's obvious, after the past two games, that this coaching staff isn't capable of putting our players in a position to win. That's on Coach Mora. We expect him to address it and bring in coaches who are capable of doing that because we have squandered away another opportunity to become an elite team.
In that respect, at this point, he is no better than Coach Neuheisel, Karl Dorrell or any other UCLA coach since Red Sanders.
The Mora things change, the Mora they stay the same.
Go Bruins!