UCLA Officially Announces Football Staff Changes

On November 28th, shortly after the loss to Southern Cal, I wrote an article which declared that Jim Mora's "Bruin Revolution" was over.

Today, it is my pleasure to declare that the Bruin Revolution is, in fact, back on at UCLA as UCLA officially announced several changes to the coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball.

Of course, these changes were leaked days ago, but, until the news is made official, you never know what might happen. Remember when it was leaked that Rocky Seto was in line to become UCLA's defensive coordinator? I do. Seto was vetoed.

But, this morning, UCLA has a new offensive coordinator in Kennedy Polamalu who has been promoted from running backs coach. Polamalu will continue to coach RBs as part of his new duties.

In the announcement, Coach Mora had this say about Polamalu:

Kennedy has been instrumental in developing game plans with us for two years now. Play calling is a function of preparation during the week and understanding tendencies, and you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who prepares better and understands tendencies more than KP. He brings a real element of toughness to this staff.  He’s disciplined, he’s organized and he’s extremely well respected, revered really, by our players.

In a crosstown hiring, Mora has brought Marques Tuiasosopo back from the Dark Side. Tuiasosopo was originally hired by Coach Rick Neuheisel as an intern back in 2011 and was promoted to QB coach for the 2011 Fight Hunger bowl. He was retained by Coach Mora as tight ends coach for the 2012 season before leaving to become the QB coach for Washington under Steve Sarkisian. He followed Sark to Southern Cal for the past two seasons where he was selected as the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year for 2015.

Coach Mora said this about Tuiasosopo:

Marques and I obviously share an alma mater and our fathers were both together at UCLA in the 1970s as player and coach, but the most important similarity is our attention to detail. Marques is a tactician. He knows being a quarterback inside and out, having competed at the highest level in the NFL. He also has a very commanding presence, which is what it takes to play and coach this particular position as well as deliver our message on the recruiting trail.

In a lateral move, Associate AD Rip Scherer is returning to the sidelines as the team's tight ends coach. This is a position UCLA has not had a coach for since Tuiasosopo left for Washington. It also marks a shift in offensive philosophy for UCLA since UCLA really has not played with a true TE since Joe Fauria graduated.

Scherer brings 33 years of coaching experience in both the NFL and college ranks to the job.

Coach Mora said this about Coach Scherer:

Rip is a football coach, plain and simple.  It’s what he was born to do, and he has been a tremendous resource to me, our staff and players these past three years.  His wealth of football knowledge is surpassed only by his integrity, and you will not find anyone more respected in professional and collegiate football circles around the country than Rip Scherer.  His level-headed approach and professionalism make him the ideal fit for this staff.

In my previous article declaring the Bruin Revolution over, I called for three changes to the offensive coaching staff. Specifically, I wrote that the two Mazzones and Adrian Klemm should be relieved of their duties. Last week, we got two-thirds of the changes I thought are necessary to move the team forward.

Personally, I'd still like to see Klemm gone because his offensive lines have not performed that well and, of course, there was that little matter of the recruiting violation which resulted in Klemm being suspended twice last year.

With the final recruiting push starting tomorrow, I'm glad to know that we have a new OC and QB coach and I'm willing to give Klemm a pass until after National Signing Day.

While I still believe that Klemm needs to go to complete all of the changes I think are necessary, I think getting 2/3rds of what I suggested is enough to declare the Bruin Revolution back on and look forward to our next recruiting class, Spring Practice and the 2016 season.

And, I cannot wait to see what Coach Bradley does to stop Noel Mazzone's six-play offense on September 3rd.

"Six-play offense?" you ask, thinking that Mazzone liked to brag how he continuosly called the same five plays in a different order.

Yes, Texas A&M with Mazzone as offensive coordinator will be a six-play offense. Everything is bigger in Texas.

Go Bruins!!!