The Daily Bruin’s Sam Allen sat down with redshirt freshman quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson last week. The walk-on has impressed coaches as he begins his second year with the program, and, due to Pat Cowan’s injury, he will be the back-up quarterback this weekend when UCLA takes on Stanford.
Daily Bruin: Is it hard knowing that if no one gets hurt, you probably won’t see the field, but you still have to be ready at any time?
McLeod Bethel-Thompson: Yeah, it’s an interesting situation. You want to prepare like you’re going to play the game, even though in the back of your mind you hope Ben (Olson) doesn’t go down. I’m just worried about getting better. My main focus is just getting better every day.
DB: Was it hard to make the transition from star high school quarterback to fighting just to get reps at UCLA?
MBT: No, I knew it was a different level. I knew it was going to be a lot of better players and a lot faster. So I knew I had to make a transition. I just had to focus on speeding up for the speed of this game.
DB: Was there another school you thought about going to?
MBT: I was actually deciding between UCLA and junior college. There are some good junior colleges up in the Bay Area, so I was really considering that. But I talked to the coaches down here and they gave me a good opportunity, so I chose to come down.
DB: How did you choose No. 14, Drew Olson’s old number?
MBT: They just gave it to me. Another person turned around and said, “You can’t give him Drew’s number!” I guess I was just supposed to get No. 14, it was in the works.
DB: How’s your life off the field? Who is your roommate?
MBT: Last year I lived with some of the kickers and long snappers, Kai Forbath and Christian Yount. This year I’m living with some of the fullbacks and receivers. We’re all together up in the dorms.
DB: What about your major?
MBT: I’ve gone back and forth from math to political science to history to geography. I really don’t know. I have no idea.
DB: How does math class compare to learning coach Dorrell’s playbook?
MBT: It’s very similar. You gotta learn the formula, you gotta learn all the terms, and then kind of apply it to what you’re doing on the field. It’s definitely different because it’s much more physical than math is ““ math’s just a mental exercise. It’s kind of like trying to apply math to a physical activity.
DB: Do you think it helps to be smart being a quarterback?
MBT: That’s the most important thing. In this offense, sure it’s great to have a great arm, but the most important thing is to be fast and to know where to put the ball, to make your reads as fast as possible.
DB: Do you have a nickname?
MBT: Mac.
DB: Is there a story behind your name?
MBT: Well there are a couple stories behind that. I wasn’t named until I was about 6 months old. Until then I didn’t really have a name. Then they just put a whole bunch of family names in there. McLeod is a family name, my grandmother was Christina McLeod. John and Baltasar ““ those are my middle names ““ those are family names. It’s just a combination of all my family names.
DB: So it’s McLeod John Baltasar Bethel-Thompson?
MBT: Yes, that’s my name.
DB: So McLeod, that’s a Scottish name right?
MBT: Yes. McLeod is Scottish, and John is British, and Baltasar is Spanish. Part of my family is from El Salvador. And Bethel-Thompson is my dad’s last name and my mom’s last name.
DB: Have you visited any of those places?
MBT: No, I want to go back to Scotland eventually. I went to El Salvador for my cousin’s wedding. But I haven’t been back to Scotland to see that side of the family. I’ll do that eventually, I hope.
DB: Is there any other profession you’ve looked into beyond football?
MBT: No, my whole life I just played sports. I lettered in five sports in high school. I’ve just always played sports since I was a kid. After, maybe coaching. I really don’t know.
DB: What other sports have you played?
MBT: In high school I played five sports. I lettered in varsity in football, basketball and baseball. And I played on traveling soccer and volleyball teams.
DB: Was football your best sport?
MBT: No. I didn’t play football until my sophomore year of high school. I played soccer and baseball as a kid. I was probably the best at those two.
DB: Do you think that late start limited your D-1 opportunities?
MBT: No, I don’t think anyone even knew about it. I played three years of varsity football. I think the issue was that the school I came from, our athletes were never really recruited because it’s kind of a run-down area. It was more the lack of exposure.
DB: Did you have any offers to play other sports out of high school?
MBT: I was going to play semi-pro baseball or some other stuff in baseball. Soccer I kind of stopped playing. Once I hit my stride during my sophomore year, after that I was just focusing on football.
DB: You’re from Northern California. How do you describe the difference between life here and life at home?
MBT: It’s a lot different. People think California is just one big state, but I really think it’s two states. It’s very different. You have the whole Hollywood aspect down here. I walk around campus and I see all the movies that have been filmed here; it’s kind of like a movie scene down here.
DB: So are you a big hyphy hip-hop fan?
MBT: (Laughs) Yes. I was the only white male in my high school class, so I was introduced to all that. I was big into all that.
DB: So now you’re going back up there for the Stanford game. Do you think you’ll have a lot of family and friends there?
MBT: My parents will definitely come. I have to see how many tickets I can get. I might get in, so I know my boys will be watching.
DB: So you’re happy to be at UCLA, you feel like you made the right choice?
MBT: Yeah, I’m happy to be here. I hope I can stay here for all my five years, and play. And I’m hoping the scholarship’s coming, and everything like that. It’s kind of working itself out. I definitely want to be here, it’s a great place to play. I definitely feel like I made the right choice. There’s so much opportunity at UCLA, and I feel like I’m really starting to capitalize on it.