On Saturday, when the Bruins take the field against their crosstown rival No. 5 USC, it will be the end of a long and bumpy ride for senior running back Kahlil Bell.
After two head coaches, four offensive coordinators, three running back coaches and four offensive line coaches, the journey that has been Bell’s four-year career at UCLA will come to an end.
“It’s been a long ride,” Bell said. “It’s been a journey filled with ups and downs, highs and lows.”
In addition to Bell, Saturday’s game will also mark the final games for 19 other Bruin players. One of the commonalities that exists between all of the seniors is the immense amount of transition each has experienced during their career at UCLA.
Each has undergone the difficult changeover of head coaches and numerous assistant coaches.
While he has coached them for just 11 games, coach Rick Neuheisel said he has already seen the impact each senior has had on the Bruin program.
“They’ve been terrific,” Neuheisel said. “You stop to think about some of the turmoil they’ve been through, with the changing of assistant coaches and then the changing of a head coach, It’s difficult to kind of move in and about different cultures.”
One of the important lessons Bell said he has gained from his playing career at UCLA under a variety of different coaches, philosophies and personalities is the ability to adapt.
“You get a new coach, you don’t know him, he doesn’t know you,” Bell said. “You get new players in and it’s a life learning experience. You just got to roll with the punches. It’s been a crazy ride but everything happens for a reason. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Another senior who has experienced his fair share of turmoil and upheaval is wide receiver Marcus Everett. In his fifth year out of West Hills High School, Everett has been forced to miss significant time due to injury.
In 2005, he missed two games due to a sprained shoulder.
In 2007, he played in just one game due to an ankle injury.
This season, Everett has missed eight games due to a dislocated toe.
Suffice it to say, it has been quite a ride for the fifth-year wide receiver.
“They’ve been up and down,” Everett said. “They haven’t been all that I’ve expected coming into college, but I’ve had a great experience at UCLA.”
But Everett was quick to emphasize the tremendous impact his time at UCLA has had on him.
“If I could do it all over again, I think I would,” Everett said. “This is the best place in the world. It’s a great campus, great atmosphere, great program.”
On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Brigham Harwell will also be playing in the final game of his college football career.
Looking back, Harwell said that there were some good years, such as his sophomore year when the Bruins finished the season 10-2.
Yet, despite the immense struggles the team has experienced this season ““ a 4-7 record and failing to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2001 ““ Harwell said that it was this season he cherished the most.
“It’s not about winning championships or winning all these games,” Harwell said. “Not a lot of people get to play college football. And I thank God and getting an opportunity to play at UCLA, getting my degree here and I just soaked the experience all in. I would have liked to win championships and win the Pac-10 championship and all that good stuff, but I’m just happy being a Bruin. I made the right decision coming here and things didn’t fall out the way they’re supposed to be, but this is life and things happen.”
Neuheisel admitted on Monday that it has been a trying season for the Bruins, and one in which the team would have liked to accomplish a little bit more for the seniors. However, he was quick to commend the seniors on their commitment to the team and to this season, and not quitting when it may have seemed easier to do so.
“They bought in, they did everything we’ve asked, they played their tails off and I just wish we had a few more wins to show for it,” Neuheisel said. “But I have zero regret with respect to them having gone through a lot of this season. It just doesn’t really show up in headlines, but they’re going to be better people having gone through what they went through and dealing with it in the way they did.”
There will be no bowl game for Everett or any of the seniors to play in. Therefore, their final game ““ a home game against their rival with the opportunity to play the role of spoiler ““ presents an opportunity to finish the season in good spirits.
“This last game against “˜SC, there’s no better way to go out then to beat “˜SC and send them maybe to the Holiday Bowl or something like that,” Everett said. “That would be a great accomplishment for us. It wouldn’t save our season but this would definitely be a way to go out.”