UCLA coach Jim Mora post-practice transcript
On practice:
“A lot of energy, enthusiasm, good tempo, got a lot done; so it (was) a good day for us. I think having this kind of weather helps a little bit. At this time, it’s spring ball and you’ve had nine practices and they might be dragging a little bit. We’ve been working them pretty hard so it’s a good day.”
On injured redshirt senior linebacker Patrick Larimore:
“He has a concussion and we’re just going to be very, very sensitive to it, and other than that, he’s not cleared so it could be a while. Not sure if he’s out a day, a week or the whole spring. Like I’ve said many times, you don’t mess with head injuries. His symptoms haven’t cleared yet so he’s not out here yet.”
On defensive line:
“Boy, I really like (them). I think we’ve got outstanding depth and that’s without the addition of Ellis (McCarthy) yet. I think we’ve got about eight guys that I think are legitimate players at this level, a couple that are legitimate players at the next level. I think we’re going to have a nice rotation at both end and nose tackle to be able to keep guys fresh so they can run well, be sturdy against the run, get after the passer. To me right now, probably the strength of our football team is our defensive line and I think Angus (McClure) is just doing a tremendous job coaching. They’re technically sound, they play with discipline, with leverage; they are just doing a heck of a job. When you’re a defensive guy … it all starts up front, I mean it does. When you have a defensive line like that, it makes you feel good.”
On redshirt senior linebacker Damien Holmes:
“I’ve never coached him before. He is what I’ve seen, so that’s all I know. To say anyone’s surprised me, I can’t say that. I can tell you this ““ I like what I see, we like what we see. He’s doing a good job for a guy that’s making a position change like he is. He’s so willing to do anything you ask, he’s as hard a worker that you’ll find. He’s got a great attitude, he studies the game, he’s smart and he wants to be a good player so all those things that kind of manifest themselves and good practice out here so it doesn’t surprise me, but it’s encouraging that’s for sure.”
On offensive line:
“We’re looking for depth and consistency there. I’d be lying if I said that I was satisfied with where we are from a talent standpoint, from a depth standpoint. But I think we’ve got some guys here that are really willing. They work hard. I think they’ll develop into really good players, they’re just young.”
On redshirt freshman offensive tackle Torian White:
“I think that Torian White has a chance to be special. I mean, really, a special football player. He’s built like you want an offensive tackle to be built. He just needs to develop and mature and play games and get stronger and do those types of things.”
On sophomore offensive tackle Xavier Su’a-Filo and redshirt senior offensive guard Jeff Baca:
“I think that Xavier, everyday, knocks a little bit more rust off. He’s still got those great feet. Jeff Baca, I think is a really sturdy player, a really solid player.”
On sophomore offensive tackle Alexandru Ceachir, a junior college transfer born in Moldova:
“(Ceachir) is coming along. (Ceachir) is funny. There’s still a little bit of a language barrier at times. He’s in a meeting the other day and Adrian Klemm is talking about, “˜Leverage. You’ve got play with leverage, you’ve got to play with leverage, you’ve got to get leverage.’ And for about three days, he’s talking about leverage and (Ceachir) to get some leverage and finally (Ceachir) says, “˜Coach, what is this thing you talk about? Leverage?’ And so it’s funny we have to take into account that like, today, Adrian’s out there saying (Ceachir) get wider split, wider split, wider split and I said he might not even know what a split is. So we have to overcome that, but I think once we do I think that that kid can be really special. He’s powerful, he’s explosive, he’s strong. There’s a lot of things I like about him.”
On impressions after watching film of Saturday scrimmage:
“My impressions after watching the film were much better than they were coming off the field. Coming off the field, I didn’t feel real good about it. But I think I was influenced a lot by the fact that the second play there was a long touchdown, and then late in the scrimmage, two linebackers suffered head injuries so that kind of brings you down a little bit. When I went and looked at the film, I thought we did a lot of good things. I think we can be explosive on offense. I think we hustle around on defense. I think guys are buying in. I thought our effort was a lot better then I felt like it was on the field on Saturday and I think we got a lot of good work done.”
Compiled by Tyler Drohan, Bruins Sports contributor.