One day after what he called a “disappointing” performance by his group that he said nearly lost UCLA the game against Virginia, offensive line coach Adrian Klemm brought his players in for a meeting.
His fiery demeanor appeared extinguished; he didn’t shout or curse at them much at all.
Instead, he preached to his players, to a unit that allowed redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley to be knocked around for five sacks, nine hurries and 14 backfield hits.
Klemm told his linemen how serious it was to be blocking for a Heisman candidate in Hundley, and how guys weren’t taking it seriously, whether it was in film or on the plane ride. They needed to pay more attention.
“He was like, ‘You got to really take it serious. And you got to come to the game with your head on straight, locked in and ready to go,’” said redshirt senior left tackle Malcolm Bunche.
For some players along the young offensive line comprised of three sophomores, one freshman and Bunche, the cross-country game was one of many firsts: first game, first time traveling, first time on a large, chartered plane and so on and so forth.
With all the novelty, locking in proved more difficult than usual.
Once in the same position, Bunche understood. You get excited about these things, he acknowledged. But that feeling can be a double-edged sword.
“You kind of tend to steer away from what’s really important,” he said. “There’s a time to play around and there’s a time to get serious, and some of the guys you know it’s not their fault, it was (just) their first time.”
When Klemm’s talk was all said and done, the players’ reaction was simple: It was true. They knew where the blame had to be directed.
So one meeting proved not enough.
This time, Bunche gathered his fellow offensive linemen together for another discussion – a players-only one. Speaking from his heart, Bunche expressed how he felt.
“You got to come to every practice with a purpose,” he told the group.
“You got to come ready, even though you may be tired or sore or whatever, you got to blow all that out the window and just come ready to play. Come ready to work on the negatives and try to get better each practice.”
So far, leading up to No. 11 UCLA’s (1-0) home opener versus Memphis (1-0), it’s resulted in many more positives.
Over the past few days, Bunche has noticed changes being made. He’s seen just how hard his fellow offensive linemen have been working. Meanwhile, sophomore defensive end Eddie Vanderdoes has been left feeling the effects.
“They’ve been physical (before) but this week has been … definitely a lot more physical,” Vanderdoes said.
Going forward for the offensive line, it seems fitting that pride is on the line.
“Hopefully we get better,” Klemm said, before correcting himself.
“We will get better.”