UCLA football typically blasts classic rock and hip-hop music throughout practice, reverberating well outside the walls of Spaulding Field and spilling onto the UCLA campus.
But for defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, the music was yet another aspect he had to get used to in his transition to the Bruins.
At the beginning of the seventh spring practice of the season, coach Jim Mora extended a helping hand to his defensive coordinator, assisting him by putting old time classics like Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” and Temptations’ “My Girl” on the top of the practice playlist.
Or maybe not.
“He was teasing me the other day about it so he put it in there today,” Bradley said. “I knew it was a dig at me. I heard the players singing the Temptations song, so I feel good about that.”
Besides the music, Bradley has also begun adjusting to the pace of practice. He said that the up-tempo offense UCLA runs at practice starts and stays at the same frantic pace. While he was coaching at West Virginia, the team kicked up the tempo only at select times.
However, the biggest challenge for the new coach might just be his personnel. Since he wasn’t at UCLA during the recruiting of any of the players, Bradley hasn’t been able to get to know anyone too well just yet.
“I am in more information mode just (because) I’m the new guy,” he said. “I need to know them mentally, where they are and get a feel for what they can handle and what they can’t handle. I want to get to know them as people, because it’s still a people’s game and I have not had that opportunity. Right now, it’s been all X’s and O’s but those X’s and O’s are people.”
Bradley has started calling certain defensive players into his office to just talk, getting to know them more. It’s a process he expects to go on for a while.
On the field, Bradley has identified many mistakes which he can coach off. He said he doesn’t mind the mistakes in practice, preferring that his players make them in practice so they can fix them before game day.
“This is a good day for me because I start … getting a better feel,” Bradley said. “There were things that came up that will only come up in a scrimmage that we can put to rest next week.”
Two quarterback rotation no longer
UCLA finally ended the two-man quarterback rotation it has trot out for the first six spring practices. Instead, the coaching staff decided on giving four different quarterbacks reps with the first team.
Freshman Josh Rosen, redshirt sophomore Asiantii Woulard, redshirt junior Jerry Neuheisel and redshirt junior Mike Fafaul all had the opportunity to make a case for the starting quarterback spot Saturday.
Rosen continued showing his growing comfort level in spring practice, looking poised when the pocket collapsed and extending the play by rolling out.
Up-and-coming
When asked last Thursday who has caught his eye so far in spring practice, Mora rattled off a list of names. The first name out of his mouth, however, was receiver Alex Van Dyke.
“You know after the first practice or two he had a couple of drops and then he had a really good day,” Mora said. “Remember, he had the bad one-on-one and then he went into team and had a nice day.”
The sophomore received few reps, but has come into spring practice looking to impress.
Physically, Van Dyke has upped his weight to 216 pounds after coming onto campus his freshman year sitting at 200.
“I’m pretty solid with myself right now,” he said. “If I get bigger, it happens. I’ll let it happen naturally, I won’t force anything.”