From his meeting with the press before spring ball began to Monday, which started the final week of spring practice for the UCLA football team, coach Rick Neuheisel has pinpointed the offensive line as his biggest concern.
Neuheisel handed the job of developing the unit to new offensive line coach Bob Palcic. Palcic coached at Wisconsin for the past two seasons and before that spent 12 seasons in the NFL. He has more than 30 years of coaching experience and a gaudy list of former players that includes former Bruin Jonathan Ogden and 2006 Outland Trophy winner Joe Thomas.
Palcic coached at UCLA with Neuheisel in 1993, when the Bruins reached the Rose Bowl and featured an offensive line with four future NFL players, including Ogden.
“He’s hungry, and he’s got all the energy in the world,” Neuheisel said. “He’s very, very experienced.”
Even with that experience, Palcic has a tall task at hand.
The unit returns just two starters from last season ““ junior tackle Micah Kia and senior guard Micah Reed. If that wasn’t enough, two-year starter Aleksey Lanis retired midway through camp.
Lanis’ departure puts UCLA in a position where it must turn to redshirt freshman Sean Sheller, who has never played in a game, at right tackle. Behind Sheller is freshman Mike Harris, who has never played either.
The linemen have all had to deal with tremendous coaching turmoil at UCLA. Sheller said Palcic is the fourth position coach he’s had at UCLA.
Still, Palcic is confident.
“These are a bunch of hard-working young kids,” Palcic said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but … I really believe that in time we will get to where we have to be.
Sheller said his mentality changed when he heard of Lanis’ decision.
“The whole time I was just thinking “˜If he doesn’t come back I’m going to be the right tackle,'” Sheller said. “So when I heard that news, it kind of motivated me more to step up my game. I know I have to be the man now.”
The offensive line has struggled so far in spring practice with false starts and poor snaps. In Friday’s scrimmage, the defensive front dominated, and the offense couldn’t run the ball.
Both Sheller and Harris said they have a lot to work on.
“I’ve got to work on my footwork,” Harris said. “I’ve got bad feet, you know, size 16.”
Harris stands 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 311 pounds.
The 282-pound Sheller, on the other hand, said he has to gain weight and get stronger before the start of the season on Sept. 1. He said he’ll eat six meals a day this summer, mostly at the De Neve dining hall.
Even with all the work they have ahead of them, the offensive linemen seem reassured by Palcic’s experience.
“He has the experience. You can just tell he knows how to coach, he knows how to make a good player,” Sheller said. “It’s comforting having him as coach.”
With reports from David Woods, Bruin Sports senior staff.