After a month of spring ball, Morrell Presley and Courtney Viney both found themselves on the wrong end of depth chart logjams.
On Friday, both decided to leave the UCLA football program. Presley, a rising junior F-back, and Viney, a rising redshirt senior cornerback, were granted their release from the team and will transfer.
Viney will be eligible to play his senior year immediately at a Football Bowl Subdivision school because he will graduate from UCLA in June. Presley, who will have two years of eligibility left, must sit out a year at an FBS school.
“I know that both Courtney and Morrell want to go where they can be starters and I certainly wish them both well,” coach Rick Neuheisel said in a statement. “I am happy that Courtney will earn his UCLA degree prior to his departure.”
Presley was the No. 1 tight end recruit in the country coming out of high school, but was switched to F-back when UCLA implemented the pistol offense in 2009. He saw rising sophomore Anthony Barr get more reps at F-back this spring, while rising senior Corey Harkey and rising redshirt junior Joseph Fauria were already established as the main tight ends.
Presley added about 20 pounds of weight in the offseason and had expressed a desire to operate more as a tight end.
“I just like to catch the ball,” Presley said in April. “I like to be in the game. I love playing football, so I mean if I’m in the game ““ even if I’m not catching the ball, if I’m blocking ““ I love being in there.”
Viney, who had played in every single game over the last three years, was stuck behind rising juniors Sheldon Price, Aaron Hester and Andrew Abbott at cornerback.