UCLA football’s running game coordinator Jim Mastro is one of five new coaches on the staff this season. Mastro comes to Westwood after spending 11 seasons coaching under Chris Ault at Nevada where he ran the pistol offense that UCLA is now trying to emulate. Mastro is billed as an expert on the pistol and we caught up with him Thursday.
Daily Bruin: What do you hope to do with the F back position this year? I think it was a little undefined last season.
Jim Mastro: The F position this year will be very universal. We’re going to ask them to catch the ball, run the ball, that’s just something that the offense brings because it makes the defense defend every play.
DB: I know you said they were close to “getting it” with the pistol when you got here. Where are you now?
JM: The second year is obviously that much better. We just had to add some things and take it to year two. That’s what we’re doing by adding different formations.
DB: Was it a tough call for you to leave Nevada?
JM: I had 11 unbelievable years there and we took that program from not being able to win a game in the Big Sky to a top 10 team in the country. Just to see that and how that happened. It came down to having nothing left for me to do there. I kind of accomplished all the goal that I set for myself there. If there was a time I was going to leave, that was it. Coach Ault told me it was probably time if I wanted to go but it was tough because it was a great time in my life. Last season was magical but this can be a magical team if we stay healthy and keep doing what we’re doing.
DB: How different is the UCLA pistol from the Nevada pistol?
JM: It looks the same. There are more skill athletes here. At Nevada, you had one or two skill players, here you have five or six. The difference here is that we have to get this offensive line going and that’s how it all starts. We go nowhere without them. They’ve gotten better every day and they’re practicing hard. The key to this whole thing is them. You could have all the skill in the world but it doesn’t matter if you don’t have an offensive line. These guys have to just keep pushing and pushing because we go how they go.
DB: That’s got to make your job easier, having that much depth at the skill positions.
JM: You have athletes everywhere and that’s awesome but if you can’t protect the quarterback and run the ball, that stuff doesn’t work. The offensive line is the key to the success of the team this year.
DB: Chris Ward went down the other day. How’s that working out?
JM: You’re not going to make it through an entire season with the same five offensive linemen so the guy behind him has to be ready to play. That’s one thing that was good for us at Nevada. We didn’t lose a lot with our twos because they practiced hard and when their time came, they produced. It’s got to be like that here. When your number is called, you have to be ready to play and that’s what we’re trying to develop here.
DB: Have you been pleased with the line play during this camp?
JM: We’re a lot better than we were in the spring. We’ve still got a ways to go but the offensive line is a work in progress. Right now, they’re doing some good things but it’s a long road.