was finalized yesterday. We have 6 coaches dedicated to the offense and 4 on D. Looks like UCLA decided to go the NFL experience route, however, most if not all were currently unemployed. The problem with the NFL route is do they have the desire and ability to pound recruiting and can they dumb down their O's so that college kids can execute. EB ran a pretty vanilla west coast offense in DC last year, but who knows what O he will run this year, although I think Garbers could be good in that scheme. The problem is whether the WCO can work on the collegiate level due to all the practice restrictions. In tersm of recruitng, the initial feedback seems to be positive -- lots of offers coming out and a seeming desire to return to recruiting the locals hard.
The key will be how the EB experience plays out. He has a nice resume, however, he wanted to be an NFL HC and now he is the OC at UCLA. That's quite a fall. You have to wonder how long EB will stay at UCLa. Id wager a 1 year experience. That would be a big L for UCLA. Just too many different offensive schemes in too short a time. It also hurts recruiting.
I was disappointed that Fessler didnt get a more prominent role on the staff. Everything I read was that he was a shooting star, and instead we brought in a retread to be the QB coach. That being said, you have to let EB pick his guys. I was also disappointed in Neuheisel getting a HUGE demotion. Hes gone from passing game coordinator and WR coach to TE coach. That cant make him happy. He also happens to be the best recruiter UCLA has. Hard to tell what happens with him, bc I'd imagine EB leaves after 1 year, so the UCLA staff may be shaken up again.
In terms of the D staff...WTF happened to bringing in Robert Thomas? That news story just seemed to vanish and now the DC is also coaching LB's. It would have been nice to bring in someone who knows the SoCAL high school landscape so well. TI seems unlikely to me that we couldnt outbid MD.
Im guessing it was a coaching limit crunch. Ill say it again, they should have kept Jerry at WR (and added TE to his responsibilities) and added Thomas, but alas. Our D is likely to take a healthy step backward inasmuch as every single UCLA player invited to the combine was a D guy. We lost our pass rusher and a large part of our LB, plus two of our three best D players transferred to SUC. I wonder how UCLa will fare in the portal this year. Many on the staff were not in college last year so who knows how well they know the portal guys.
My expectations are very low next year.