UCLA discusses unsealed testimony, on-field concerns at Pac-12 Media Day

In the first minute of Jim Mora’s interview session at Pac-12 Media Day, the elephant in the room was brought to the fore.

A reporter asked the UCLA coach about the recent unsealed testimony from former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary. In that testimony, McQueary stated that Tom Bradley – UCLA’s current defensive coordinator and a former Penn State assistant himself – was aware of Jerry Sandusky’s serial child abuse before the abuse was revealed to law enforcement.

Mora answered that question by first lending his condolences to the victims and their families. He then supported his colleague, saying that Bradley is a “man of integrity” who was heavily vetted before being hired by UCLA in February 2015.

“From our chancellor on down, everybody was involved in the decision and took it very, very seriously with the accusations that had occurred at Penn State,” Mora said.

As for the McQueary testimony, Mora said that he “can’t tell you specifically if it was known at the time.”

“I can tell you that any of the information that was public that we had access to was known and was reviewed, certainly,” Mora said.

Mora added that the recent unsealed testimony didn’t do anything to affect Bradley’s job status.

Addressing on-field concerns

The questions about Bradley and the McQueary testimony ended after a couple minutes, leaving the rest of Mora’s 26-minute interview solely to on-field topics.

Mora described UCLA’s 2015 season – which concluded in an 8-5 record and a loss in the Foster Farms Bowl – as a “disappointment.”

“I don’t want to ever say you ‘should have’ won a game, but there were games when we didn’t live up to our potential,” Mora said. “So we have to develop a more consistent approach each week.”

Mora believes his team has done that thus far this calendar year. He said that his team’s greatest strengths are its chemistry, work ethic and attitude – not necessarily talent.

Last year at this time, the narrative surrounding the UCLA football team was much different: The Bruins were described as one of the most talented teams in the conference, but had questions about leadership on both sides of the ball.

The position that was the main question mark for UCLA at this time last year – quarterback – is now one of its main leadership positions, according to Mora and redshirt senior left tackle Conor McDermott.

“During this offseason (sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen) has been working hard every day and maturing, being more of a leader,” McDermott said. “He’s just matured tremendously, you see it in the locker room. He’s becoming more of a leader each day than he already was.”

Fall camp format changed

For the first time in Mora’s five-year coaching tenure at UCLA, the Bruins will not be spending the entire two weeks of fall camp in San Bernardino, California.

Instead, the team will spend the first week of fall training camp in Westwood, with players rooming in the newly constructed Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center, which sits just southeast of Pauley Pavilion. The second week of fall camp will still be held at Cal State San Bernardino, just as it has the past five years.

“We just felt as a staff that at this point in our development, that was the best way for us to go,” Mora said. “Quite frankly, we were out there (in San Bernardino) too long. It became a little bit more of a grind and a burden on our players and our staff than I’d really like.”