Fall training camp kicks off at home in consideration of player health
By Matt Joye
Aug. 7, 2016 11:56 p.m.
The collision course begins Monday.
Every year, the UCLA football program goes through a two-week ordeal of practices and two-a-days in mid-August heat to prepare for the start of the season in September. This year, the team has the fortune of being in Westwood for the first of those two weeks, instead of being in sultry San Bernardino, California, for all 14 days.
“I have liked San Bernardino, and I still do like San Bernardino. I think it serves us well in a lot of ways,” said coach Jim Mora at Pac-12 Media Day on July 15. “But quite frankly, we were out there too long.”
This year marks the first time in the Mora era that any part of UCLA’s fall training camp has been held outside of San Bernardino. The players have never been fond of playing in the 90-to-100-degree heat out there, but that didn’t seem to matter to Mora. In his mind, the harsh weather conditions in San Bernardino toughened his players up for the trials of the upcoming season.
“You’re trying to put these guys into stressful situations; you’re trying to test them and set things up to see how they handle it,” Mora said during fall camp last year in San Bernardino. “Out here, it’s toughening them mentally, physically and emotionally to be able to go in front of 85,000 fans against a great opponent and be able to perform.”
The plan worked pretty well in Mora’s first three years on campus. In each season, the Bruins finished with nine or more wins – the first such three-year stretch in program history. Moreover, the Bruins started off each of those seasons 3-0 or better – lending credence to the value of preseason training in San Bernardino.
However, after limping to an 8-5 (5-4 Pac-12) record last year – the worst in the Mora era – perhaps there was a sense that things needed to be switched up a little.
“(San Bernardino) became a little bit more of a grind and a burden on our players and our staff than I’d really like,” Mora said. “We just felt as a staff that at this point in our development, that was the best way for us to go.”
The move away from San Bernardino could be primarily aimed to protect the players’ health and safety. After all, player health was what Mora cited as his primary concern heading into camp.
“My concerns are always the health and welfare of our players, staying healthy and (finding) that balance between getting the work in that you need to get in in order to be prepared for the season,” Mora said.
With the heat in San Bernardino taking its toll on the players’ bodies, the team can become more and more susceptible to injury. Last year, then-redshirt senior center Jake Brendel and redshirt junior left tackle Conor McDermott both went down with injuries during fall camp. While both were ready for the season, they had to miss a significant portion of practice.
This year, UCLA does not have the kind of depth to account for those kinds of personnel losses on the offensive line. The Bruins have already lost three key contributors from last year’s O-line either to graduation or the NFL draft. And in early June, UCLA lost out on a potential starting center in Jake Raulerson, who was denied entry to the school as a graduate transfer.
All in all, the Bruins’ main concerns heading into training camp are player health and the offensive line. With those two concerns interrelated, it makes sense that only one week of training camp will be in San Bernardino this year.
A full schedule of fall camp practices is listed below. All practices are open to the public, with the first week being held on the UCLA Intramural Fields and the second being held at Cal State San Bernardino.
UCLA football fall training camp schedule
At UCLA Intramural Fields:
Monday, Aug. 8 – 9:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 9 – 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 10 – 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 11 – 9:30 a.m.
Friday, Aug. 12 – 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 13 (doubleheader) – 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 14 – Off
At Cal State San Bernardino:
Monday, Aug. 15 (doubleheader) – 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 16 – 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 17 (doubleheader) – 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 18 – 3 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 19 (doubleheader) – 8:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 20 – 12:30 p.m.
Email Joye at [email protected] or tweet @mattjoye.
