UCLA football recruiting, led by coach Jim Mora, promises strong roster for 2012 season

Jan. 12, everything was quiet. In fact, it was dead ““ at least that’s what the NCAA football recruiting calendar said. From Jan. 9-12, teams could not call, text, email, or Facebook recruits under any circumstance because it was a dead period in the recruiting calendar.

On Jan. 13, that all changed. From that date until National Signing Day on Feb. 1, when recruits sign letters of intent to register, college football coaches have been and will continue to scour the nation searching for the signatures of the nation’s top prospects.

UCLA head coach Jim Mora recently joined the ranks of college coaches for the first time just over a month ago, throwing him into the heat of recruiting season. Mora was ready to bring some heat of his own.

Over the span of one month, Mora reeled in 12 recruits and has no intentions of slowing down.

“He’s coached in the NFL so I know the program is going to change a lot and get a whole lot stronger than it was,” said 4-star cornerback commit Marcus Rios from Elk Grove.

Rios became Mora’s first commitment only nine days after being named UCLA’s coach; it was clear that Mora’s arrival was a big hit on the recruiting trail.

“(Mora)’s a really personable guy and he’s fun to talk to,” said 3-star safety commit Kenny Orjioke from Georgia. “He’s the kind of coach I could see myself growing very close with. He’s the kind of coach that I can trust.”

One major aspect of UCLA’s recruiting success came from a bevy of assistant coach hirings of highly touted recruiters, including offensive line coach/running game coordinator Adrian Klemm, defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin and running backs coach Steve Broussard.

Klemm is considered one of the top recruiters of the Southern California area, as he consistently pulled prospects from the Los Angeles area to SMU in Dallas, Texas.

In 2010 Klemm was named the Rivals Non-BCS Recruiter of the Year while at SMU and he has already made his presence felt by reeling in commitments from three offensive line prospects that held other Division I football offers.

“I spoke with coach Klemm a couple of times before he was at UCLA and he’s a really nice guy,” said 3-star junior college transfer Alexandru Ceachir, who committed to the Bruins and will enroll in time for spring practice. “He’s young but he knows how the offensive line works. He has great experience playing offensive line in the NFL and I think I can learn a lot from him.”

Both Martin and Broussard came over from other Pac-12 programs, with Martin joining UCLA from Washington and Broussard from Arizona State.

Broussard has been a major contributor in garnering interest from several top recruits, including 5-star receivers Bryce Treggs and Deontay Greenberry, 4-star wideout Jordan Payton and Ishmael Adams, a 4-star cornerback who committed to UCLA the day after Christmas.

Martin, though, may have had the biggest effect so far as he pulled two commitments away from Washington in running back Tairen Owens and safety Tyler Lagace while also sealing the commitment of UCLA’s most highly touted commit in 5-star defensive tackle Ellis McCarthy.

McCarthy, whose father was childhood friends with Martin, committed to UCLA this week after an in-home visit with Martin despite committing to Cal only nine days earlier.

UCLA now has 28 commits; quarterback T.J. Millweard, who is a 4-star recruit according to ESPN, pledged to the Bruins on Tuesday. At this rate, Mora and Co. are poised to sign up to seven or eight more prospects by the time February arrives. This upcoming weekend UCLA will host close to a dozen official visitors including Treggs, Greenberry, Adams and McCarthy along with several other top prospects.