Claire-ification: What Bruin Revolution?
Freshman quarterback Josh Rosen and quarterbacks coach Taylor Mazzone walk off the field at Levi’s Stadium following UCLA’s loss in the Foster Farms Bowl. (Austin Yu/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Claire Fahy
Dec. 27, 2015 7:09 p.m.
You say you want a revolution.
It was 2013. UCLA football had a rising star in quarterback Brett Hundley and a rock-solid defense anchored by linebacker Anthony Barr. In over-the-top, preseason dramatics to drum up the Bruin hype train, the program began promoting a new PR campaign: the Bruin Revolution.
Everyone was invited to join in. No one wanted to miss out. But what exactly was this movement? That part remained unclear.
Was it simply a series of hype videos posted on YouTube? Maybe. A viral Twitter hashtag? At best. A substantive improvement in the direction of the program? Not at all.
The most recent video posted by the UCLA-owned “Bruin Revolution” YouTube channel was before the then-No. 7 Bruins fell to the unranked Arizona State Sun Devils and lost any shot at the College Football Playoff or an elite season.
The hashtag #BruinRevolution itself even fell short – losing the social media challenge hosted by Saturday’s Foster Farms Bowl. The simpler, less aggressive hashtag #Huskers won the competition 81 percent to 19 percent, casting doubt on the virality of the Bruin Revolution for at least one night.
In terms of actual on-field performance – in fact, the only thing that actually matters when it comes to assessing the worth of a program – there is no revolution in sight. Not in previous seasons, not last year and certainly not last night. UCLA just capped its worst season of the Jim Mora era, finishing 8-5 after two consecutive 10-3 seasons.
Following his team’s loss to 6-7 Nebraska Saturday, Mora didn’t even try to reframe the last three months as a period of growth. The term “rebuilding season” wasn’t mentioned once. While it’s true that the offense was led by a true freshman and the defense suffered a series of unfortunate injuries, this is not a time for excuses. It’s time for a real change.
MORE: The mistakes that cut a season short.
“In our recruiting, we’re working to get bigger guys, so when we get into these games, against a team like Nebraska or a power team like Stanford, we have more guys that have some girth to them so we don’t get pushed around,” Mora said.
A coach who usually refuses to acknowledge any systemic deficiencies owned the fact that UCLA simply can’t compete sometimes – more times than can be considered acceptable. These Bruins aren’t staging a revolution by any means – they haven’t even reached the Pac-12 Championship since someone in the Morgan Center dreamed up that 2013 catchphrase.
While Mora works with what he has, he too has failed to be revolutionary, particularly this season. The former NFL coach fell to USC for the first time in his career, lost a game after leading at halftime for the first time as UCLA’s coach and strung together the worst win-loss record in his collegiate coaching experience.
Major personnel changes will need to be made to Mora’s coaching contingent before anything about this team can be considered revolutionary – namely the reassignment of offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. The Bruins have established an air-raid offense that can only improve with increased experience, but will need better direction next season.
With Josh Rosen set to lead the offense for at least the next two years, the return of defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes and offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch and a young, improving linebacker corps led by Jayon Brown, UCLA has the pieces to improve in 2016 – but by how much?
You say you got a real solution. Let’s see it.
Tweet Fahy at @clairemfahy.
