UCLA football maintains focus on running game, seeks defensive improvements

During coach Chip Kelly’s first three years with UCLA football, he has continued to place an emphasis on the running game that was showcased during his past tenures with Oregon and in the NFL.

The Bruins ranked second in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game last season with 230.6 yards a contest while scoring 13 touchdowns on the ground. UCLA ranked last in the conference as recently as 2016 – when Jim Mora was still the coach – with just 84.3 rushing yards per game.

Despite seeing its starting running back get drafted to the NFL for the second consecutive year, the team still plans to maximize its running game, according to offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Justin Frye.

“It’s about blocking and tackling,” Frye said. “So whatever plays we call, we got to be able to execute them and block them, and then those guys behind us can run, but yeah, that’s not going to change. That’s in Chip Kelly’s DNA. … We’re running the ball.”

All of the starting offensive linemen from 2020 are slated to return, with only center Sam Marrazzo having less than two seasons of starting experience.

The starting line also includes left guard graduate student Paul Grattan, who spent three seasons as a starter at Villanova before transferring to UCLA prior to last season.

“(Grattan) is the grizzly old vet,” Frye said. “He’s seen situational football when you’re in the red zone, where he can be another voice out there saying, ‘Hey, guys, here we go, they’re going to blitz here.’ It’s nice to have a guy who is able to have some maturity and some vision and voice. It’s been great, and he just works, and he’s a tough kid, I love him.”

Frye credited Grattan and his fellow upperclassmen starters for their leadership and impact on the younger reserves who will become starters in future seasons.

“I have four kids, so it’s like my fourth kid – he says some sayings sometimes, and me and my wife look at each other like, ‘Where the heck did that come from? Has he seen the three older ones do it?’” Frye said. “You put that money in the bank, and then at some point the dividends are going to come back because you’re investing in the right stuff.”

Improved Defense

While defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro will be returning for his fourth season in Westwood with the Bruins, his coaching staff has welcomed some new faces in recent years.

Defensive backs coach Brian Norwood – also the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator – is one of three defensive coaches to join UCLA’s staff since 2019.

Prior to his arrival in Westwood in January 2020, Norwood spent one year as an assistant coach for Navy, where he also spent time as the defensive backs coach from 1995-1999. In his first season with the Bruins, UCLA led the Pac-12 in interceptions with nine and ranked sixth in the conference in total yards allowed by giving up 409.9 yards per game after ranking 10th just a season prior.

“(Azzinaro and I) sort of joined hands as soon as I got here,” Norwood said. “(Azzinaro) did a great job of just transitioning both some of the stuff that we had done when I was at Navy and what we’re doing here at UCLA already, and he’s good in regards to just tying schemes together.”

Norwood said the staff has been using spring training to implement their new schemes, an opportunity they were unable to have last season because of COVID-19 regulations.

After successfully implementing a 4-2-5 defense – which adds a hybrid outside linebacker-defensive end role called the “raider” – while at Navy, Norwood brought the scheme to Westwood a year ago. Norwood said he’s using this offseason to master the scheme.

“Last year we didn’t really have a spring, so we go into fall camp and we’re installing some new defensive schemes,” Norwood said. “The season was really a learning process in itself.”

However, the Bruins still ranked in the middle of the conference by allowing 30.7 points per game last season. Norwood said he still sees a lot of room for improvement for his defense.

“One of the things is that you’re more confident in what you’re doing defensively,” Norwood said. “Guys (have) a better knowledge base of the hows and whys. … We’re just continuing to harp on tackling the fundamentals of football.”