Special teams coach is a luxury the Bruins can’t afford to do without

There is a new voice of UCLA football, something those working around campus are quite aware of by now.

Everyone near – and not-so-near – the Bruins’ practice facility frequently knows when assistant coach Frank Gansz Jr. is working the Bruins’ special teams. His voice is heard over the Spaulding Field speaker system about once a week, echoing off buildings all the way down Westwood Boulevard.

This is not idle chatter. Gansz, who occasionally uses a microphone so players can hear his instructions, may seem like a luxury to some, but having a coach who only works with special teams was vital to Coach Rick Neuheisel.

“I saw the value of it in pro football,” said Neuheisel, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens, where Gansz was the special teams coach.

“When I worked with Frank and saw his expertise, when he became available with the dismantling of Ravens’ staff, I started thinking what kind of an advantage we might gain from that, given the talent level is on par with most of the teams we played. We weren’t going to line up and beat people walking out tunnel.”

The Bruins will probably play a field position game, at least early in the season. A new quarterback and inexperienced offensive line almost demand that. That makes special teams even more vital and a special teams coach, a bonus to most college staffs, was more necessary at UCLA.

“You punt, you win,” Neuheisel said early in training camp. To that end, Gansz works the punt coverage team, as well as other special teams, in drill-sergeant fashion. Even the meetings with special teams players are intense.

“I went to one just to see it and, wow,” Bruins quarterback Ben Olson said.

Gansz has talent to work with. Punter Aaron Perez, who figures to get plenty of work, has an NFL leg. Kicker Kai Forbath was 25 for 30 on field goals, making five from 50 yards or longer.

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Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer is expecting the worst and is preparing his team for it.

“Depth is important, especially in the hot Southern California weather,” Fulmer said during a news conference Tuesday. “One of the hottest games I have ever been a part of was in 1997 against UCLA in the Rose Bowl. We’re doing extra conditioning to prepare for it.”

Knoxville was expected to hit 85 degrees Thursday. The temperature forecast for Pasadena on Monday? Eighty-five degrees.

 chris.foster@latimes.com