Callahan Tries to Take Hold of Kicking Game

UCLA has been preparing for the Sun Bowl without suspended kicker Justin Medlock, awaiting a court appearance in relation to an alcohol-related traffic accident, so attention has been given to two non-scholarship freshman replacements, Jimmy Rotstein and Brian Malette.

But backup quarterback Brian Callahan has been getting his share of attention too as he adjusts from holding for Medlock, a left-footed kicker, to Rotstein and Malette, both right-footed kickers.

“Believe it or not, I really hadn’t held for kicks until after I got here,” said Callahan, son of Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan. “The hard thing is that I learned how to hold with [Medlock] and that means, I learned how to hold lefties first.... Now to switch up is kind of tough.”

The bond between Callahan and Medlock is tight and whenever the quarterback would practice holding for a right-foot kicker, Medlock would “get all weird about it because he didn’t want to screw up our chemistry,” Callahan said.

“So, I never did it seriously to get my timing down. When you’re a holder and you’re off by two-tenths of a second, the kick is going to be blocked.”

Callahan, a former walk-on, earned a scholarship this season because of his holding skills. Callahan said that he knew the best way for him to get on the field was to develop into a full-time holder, which is something he did not do throughout his high school career at Concord De La Salle.

“There are four guys, including myself, from my high school who were holders this year in college,” said Callahan, who plans to have a career in coaching. “In high school, Nick Holz did most of the holding for us and now he’s the holder at Colorado.

“I didn’t start doing it until spring of last year. But like with everything, the more you do it, you’re going to improve and I worked on it pretty hard.”

Callahan says that Rotstein and Malette understand their role.

“They are both solid kickers,” he said. “They’ve done a nice job stepping up ... and at this point, I couldn’t tell you which one is going to get the job. They are both good enough to kick at the college level. In terms of getting up extra points and making close field goals when needed, we’re going to be fine. It’s just that they have some big shoes to fill.”

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Marcedes Lewis (tight end) and Maurice Drew (kick returner) were selected first-team All-Americans by the Sporting News.