UCLA football changes things up by beginning training camp in Westwood
The temperatures will be cooler, the surroundings more familiar and the potential distractions plentiful.
Instead of going to San Bernardino to start training camp, UCLA is remaining in Westwood. Maybe the first tipoff that things are different will come when the Bruins complete their initial set of drills without needing a dip in an ice bath.
UCLA opens camp on campus Monday with the first of six days of practice in something of a departure from its normal routine under Coach Jim Mora. The Bruins had started camp in San Bernardino in each of Mora’s first four seasons, with the exception of a two-day excursion to San Diego in 2013 to train with Navy SEALs.
They will head back to San Bernardino next weekend for nine practices over six days, a stay far shorter than the usual two weeks.
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“Everybody on the team I know is hyped up for that,” senior linebacker Jayon Brown said last month at Pac-12 Conference media days, “because the ‘Dino is hot, it’s dry, it’s not a lovely place.”
Consider UCLA’s first triumph of the season to be one of the scheduling variety. Part of it is logistics. Mora said it made more sense to start camp on campus because NCAA rules limit teams to one practice per day in the first week, the implication being that he didn’t want to take the Bruins into the middle of nowhere with almost nothing to do.
The team will fill the balance of its first few practice days with guest speakers and team activities designed to promote bonding. Players will stay in the Luskin Center, UCLA’s new upscale on-campus hotel, before heading to the less luxurious dorms of Cal State San Bernardino to practice in sauna-like conditions starting Aug 15.
Apparently there is only so much unity that can be built in the desert heat.
“It became a little bit more of a grind and a burden on our players and our staff than I’d really like,” Mora said of spending two weeks in the Inland Empire.
UCLA will start camp featuring an offense with no name. Fortunately, the Bruins have one at quarterback in Josh Rosen, easily the most prolific of the returning starters at the position in the Pac-12 South Division. His presence is among the primary reasons the media picked the Bruins to win their division.
Rosen was a freshman All-American last season, but a combined five turnovers by the quarterback during season-ending losses to USC and Nebraska triggered an overhaul of the Bruins’ offense. It will now incorporate tight ends and a fullback while putting Rosen in more of a managerial role.
“We’re going to ask him to do some more things at the line of scrimmage with regards to changing plays and diagnosing what the defense is playing and getting us into what could be a more successful play,” Mora said.
Rosen is practically the only given on an offense that lost its top rusher, four of its top five pass catchers and more than half of the offensive line. The hope is that converted cornerback Ishmael Adams can become a steady contributor at receiver and a star emerges from returning running backs Soso Jamabo, Nate Starks and Bolu Olorunfunmi.
The defense doesn’t face the same level of uncertainty. Eight starters are back plus defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, who missed all but one game last season after sustaining a torn knee ligament, and defensive back Fabian Moreau, who was sidelined all but three games because of a broken foot.
The Bruins will use four down linemen on defense after getting trampled for at least 235 yards rushing by five opponents.
“It’s helping us be more sturdy against the run,” Brown said.
The team also gets a changeup in its kicking game after losing Ka’imi Fairbairn, the Pac-12’s all-time scoring leader. It will likely turn to freshman J.J. Molson.
As a program, UCLA is enjoying more stability than at any point since its two-decade run under Terry Donahue ended in 1995. The Bruins won the Pac-12 South in 2012 and have won 10 games twice under Mora.
But there’s an unmistakable sense of recent seasons being tinged with regret. UCLA has not won a conference title since 1998 and finished last season with an 8-5 record, the worst of Mora’s tenure.
“We’re coming off a season that was, in our estimation, a little bit disappointing to us, especially the way that it ended,” Mora said, “and we’d like to make amends for that.”
Practice schedule
The first two weeks of UCLA’s football training camp is open to the public. The first week of workouts, beginning Monday, will be held on the UCLA Intramural fields. The following week, practices move to Cal State San Bernardino. Times are subject to change.
At UCLA:
Monday, 9:30 a.m.; Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.; Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m.; Saturday, 8:30 a.m./3:30 p.m.
At Cal State San Bernardino:
Aug. 15, 8:30 a.m./5:45 p.m.; Aug. 16, 3 p.m.; Aug. 17. 8:30 a.m./5:45 p.m.; Aug. 18, 3 p.m.; Aug. 19, 8:30 a.m./5:45 p.m.; Aug. 20, 12:30 p.m.
ben.bolch@latimes.com
Twitter: @latbbolch
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