COLLEGE FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : UCLA : Agajanian Still Getting His Kicks

He kicked in the NFL into his 40s and says he learned more about the skill after retiring than he ever did while kicking.

Ben Agajanian lives in Long Beach and still wears the NFL championship ring he earned with Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, but now he’s Coach Agajanian, with camps to teach the soccer-style kicking that came in after he retired.

Agajanian has been at UCLA’s practices lately to watch Jason Lesley, with whom he has worked since Lesley was a 14-year-old Texan.

“I could tell right away that he has a good future as a kicker,” Agajanian said.

Lesley, a freshman, had been in competition with Bjorn Merten for the kicking job, but lost out because of inconsistency and an extra tick of a second that it takes him to get a kick away.

Coach Terry Donahue chose Merten after a final round of kicks under pressure, adding that Lesley would be the choice should Merten falter Saturday against California.

*

Cal defensive tackle Stafford Evans of Altadena and Pasadena City College has been fighting an academic deficiency and officials in Berkeley say they think he will able to play Saturday. . . . George Kase, UCLA’s starting nose guard, intercepted a pass in practice. Center James Christensen, in a show of big-guy solidarity, shook his hand before the next snap. . . . Cal Coach Keith Gilbertson was an assistant to John Hadl for three seasons with the L.A. Express of the USFL. . . . UCLA assistant A.J. Christoff has coached three All-Americans in as many seasons--Carlton Gray in ‘92, Matt Darby in ’91 and Eric Turner in ’90.