UCLA, San Jose State football teams have family ties

San Jose State running back Ben Thompson, the son of former UCLA running back Daniel Thompson, knows all about Westwood.

“Diddy Riese [Cookies], Pauley Pavilion, I have been around all of that,” Ben said.

A redshirt freshman from Temecula Valley High, Ben made his college debut on special teams against Stanford last week and is working his way up the depth chart.

Daniel Thompson, the Orange County player of the year at Huntington Beach High as a senior, played at UCLA from 1985-88.

“I’ve seen some footage of him playing; there was one really nice catch he made in the Aloha Bowl,” son Ben said. “He was a great mentor and life coach, as well as a dad.”

Dad’s best advice? Stay away from linebackers.

“He told me about getting into it with Ken Norton Jr. at practice,” Thompson said. “He said he got one lick in.”

UCLA also had a player looking forward to facing his father’s old school. Mark Dye, whose son is Bruins safety Tony Dye, played at San Jose State in 1988-89.

“He was born when I was at San Jose State,” Mark said. “In fact, his first babysitter was our defensive backs coach, Herman Edwards. Tony was destined to be a defensive back.”

Dye said he was using his San Jose State connection as fuel.

“My mom and dad both went there,” Dye said, smiling. “That’s motivation enough for me.”

More connections

Gary Bernardi, San Jose State’s offensive line coach, spent 10 seasons as an assistant at UCLA, from 1994-2003. Vavae Tata, a San Jose State graduate assistant, was a defensive end at UCLA from 1994-98.

Jim Mastro, UCLA’s run-game coordinator, was an assistant at San Jose State in 1996.

Homecoming

There were 26 players, including six starters, on the San Jose State roster from Los Angeles-area high schools.

“We asked them to raise their hands if they played in the Rose Bowl before, and none of them had,” San Jose State Coach Mike MacIntyre said. “They have always dreamed of it.”

Recruiting trail

UCLA’s home opener provided a recruiting opportunity.

Among those attending the game were five players who have orally committed to other Pacific 12 Conference programs: Murrieta Vista Murrieta defensive end Jeremy Castro (Washington), Long Beach Poly linebacker Salamo Fiso and wide receiver Richard Smith (both Arizona State), Corona Centennial defensive tackle Milo Jordan (Arizona State) and Encino Crespi defensive back Bryan Harper (Washington).

Also attending was Monrovia’s Ellis McCarthy, who is ranked as the second-best defensive tackle in the nation by Rivals.com and is ranked fourth by Scout.com.

chris.foster@latimes.com

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