Jim Mora a week away from opening his first spring practice as the UCLA head coach.
Spring practice can be compared to Organized Team Activities in the pros, except they don't wear pads. In college, they do.
Mora's Bruins will need them.
"I would expect that this would be a very physical spring," Mora declared. "A very physical spring.
"Very physical spring."
It's part of Mora's plan to build a tough team and decipher which players are on board and which players are not.
"It's important that we come in and establish a level of physical toughness that you only get by going through some tough times by banging on each other a little bit," Mora said. "It's kind of our philosophy as a staff and just the way we're going to approach it. It's not going to be a bloodbath or anything. It needs to be hard. It needs to be demanding. It needs to be tough. That's the only way you find out about guys.
"Some guys will embrace it and will love it, and some guys won't. Those that won't probably need to find another place to go play football."
Nearly four months into his new job, Mora is still learning his team. It will be an adjustment for all parties involved. Players and coaches have gotten to know each other as people but not quite as well as players and coaches.
"I like our team. I like their attitude. I like the way they've worked. I like the way they look. I'm just cautiously optimistic because I haven't been on the field with them yet," Mora said. "I don't know them as football players yet. So over the course of those 15 practices over five weeks, I hope to get a chance to know them better as football players."
Which brings us to the players. All will be battling for positions once spring practice starts. Some, more than others. Mora acknowledges that some positions aren't as open as others, but quarterback will be one of the more "fluid" position battles.
The incumbent, senior Kevin Prince, will take the first reps once practice kicks off, but that guarantees him nothing. Joining Prince in competition will be senior Richard Brehaut, who is also a member of the baseball team but will put baseball on hold during spring practice. There's also redshirt freshman Brett Hundley, backup senior Nick Crissman and former head coach Rick Neuheisel's son, Jerry, who is a freshman.
Crissman might already be out of the equation. According to a report in the LA Times, Crissman, finally healthy, intends to transfer to another school after he graduates in June.
"It seems like my chances of playing at UCLA are extremely slim," he said. "I love UCLA, but if I can't play there, I'll get my degree and go play elsewhere."
Without Crissman, Prince, Brehaut and Hundley will compete for the job, and in a "perfect world," Mora will be able to identify his starting quarterback by the end of spring, but he won't hold his breath.
"Ideally, yes. I think the sooner you can identify who that guy is, then you can tweak what you do offensively to fit his skill set," Mora said. "I don't know if that'll happen. We'll like that to happen, but we'll see."
There will be a lot for Mora to see, as he expects his team to get no less than 90 reps a day in a high tempo practice setting. The tempo, which Mora already knows won't be up to his standards in the beginning, is one of the many changes that will make it a busy spring in Westwood.
"What we're looking for is to be a consistent football team and to show improvement every week," Mora said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
The Bruins will begin spring practice April 3 and practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at Spaulding Field.
The spring game is May 5 at The Rose Bowl. All practices and the spring game are open to the public.
