How did you do it?

Well, just think about it for a second.

You're in a program that has such rich history, just not a recent rich history.

And I think that these alums remember those days.

These alums remember what it's like to pack that Rose Bowl.

They remember what it's like to win and to watch their team walk on the field confident, full of swagger, and know that it's a team that nobody really wants to play.

That's what they're used to.

Going into that game, were you looking to impose your will on the ground, or essentially, did you react to what they were doing?

How did you do it?

Hmm.

Well, uh, just think about it for a second.

Like, you're, you're in a, a program that has such a rich, rich history, just not a recent rich history, and I think that these alums remember those days.

These alums remember what it's like to pack that Rose Bowl.

They remember what it's like to win and to walk, watch their team walk on the field confident, full of swagger, and know that, that that's a team that nobody really wants to play.

That, that's what they're used to.

Going into that game, were you looking to impose your will on the ground or essentially did you react to what they were doing?

Yeah.

Yeah, well, getting in the right play is one of the most important things.

There's two ways you could go about it offensively.

You could push a ton of tempo and have a ton of motions or no motions in the tempo moment, but just trying to go as fast as you can and catch them off guard.

Or you can motion and shift and do these things and get yourself then into the right play based on how they're aligning to it.

And you want to go up there knowing that you're calling a good play.

You only have 12 drives and you don't want to run bad plays into bad looks.

Before we let you go, just your quick thoughts in scouting San Diego State and what the Aztecs are going to bring coming up against you guys on Saturday.

How have you been able and your staff to accomplish what to someone like me seems like a really close knit group in such a relatively short amount of time?

Yeah, for sure.

Well, I think that number one, there was a handful of players that came with us and a lot of the coaching staff also came with us.

And those things are important because as soon as you get here, you go into the first lift and everybody already knows the flow and the feel of how that thing works from day one.

And I think that's important.

So that was a big piece of it.

I think those guys help in rooms where you're not.

What's it been like seeing those guys come together?

How does that play into anything going on this week with you?

Yeah, you're dead on it.

I don't think a whole lot.

I don't think our guys even really mentioned it at all through practice.

I was going to address it as a team, but we had too much other stuff to get to.

And I thought that our guys, you know, there's no inkling of that for me personally.

I've been through this.

So kind of how is that going? And how do you put that into practice? What is the most important thing about trying to get those two things right?

What's the main reason why?

Yeah, well, I think that probably one of the bigger things is there are certain things that are non-negotiables here that I believe every good football team has to possess.

But the key to all of this is the things on the sort of secondary or tertiary things that you look at and say, you know, this could go either way.

And now if you take a minute when you first get somewhere and listen to what people have to say and what the players think is helping them win and what they think is causing them to lose.

And, you know, they feel strongly about that.

You get rid of some of the things they think, you know, cause them to lose and you hold on to a couple of things that they think help them win.

It doesn't have to be all your ideas.

These guys, they've got to hit the ground running, right? You don't have a lot of time, and I'm guessing a lot of these 62 people are going to need to play right away, right?

Yeah

... were gonna go with it.

I said, "So I just want you to know what they're talking about, again, is next year." Now, I've said that, and I was like, "How do I, like, what's a exercise that I could do to prove to them that I am [laughs] still solely focused on this?" And it's funny enough, once that all came out, you know, probably 400 text messages in the first couple hours.

So I end up, uh, you know, holding up my phone the next morning team meeting, and I have, you know, 400 or whatever it is text messages.

And I said, "This, I have 400 text message on here." I took a screenshot of it actually.

And I said, "I'm not answering a single one of these." I said, "These are all about next year." I said, "We're still-"

Yeah.

And long and short of it, I was flying back.

know

too, right? They hear about your name.

They know indirectly and they see stuff out there, some true, some not.

So ultimately to them, I said, come ask me anything.

I'll tell you the truth.

I don't want you to ever feel like I'm not being honest with you.

And there's sort of a business side to this, but whatever we're talking about, is talking about next year, not the journey we're on.

Like just explain it the way you explain, like just how your mindset of day after day after day, I want everybody pitted against each other in some way.

Mm

... finish the mission that we're on this year." And then it came to the end of the week, I had 800.

Came to the following week, I had 12.

It came then ...

And I did not answer one text message in that period of time, because I wanted to be true to them and be able to show them, not only am I, you know, saying it, I'm actually living it.

"So you guys don't pay attention to social media.

Don't pay attention.

Yeah

Yeah.

But I think for me it was, you know, uh, the, just the, the right opportunity.

And, and there's other opportunities, but I think when I look at this one, you know, it has everyth- every positive from every job I've had or every c- place I've been a coach all exist in this one place at UCLA.

It's, you know, to me the perfect match for, you know, what I was looking for.

And then when you start talking about alignment, you start meeting the people and the search committee and the, the, just sort of the, you know, the, the leaders in the sports world that you can glean in- uh, you know, information from and be supportive of you is really special.

Like, and that was the thing for me that I just saw it as a, you know, all of it combined into one from my previous past.

Um, but how, how have they- Enjoy the, uh, kind of the leveling up? Do you think that they're ready for it, and what have you seen from them?

Yeah, and I think for me, the idea of always doing more with less is what we, we had to accomplish, and now we have a chance to do more with more.

[laughs]

... as you know.

Um, and I loved my time in Harrisonburg, and I think that the people that live there are very proud of it and proud of that football team, and rightfully so.

You know, it's just a, a team that continues to win at every level, and, and I've been really, again, proud to be associated with that, you know, that university.

Uh, but we did.

We ended up bringing 10 players with us, and, and those 10 that we brought with us, I think, are all guys that can contri- contribute.

Uh, obviously, the stakes are a little higher here.

Have you given any thought to this or you wanna weigh in on it?

It's not really possible at this level to just take all development guys, right?

No, it's not possible.

And I think the ...

This is the truth of the matter though for me, is that when we were at Division III, we weren't trying to recruit, uh, Division III kids and run that program like a Division III program.

We were trying to run it like a Division II program.

Division II, we're trying to run more like an FCS.

FCS, we're trying to run more like an FBS.

Mm.

What's, what's the message that's working for you g- so far?

far?Well, I just, you know, I, I, th- this is, like, the third time I'm saying it today.

I feel like the, the millionth time I've said it since I've been here.

I just am very proud to be here.

I think this is a place that is steeped in history.

Not recent history, but you go back and look at the history of this place, it is phenomenal.

I think you add in the fact that we're the number one public school in the country, and then you add in the fact that we had six girls drafted in the first round in the WNBA, you know, uh, draft.

Mm-hmm.

What's, what's the message that's working for you g- so far?

far?Well, I just, you know, I, I, th- this is, like, the third time I'm saying it today.

I feel like the, the millionth time I've said it since I've been here.

I just am very proud to be here.

I think this is a place that is steeped in history, not recent history, but you go back and look at the history of this place, it is phenomenal.

I think you add in the fact that we're the number one public school in the country, and then you add in the fact that we had six girls drafted in the first round in the WNBA, you know, uh, draft.

Our, our baseball team, you know, hopefully ends the season with another national championship.

Mm-hmm.

What's the message that's working for you so far?

Well, I just, you know, this is like the third time I'm saying it today.

I feel like the millionth time I've said it since I've been here.

I just am very proud to be here.

I think this is a place that is steeped in history, not recent history, but you go back and look at the history of this place.

It is phenomenal.

I think you add in the fact that we're the number one public school in the country, and then you add in the fact that we had six girls drafted in the first round in the WNBA draft.

Anything.

Mm-hmm.

Then you add in the fact that you have, you know, three national champions this year, maybe another one or two coming up in your athletic department, first-round draft picks, Olympic athletes, you know, and that's not even talking about the campus yet.

You get into campus, and the future CEOs and the, you know, the doctors, the lawyers, the engineers, just all those people.

It's a, a 8% acceptance rate I think right now, which means out of 100 people applying, 92 don't get in, you know? So you're really surrounded by greatness, and I think that's important for our guys to understand, is that it's, it's our time now as football to make sure we put this program back on the map.

Everybody else is winning.

Everybody else is winning at a high level in the classroom, out on the f- sports fields, in the, you know, arenas as Cori and, and, and her basketball team.

Like, it, everybody, it ...

in which, to which you're entering.

Why did you do that and how did that go?

Yeah, so that's something we've always done.

I thought it was even more important for us to be able to do that when we get out here.

Obviously, the knock on me is going to be I'm an East Coast guy coming out to the West Coast.

How do I know anybody? How can we possibly recruit? You don't know what you're doing out here.

All those things are what's been said, and rightfully so.

So I think it was, for me, the idea of how does any relationship begin? It begins at the start.

Why did you want UCLA?

Why did you do that, and how did that go?

Yeah, so that's something we've always done.

I thought it was even more important for us to be able to do that when we get out here.

Obviously, the knock on me is gonna be I'm an East Coast guy coming out to the West Coast.

How do I know anybody? How could we possibly recruit? You don't know what you're doing out here.

All those things, you know, are what's been said, and rightfully so.

So I think it was, for me, the idea of, you know, how does any relationship begin? It begins at the start.

Why did you want UCLA?

[laughs]

Yeah, but, uh, ultimately, you know, for me, I...

Just think about this for one second.

Like, if I'm one of our football players, I'm entrenched in an athletic department here that has six first round draft picks to the WNBA.

Right? We'll have the first pick in the baseball draft and, and probably the third pick in the baseball draft.

They're number one in the country as well.

You have a water polo team that won the whole thing, and nine of those guys will be on the Olympics team.

What, what are the challenges, if there are any? And, and kinda how do you get that group right, uh, when they're all kinda new and getting to feel each other out?

You know, does that cross your mind at all or you feel pretty good about the position you're in?

Yeah, I feel pretty good.

I mean, I'm staying in a hotel for the past 40 days.

I walk from the hotel into our facility and that's about it.

And I'm sure when I finally get settled in somewhere, my family gets out here, I'm sure it'll be more of the same.

I think our time's so limited, you know, and I do think that, you know, being in front of the right people at the right moments, you know, to help build this program the right way.

And there's strength in numbers.

Hollywood Hills could be calling, you

Just explain how to mix it up and learn a region, or is it just you plug in your system and anywhere is good to go?

Yeah, I think you have a little bit of both in there, right? So you have your system, you know what's worked, you know what has worked for you in the past as far as team building, assembling the right people, making sure that everybody's alignment is very strong and that you're focused on the one thing, which is winning, right? And I think every day you have an opportunity to come in and figure out if you're going to be competing or complaining, right? You got to pick one of those two.

And every day these guys choose to compete, but we had to make sure that we had you know, enough West Coast out here because, again, we're bringing coordinators to keep continuity on offense, defense, special teams, and strength and conditioning.

We had to make sure that we had, you know, a diverse group, you know, because I don't know what I don't know.

So I had to make sure that I had You know, people that came along from with West Coast ties.

And I thought they've done a great job of navigating this recruiting system out here and getting me in front of the right people.

And I thought, you know, any any relationship has to begin somewhere.

What is sort of the key to try to get into that mix like we saw Kurt Cignetti do with Indiana? That's something no one thought would be possible.

Just explain how to mix it up and learn a region, or is it just you plug in your system and anywhere is good to go?

Yeah, I think you have a little bit of both in there, right? So you have your system, you know what's worked, you know what has worked for you in the past as far as team building, assembling the right people, you know, making sure that everybody's alignment is very strong and that you're focused on the one thing, which is winning, right? And I think every day you have an opportunity to come in and figure out if you're going to be competing or complaining, right? You got to pick one of those two.

And every day these guys, you know, choose to compete, but we had to make sure that we had people enough West Coast out here because, again, we're bringing coordinators to keep continuity on offense, defense, special teams, and strength and conditioning.

We had to make sure that we had a diverse group because I don't know what I don't know, so I had to make sure that I had you know, people that came along with West Coast Ties, and I thought they've done a great job of navigating this recruiting system out here and getting me in front of the right people.

And I thought, you know, any relationship has to begin somewhere, and that's at the start, right? So getting out through every high school, as many as I can, you know, here, not only here, but out to Hawaii, which was obviously hard to do, going all the way out there in beautiful weather as well.

And then Seattle and then over to Arizona.

But it's all about, you know, me getting out there and getting in front of these people because ultimately I haven't been out here before.

What is sort of the key to try to get into that mix like we saw Kurt Cignetti do with Indiana? That's something no one thought would be possible.

What made UCLA the best fit and the best opportunity for you?

you?Yeah, so as I went back through, through my history, there's been a, a few places I've been that I've... there's been things I've been extremely passionate about from all those places.

Location, education, you know, facilities, but then also the network and the mentorship that our young men can have to prepare a life after football, that's just as good or better than the life they have during football.

And I think those are all things that I wanted to find and I found in other places.

And then when I looked at UCLA, it had all of them in one.

And that was, to me, the, the excitement around it.

I thought that the people involved in the search, I thought that, you know, the support, the, the moment in time right now with the new chancellor, you know, the, the ability to try to put ourselves in a place where both academics and athletics could co-exist, from what I understand, had not been the case in the past, but here we are now, you know, in a situation where that is it.

In terms of process and core values, have they changed very much over that time? And then what is your vision for the Bruins program?