UCLA Media Day: Despite Awkward Presser, Optimism To Be Had For UCLA Football In 2024

Look. I know you saw it. Hell, the college football world as we know it couldn’t stop talking about it and mocking it.

It goes without saying, as much as I am fully behind DeShaun Foster as the UCLA football coach, that opening presser was not ideal. I believe Coach Foster himself would tell you the same about addressing the media for the first time within the BIG 10 Conference. 

This, however, is key: Press conferences don’t win championships. Some of the best public-speaking UCLA coaches of our lifetime went down in complete flames within the program (See Neuheisel & late years Mora). 

Despite that gaffe, there was, and continues to be a lot to be excited about for UCLA’s upcoming season. Here are a few positive takeaways from Big Ten Media Day.

Related: UCLA Football Home Stadium Named Best In Big Ten

UCLA Football Ahead Of Schedule Of Learning Bieniemy’s New Offense

New OC Eric Bieniemy, who was famously Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s coordinator in KC, brought along a new offense for the UCLA Bruins to learn, which to some, looked daunting on paper. 

After talking with Ethan Garbers and J. Michael Sturdivant, it appears they are well on their way to being comfortable with learning the offense as a whole. 

“It started off difficult as any new thing and how it’s going to be, but putting in the hours and grinding in that time really pays off,” said a cheerful Garbers reflecting on his biggest challenge this offseason. 

J. Michael Sturdivant followed that up by saying, “The new offense was difficult to learn at the beginning as his (offense) has a lot more words in it, every play call is a little bit longer, but as a receiver thankfully I only have to listen to a couple calls….he (Bieniemy) makes it very easy to learn, he’s very vocal on how he wants the offense ran and its fun to play for a guy like that.”

Garbers and Sturdivant Connection

NCAA Football: UCLA at Stanford
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

We all expected J Mike to be one of the top receivers within the PAC-12 last year, but a myriad of issues, specifically the constant QB carousel, made that difficult. This season seems to be different for 2 reasons.

1. He has an unquestionable QB1 in Ethan Gabers and,

2. The duo absolutely lit up in their last game of the season, connecting four times for 142 yards and a TD in the LA Bowl. 

“…We have thrown 3 times a week in the offseason, we have thrown a lot this offseason and continue to build that chemistry every day,” said Sturdivant.

Garbers followed that up with “Excited to get J Mike the ball” when referencing the star receiver. 

Buckle up, this duo could be special.

Defense Underrated(!) & Ale Kaho Return

UCLA’s defense shocked the college football world last year making significant jumps in almost every statistical category, most notably shooting up from 92nd to 14th out of 130 teams in the Total Defense college football rankings. 

Yes, D’Anton Lynn left for (angrily gulps) USC and took star pupil safety Kamari Ramsey (not even gulps, just tears) with him, but the program has some talent on that side of the ball as they’re poised to be special once again on the defensive side of things with new coordinator Ilkake Malloe. 

“Man it’s exciting to see what he did with the defensive line last year, I think someone said we had a top 5 defense last year in college football? Just seeing what he did with the front 7, I can’t wait to see what he does with the unit this year,” said Jay Toia.

If that comment isn’t hopeful enough, it appears Ale Kaho, a name UCLA fans have been pining for after only suiting up for since 2021 is going to be back in the rotation for the Bruins this fall. 

“We wanted to take baby steps because I wanted to make sure he could get to training camp, but with Ale, I was pretty fired up to see him comfortable and playing again…..I’m looking forward to seeing him play,” finished Coach Foster.

Still a lot to be excited about Bruins fans!