Nice preview Dimitri and good summary of all the personnel changes. A few thoughts:
• At the risk of saying “this time it’s different,” I really do think the offensive upside alone will give us a two, maybe three game swing. An RPO/perimeter game we didn’t have last year will move the ball, hide some potential weaknesses on the O-line and give our defense more juice to perform during games. I’m not gonna say we’re CFP bound, but 8/9 games may not be out of reach.
• I think you had Julian Armella on the brain but it’s Juan, not Julian Castillo. Based on what I’m seeing it looks like our line will still be pretty beefy this year, but likely stronger and more downhill.
• The spat with the media has been annoying to hear about on BRO and from other columnists. Bottom line is CDF is taking advantage of the element of surprise in Week 1 against a team where a win sets the tone for the season. I’m fine with the secrecy in Week 1; anything after that is on CDF not being smart about playing nice with his coverage. But at the point I just want to get to kickoff instead of hearing about the slights to journalists, real or otherwise.
The team had an open practice at the Rose Bowl Saturday where media were not allowed to take pictures or video but fans in the stands were able to do so. Even worse - the program tried charging $100 for a meet-and-greet autograph session and apparently got less than 20 takers.
The media stuff just feels like an incredibly short-sighted choice from Foster, who apparently never heard the phrase “it’s easier to attract flies with honey than vinegar.” Foster should be doing everything in his power to make the program as accessible as possible just to try and grow the fan base, and instead he’s picking fights with the media. It’s just dumb.
(Also I’m writing part 2 and let me just say if/when Utah uses UCLA to make a statement, Foster’s secrecy is going to look even worse.)
I’m aware of the secrecy and the ass backwards policy. Sounds like it wasn’t much more than a day before walkthrough.
I agree that he needs to be more open/transparent with the media and the fans. But, I don’t have a problem with this if everything opens up after Game 2.
And while I agree CDF could have handled it better by trusting that the beat writers would keep things confidential, they (specifically BRO and the LAT) probably didn’t help matters by continuing to make it a topic of discussion during camp. Are they right that the communication (or lack thereof) about changing practice and player availability was disrespectful? Absolutely. Does it help your cause when you continue to make it a topic of conversation to subscribers behind a paywall (that AD and football staff most certainly read)? Probably not.
Either way I wish both sides would come to a truce instead of doubling down on who can be more aggrieved or petty.
Re: Utah I’m not confident we’ll win but I don’t think it’ll be as lopsided or convincing as Vegas does. A lot depends on the trenches and Utah’s will be better but I’m not convinced Dampier won’t do more harm than good for that team.
He was a poor decision maker last year and I would not be surprised if he has two boneheaded plays for three good or great ones a la DTR years 1-3. Conversely we have a QB who played in the playoffs, whether he carried the full load or not. I like our chances to keep it close at the very least.
Damn I was waiting for this. Excellent content. Thank you.
Nice preview Dimitri and good summary of all the personnel changes. A few thoughts:
• At the risk of saying “this time it’s different,” I really do think the offensive upside alone will give us a two, maybe three game swing. An RPO/perimeter game we didn’t have last year will move the ball, hide some potential weaknesses on the O-line and give our defense more juice to perform during games. I’m not gonna say we’re CFP bound, but 8/9 games may not be out of reach.
• I think you had Julian Armella on the brain but it’s Juan, not Julian Castillo. Based on what I’m seeing it looks like our line will still be pretty beefy this year, but likely stronger and more downhill.
• The spat with the media has been annoying to hear about on BRO and from other columnists. Bottom line is CDF is taking advantage of the element of surprise in Week 1 against a team where a win sets the tone for the season. I’m fine with the secrecy in Week 1; anything after that is on CDF not being smart about playing nice with his coverage. But at the point I just want to get to kickoff instead of hearing about the slights to journalists, real or otherwise.
The team had an open practice at the Rose Bowl Saturday where media were not allowed to take pictures or video but fans in the stands were able to do so. Even worse - the program tried charging $100 for a meet-and-greet autograph session and apparently got less than 20 takers.
The media stuff just feels like an incredibly short-sighted choice from Foster, who apparently never heard the phrase “it’s easier to attract flies with honey than vinegar.” Foster should be doing everything in his power to make the program as accessible as possible just to try and grow the fan base, and instead he’s picking fights with the media. It’s just dumb.
(Also I’m writing part 2 and let me just say if/when Utah uses UCLA to make a statement, Foster’s secrecy is going to look even worse.)
I’m aware of the secrecy and the ass backwards policy. Sounds like it wasn’t much more than a day before walkthrough.
I agree that he needs to be more open/transparent with the media and the fans. But, I don’t have a problem with this if everything opens up after Game 2.
And while I agree CDF could have handled it better by trusting that the beat writers would keep things confidential, they (specifically BRO and the LAT) probably didn’t help matters by continuing to make it a topic of discussion during camp. Are they right that the communication (or lack thereof) about changing practice and player availability was disrespectful? Absolutely. Does it help your cause when you continue to make it a topic of conversation to subscribers behind a paywall (that AD and football staff most certainly read)? Probably not.
Either way I wish both sides would come to a truce instead of doubling down on who can be more aggrieved or petty.
Re: Utah I’m not confident we’ll win but I don’t think it’ll be as lopsided or convincing as Vegas does. A lot depends on the trenches and Utah’s will be better but I’m not convinced Dampier won’t do more harm than good for that team.
He was a poor decision maker last year and I would not be surprised if he has two boneheaded plays for three good or great ones a la DTR years 1-3. Conversely we have a QB who played in the playoffs, whether he carried the full load or not. I like our chances to keep it close at the very least.
Thanks, Dmitri1 Perhaps we have season to look forward to. Good evening, Bruin friends, I hope y'all had a good interim!
IT'S TIME FOR U.C.L.A. BRUIN FOOTBALL AGAIN!!!
Thank goodness for something positive!!
Thanks for the preview DD!!
(I may revise that second line in a few weeks, but it fits today).