WATCH: Chip Kelly Talks Starting Game Prep, UCLA's Pass Rush

The Bruins brought in a lot of help up front via the transfer portal, with the Murphy twins, Laiatu Latu, Jacob Sykes and Gary Smith III all arriving this offseason.

UCLA football coach Chip Kelly spoke to reporters ahead of Friday morning’s practice session. Kelly talked about his first impressions of Bowling Green, the improved pass rush via the transfer portal, Garrett DiGiorgio’s performance in fall camp and how the defense may have improved as a whole. 

Yankoff cross-training with running backs?

He’s cross-training, a real versatile kid, obviously coming off a foot injury, was a great special teams player for us during the COVID season, had played receiver, has the ability to do some things coming out of the backfield. We’re using him in a couple of different spots, but he’s still coming off the foot so he’s not 100% in terms of everything in practice, so it’s just segment parts for him, so we’ll see what that leads to.

Possible he could get carries?

Yeah, we don’t have game plan things like that, but he can play running back, he can play receiver, he can play tight end. The more versatile you are when you’re not a starter, the better off you are.

Orange jerseys?

Uh, we’re playing Bowling Green in a week. We start next Saturday, Sept. 3. We’re going to play a football game. It’s supposed to be at the Rose Bowl, from what I understand. It’s supposed to be 11:15, so. It’s introduction to the Bowling Green game plan, so today and tomorrow and then Sunday’s an off day for those guys and then we’ll really start our game week, but because of camp you really have two extra days to [inaudible], we’ll still do some ones versus ones work today, but we’ll spend at least one period just introducing Bowling Green's offense and defense to our respective and the same thing with special teams.

Lowdown on Bowling Green?

Interesting team. They beat Minnesota early in the year last year and Minnesota, I think, was a nine-win team that won their bowl game, so played really, really well against them. Were up and down in the MAC during the season, finished off with a big win over Ohio, but they seem like they’re a pass-first offense, their quarterback is a really good, he can do some things and he can create and make plays on the run, they’ve got a bunch of tight ends, they’re going to be multi in formations. Defensively, they’re a 3-4 team that was really, really good—I think they led the conference in rush defense last year, they return nine starters on the defensive side of the ball, so a good, really well-coached team, I’ve known Scott for a while and I think he does a really good job with those guys. They play hard when you watch them on tape, so we’re very aware—especially when you watch what they did to Minnesota at Minnesota last year. They were really physical in that football game, so it’s a good football team.

Minnesota upset get your guys' attention?

I think so. When you look at what Minnesota’s done and what P.J.’s done there, I think Minnesota was a nine-win team last year and won a bowl game, so I think that in its own right will tell you that every week you have to be prepared for whoever you’re playing, so I think that will catch your attention, so that’s one of the games we’ve used in our breakdowns on both sides of the ball.

Getting pressure from four-man rushes essential, get that our of the transfer portal?

Yeah, I think there are some impact kids that we hope with the Murphs and Latu kind of on the edges and then Jacob Sykes inside that’s really added another dimension for us also, so it’s critical. You just can’t be in zero coverage to create pressure on the quarterback. The coaching adage is, when you’re in zero coverage the band plays—is it our band or their band? So if they do a good job of picking up that pressure then the quarterback has got to decipher one-on-one coverage, so we feel like we’ve got to generate a pass rush with our front and be able to play coverage [?] behind us and so far what we’ve gotten out of those guys, I’ve been really, really impressed with them, so they’re excited to get an opportunity to go play somebody else and we’ll get a chance to see what they really look like next Saturday.

How many live periods in August?

Every period we do is live except tackle to the ground, so every single one of our one-on-one pass rush, our one-on-one pods, anything we do at the line of scrimmage is 100% live.

Live team periods?

eam periods live in terms of tackling to the ground?

Yeah

Zero.

Didn't know about Latu's health, happy that he's been full go?

Yeah, very happy. Obviously, any medical decisions are made by Dr. McAllister and the medical team. They felt very confident when they saw him, before he ever came here, that he would be cleared. I think they were very cautious during the spring, which rightly so, but he hasn't missed a beat during preseason camp. He got cleared, I think, the beginning of June. He's been full go in every activity, so I'm excited to see him. Really loved him coming out of high school, and then obviously Ikaika knew him when he was at Washington, so we had a really good understanding and knowledge of him. He's a world-class rugby player and has been playing rugby straight through, so really excited to see what he can do when we get to a real game live situation.

Told Titus you weren't going to lose him a second time – is that a standard line with transfers you previously recruited?

Nah, there's not a standard. I had a great relationship with Titus coming out, really hit it off with him and he wanted to go to Central Florida, play with Dillon Gabriel. They were friends from Hawaii, both went to Central Florida together, but we were really high on him. You know, just because he chose a different school didn't mean we still weren't high on him. Thought he was really productive in what he did his freshman year at Central Florida, so we were excited to get a second opportunity. He's just a great young man, he's an unbelievable worker, he's just a great kid to be with, he's got a smile on his face, he's one of those kids that's got an infectious personality. You just enjoy him, and I enjoyed recruiting him the first time and I enjoyed recruiting him the second time. Fortunately, the second time, we got him.

How much do you encourage guys to trash talk, have fun or be themselves?

Encourage? We don't encourage it at all, but I want our kids to have fun. I think the key to all of it is that you have to learn how to play with emotion, don't let emotion play with you. We've always believed that competitors respond to situations and noncompetitors react. So if you're totally in control and you understand what you're doing and you have something to say, then that's fine. The ones that get you in trouble is when it's an emotional decision and a reaction to something that happened, and those are usually the ones that get penalties and things like that, and we don't want to do anything to hurt the football team. But we want our players to play with emotion, we want them to have fun, we want them to enjoy – that's the fun part of playing football – but we don't want them to understand, to let emotion play with them when they fly off the handles. You know, I think there's a fine line there.

Garrett DiGiorgio?

Garrett's done a really nice job. He's actually played football for us last year. He's done a really, really nice job, I think he's gotten a lot stronger and a lot more, I think – I'm not trying to say that he wasn't athletic – I think he's a lot more flexible. He's really worked really hard on bend and balance as he continues to grow into his body. He's a big human being to begin with, but he's done a really nice job through the spring and then through preseason camp. So he's another guy that hasn't played a ton of football, but we're excited to get him on the field and when he gets his opportunity next week.

How much better is the defense this year?

The only question – the only answer to that question is when we play games on Saturdays, so it really doesn't matter whether I say we're 1000% better than we were a year ago or if I say we're not better than we were a year ago. You gotta play the game, that's the great thing about – hopefully in seven days, the talking season's over, so it doesn't really matter when any coach said in preseason about their team – this, that or the other thing. You get to line up and play a team next Saturday and that's where we'll find out.

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