Advertisement

New UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch brings an attention to detail to the job

New UCLA football offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch has brought a businesslike approach and a thick playbook to the Bruins.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Share

The playbook is different, the terminology new. Those are the recent rites of spring football at UCLA, where the Bruins are operating under their third offensive coordinator in three years.

Jedd Fisch has implemented the usual cosmetic changes along with something novel: a clearer sense of direction.

“Everybody seems to know what they’re doing, unlike last year [when] it kind of felt willy-nilly, us getting adapted to a new offense,” senior receiver Darren Andrews said Thursday after the Bruins completed their second practice.

Advertisement

That’s not to say that UCLA’s offense under Fisch has a catchy new label, or any name at all. Listening to Fisch, one possible slogan would be the you-do-you offense.

“Just kind of see what our guys do best and do that,” Fisch said when asked if he had a label for his offense.

The Bruins didn’t do a lot well on the way to a 4-8 record in 2016. Their running game generated only 84.3 yards a game, second worst in the nation among major college teams, and their receivers continually dropped passes.

Fisch said he didn’t watch much film of UCLA from last season because he didn’t want to develop any preconceptions about players, not having been part of that coaching staff. That makes the spring evaluation period “super important,” Fisch said, in identifying the best possible uses for what’s essentially the same cast of running backs and receivers.

The Bruins will run some of the same plays that Fisch, 40, used during his previous coaching stops, he said, while also evolving to best fit the team’s personnel with a blend of plays resulting in “a nice run-pass marriage.” Running back Soso Jamabo said the team had already watched footage of Fisch’s plays from his time at Michigan and with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jedd Fisch, right, the new UCLA football offensive coordinator, works with quarterback Matt Lynch during a spring practice on the campus Thursday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement

Andrews said that Fisch’s playbook is the biggest UCLA has used in Andrews’ five years on campus. Fisch apparently doesn’t intend to let anyone run those plays halfheartedly, measuring his receivers’ cuts down to the half yard.

“If it’s 15, run it at 15, not 15 1/2,” Andrews said. “If it’s deeper, run it at 18 depending on this play action. So he’s very precise. I like it. I mean, you do what he tells you to do.”

Fisch said that he also was challenging quarterback Josh Rosen to tighten up his fundamentals and reads while learning to accept Rosen’s ability to lead his team on the fly.

“Sometimes he can just make a play because of his arm talent,” Fisch said, “and I’ve got to embrace that too.”

Andrews said that Fisch’s stickler approach included more precise breakdowns of plays during meetings, a standard that has been shared by the three other new offensive coaches on Jim Mora’s staff: running backs coach DeShaun Foster, offensive line coach Hank Fraley and wide receivers coach Jimmie Dougherty.

“They’re not here to play with anything, they’re trying to win,” Andrews said, “so everybody has to be dialed in.”

Advertisement

Fisch said his thick playbook would put the onus on players to familiarize themselves with concepts long after the April 29 spring showcase at Drake Stadium. It won’t be as effortless as scrolling through Twitter.

Jedd Fisch said he is working on familiarizing himself with Pac-12 Conference defenses.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s a lot more to learn,” Kolton Miller, who has switched from right tackle to left tackle, said with a chuckle.

Fisch has plenty of studying to do as well. The coach, whose family has not relocated from his most recent stop as Michigan’s passing game coordinator, said he was already familiarizing himself with Pac-12 Conference defenses as well as what he hopes will be a revived UCLA offense.

He said he likes the attitude of his players, who have matched his businesslike approach.

“I’m excited about the way everybody works around here,” Fisch said. “I think there’s a definite mind-set of focus and concentration and it means something to everybody on this field.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Advertisement

Twitter: @latbbolch

Advertisement