Ward Repositioned for Renewed Happiness

One of the first things Bob Toledo did after being named UCLA’s coach was to call each player into his office.

Happy? Satisfied? Need help? Then he asked the question Phillip Ward had been waiting to hear: Are you playing where you want to play?

“Before I went to see him I had it on my mind that I wanted to move back to linebacker from end,” Ward said Thursday. “Fortunately, he had it on his mind too.”

Ward was recruited from Pius X High as a linebacker, played there two seasons at UCLA and was moved to defensive end last season to fill a need. He’s back at outside linebacker and loving it.

“The assignments are a lot different,” he said. “As a defensive end, I was getting double-teamed or having to deal with big tackles. As a linebacker, I have the tight end on me.”

The difference is often about 70 pounds.

Another request honored was that of Abdul McCullough, who returned to strong safety from linebacker.

“We had about four guys who said they wanted to play somewhere else,” Toledo said. “We tried them at their new positions in the spring, and every one played better.”

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The Bruins worked on overtime plays for the first time. The new Division I rule involves giving each team the ball on the 25-yard line until one of the teams doesn’t score. In this case, four plays produced four incomplete passes against the first-team defense. . . . Freshman running back Jermaine Lewis suffered a mild concussion and is listed as day to day.