DeShaun Foster's SENIORS Must Stand Out For UCLA Football To Succeed in Big Ten Era!

a lot of starting the Deshawn Foster ER off correctly involves leaning on the seniors and the veteran leadership you are locked on UCLA your daily podcast on the UCLA Bruins part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday welcome everybody to this edition of the lockon newa podcast I'm your host Zack edish yimer thanks for making this show your first listened each and every day it's free where we can your your podcast and it's available on YouTube like comment subscribe thanks for your support this episode is brought to you by game time and what you got to do is download the app create an account use the code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase terms apply where we get started today in this episode is the importance for Deshawn Foster seniors his veteran leaders to step up and make an impact this year right it is the importance of this team to step up and see who can Dominate and make their names known so UCLA if you look at the Senior Bowl list that was released right taking a comparison and how important it is for deshun Foster's Bunch UCLA this year has 10 Bruins named to the senior B senior bll watch list for 2025 that's February 1 it's going to be held in Mobile Alabama the athletes include Josh Carlin you we got Logan Loya Kane Madrono F Olio Bryce Pierre Gary Smith sturdavant TOA vau ke Williams so you've got an event that's gonna have many players possibly and you got a UCLA team that's if you look at the rest of the Big 10 the Bruins this year have quite a few Big 10 have more possible Senior Bowl watch list members and most of the Big 10 right they're in good middle of the pack right next to USC and Wisconsin Minnesota they're you know close to Michigan Ohio State I believe leads the pack with 18 Penn State Ohio State Oregon the teams that all have the most amount of Senior Bowl watch list guys are teams to pick to finish in the top half of the conference well what does that mean well you're looking at a team that is not like the majority of the teams across college football UCLA for the most part had a pretty solid retainer ring for keeping their players an offense that's got some senior veteran leadership and we didn't even talk about the importance of their senior quarterback in Ethan garbers who's been around quite some time been the UCLA program it seems like forever and now gets his opportunity to start where UCLA's got those senior veterans on the offensive line they've got that senior tight end they've got those super seniors in the secondary they came to shore up what was the Lost members of the secondary from last year a lot of Veteran leadership for for this team for Deshawn Foster I've already talked about the importance of Ethan garbers the signal caller getting the signal from Eric bemy those are two important pieces to this UCLA puzzle but when you've got a J Michael stavan a Loya and all the senior receivers they are experienced they've got talent in that room which makes them so lethal and dangerous you've got an offensive line that if they can withstand any pressure from the Big 10 defenses up front hang in there in the trench is protect to keep the likes of garbers upright make some holes for some running backs then UCLA is going to score points and despite all that is lost from last year's team he had lat two getting drafted finishing up his career the Murphy twins finishing up their Collegiate careers and going to the NFL UCLA replace those guys with some plug-in plays right you got sharf SE coming along you've got some veterans in the secondary between the Wallace's between Brian Adam who's played so many years of college football so what UCLA is getting you hope yes productive players but guys who have played a lot of games and if you're looking at different programs sometimes they're going after the Super sophomore after their freshman year the junior trying to make his name known in a new space UCLA though is led by a senior quarterback they've got not a lot of depth defensively as they try to figure out who the new faces the new names are under new defensive coordinator at Kaa Malloy and they will step up and show out during this next season who the next stars are and yes we've got some expected players like the olad deos coming in the madranos on the linebacking RO you got toi who stayed but then you've got the likes of Veteran presence like a a Devin Kirkwood Jaylen Davies who's been around as a red shirt player initially at Oregon coming to UCLA for a few years and being a stalwart in the secondary and then with all the super seniors in the defense secondary you've got a lot of opportunity for UCLA surprise because they've got players who have played the game before now you can argue about Talent you can argue about how much they played elsewhere but these are guys hungry to play under a new enthusiastic coaching staff that is going to promote hey let's get energetic let's get hyped let's play Full of Life full of love discipline respect discipline respect and enthusiasm or deshaan Foster's pillars and sometimes what you need to start off off your tenure as a head coach although when it comes to rebuilding programs opportunities to build a program too not just rebuild it but build it into your own you need a few years that isn't always the case nowadays in college football you sometimes get only a couple of a few years to really establish things because you can turn around things or lose a lot via the portal and with coordinators coming and coordinators going DeShaun Foster wants to set the tone and how you can set the tone is reaching your senior players reaching your third fourth year Junior players who can come in establish a presence in the locker room completely removed themselves some what was the weird bitter feelings bitter taste in their mouths at the end of the chip Killy era where it's funny right you normally don't hire within what would be a fired head coach but they didn't fire him and then you've got DeShaun Foster who already had some talented coaches from the previous regime you keep in the defensive coordinator you hire a very talented very well-known offensive coordinator and you've got some established pieces and you hope you hit some home runs on some seniors and super seniors even if you don't that's still a lot of leadership in that locker room especially woman hope that after it's all this day preco during covid after covid which have all been different days and eras of college football it's changed so drastically in the last four to five years and the guys finishing up their career this year a lot of them most of them some of them have seen what it was in college football was not as dominated initially by the portal as much as it is you know it's shopping season come the end of the season at shopping season in the spring commits decommits coaches being fired so late coaches retiring as it was this late in the year earlier this year coaches jumping ship to go be coordinators elsewhere like it was for Chip Kelly because their coach got hired at Boston College and you know as crazy as it is the key to this year's team is the veteran leadership yes there's specific Keys Within games like protection the defense can they pick things up special teams wi which we'll talk about in the next segment UCLA has a lot of older players and the teams predicted in the Big 10 to do well Ohio State Oregon they have a lot they already just lost their quarterback in bck who's going to be what the starter for the Broncos and you bring in a guy who's been to three places but he started everywhere he's gone in Dylan Gabriel you've got you know some senior leadership dare I say at USC despite they trying to figure out defense Penn stay is expected to have some senior leadership guys who've been in the locker room those are teams expected to be amongst the top in the Big 10 I'm not saying UCLA is going to compete but when they're predicted to finish 18th 17th they've got a lot of veterans in that locker room who are not that bad of football players now can they handle and withstand the Hostile Road atmospheres although they're not going to too many this year you got LSU Penn State and then Nebraska I would say would be your most hostile yes they've been to Washington before and Washington's with the new coach new regime can't expect it to be like it was last year out in Mont lake so UCLA has the senior leadership I think it needs to turn into a team that can understand the X's and O's help teach the youngans garbage has already been out there Eric benamy saying during the preseason part of practices and talking with the training camp reporters hey he's out there leading installs the guys who have been around college football they're going to take a little bit less time to digest the information one would hope brought in by the enemy offensively brought in by kak Malloy trying to do similar things I believe he been quoted to saying is Danon L that's completely overhaul a system so late in a coaching change so late in a coordinator change with newer players just trying to replenish what was lost in the pass rush that's where it helps having so much veterans so many veterans on this year's team that I think where UCL could surprise make the bow maybe get a win or two more is because they've got so much leadership on this team now it's going to be tough when you go through the dog days of LSU Oregon Penn State three in a row and then you forget a couple I forget there's a couple more games in there that are equally as tough and daunting but it's showing up every day despite the doubters and proving them wrong and that's where it can help with some senior leaders where you do need help though is the kicking game and UCLA according to Deshawn Foster has not ironed that out we'll talk about that next unlocked on UCLA I talk about game time because game time now has a new feature called Game Time picks that makes getting tickets for your 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you're going to play during Big 10 games conference games whether it's Fresno State Hawaii or LSU maybe it's to steal a game on the road somewhere it is the pter battle between Chase Berry and Brody RoR and then the kicking competition matine bani and Blake glar now let's talk punting because it'll be a brief moment there putting that's important for field position you're going to deal with weird weather conditions you're going to see yourself in Mont Lake you're going to go to Rutter in what early fall maybe a month into fall you've got some funny atmospheres like playing in Nebraska in November I'm not sure UCLA has almost ever played in Nebraska in no November of course that's maybe not the case but you know you're not going to get as many cold weather you're not gonna have as many cold weather experiences as UCLA might have had now yes it gets cold in Washington state and Washington but all these late season Road games UCL is going to take to just the closest games like Iowa or Nebraska in the future it's going to require a good solidified punter so it's between Barry and RoR and we'll see where who wins that right UCLA they switched up the Special Teams coordinator new offense coordinator coordinator and new DC so when you have three new coordinators in your team that's going to require a lot of focus by your team to listen to new voices with a lot of players that came back as I talked about the previous SE segment the importance of the senior leadership then for UCLA to win those small battles like the kicking game it's important and imperative that they can pin teams deep to maybe give the defense some space and not give up any yards or win the field position battle whatever it may be that's huge now let talk about the kicking game because that is arguably the most important thing glar a transfer kicker from Montana State I remember seeing him in action when he was a bobcat was largely for the first portion of the season a kickoff specialist the bigger leg and went boot it deep now the funny thing is for both glar and bani these are two guys that got opportunities later in their years with both Cal for bani and for UCLA's glesner because the previous winner of the kicking competition the presumed starter struggled so badly or what have you that these guys got opportunities now I won't say exactly that Gnar sees the job because U would have not gone after bani to begin with my question is Bean performed so well during the season last year and stopped the the wounds that had suffered early in the year against Auburn when their starting kicker I think missed three or four field goals with lock Hurst it was a struggle for their starting kicker so they bring in bagani who didn't exactly start off his career as a kicker in high school hit a couple of 50 yarders broke his high school school record with a 53 y has the leg it was between the two kickers that are battling for the open spot beani and glesner he was the guy that had has more accuracy last year bani in nine attempts went eight for nine including four makes against UCLA his two Longs of the year were both 43 yard field goals and earlier in the year he was a kickoff specialist was bani then I think got taken off was 29 for 29 when it came to Pats and made the majority of his field goals now we look at B Blake Lesnar right this is a kid who transferred over from Montana State UCLA was trying to replace Nicholas barier who grad transferred to Mississippi State he was going both ways for UCLA you have the red shirt Senor from Woodenville Washington played for the Bobcats we play a lot of games last year glar overall two of six including one blocked kick when it came to the kicking game one of three at Arizona one of two at USC and 0 and 0 for one against C two of those three games UCL lost in the one game against USC they could have made that game an even bigger margin of Victory when USC at that moment I think when he missed the kick was still in the game theoretically before the Bruins pounded them down and took a big time dub and sent USC home packing while the Bruins came back with the blue victory bill okay now glar does have the ability I think the loser in this one will turn into a you know kickoff specialist glar did go 13 for 13 on Pats which apparently were not any gimmies for UCLA in the last couple of years so I wonder why it's so close between these two guys considering bani performed so well in a golden bear uniform but whatever it may be practice tells a lot to these coaches and if gler is winning the battle I think in the spring game he was technically the number one and now coming into fall Camp I wonder is he doing so well that he's going to win this job or can bani pull it out because he took over that Cal job and there are times last year where UCLA clearly in field goal position what would be a chip in they couldn't even make it half the time a quarter of the time maybe that's not mathematically correct but the way it felt at the time UCLA they were hesitant to kick field goal like early in the game against Utah they go for it fourth and long in Utah territory if you have some semblance of a decent kicking game maybe you take that kick already down a touchdown with a semi rattled quarterback at that time in Salt Lake City in early September or if you're UCLA later in the season against Arizona State when you just need points get your team on the board with your third string quarterback they didn't want to take the points any of those times against the sundevils sundevils stopped UCLA short on Fourth and short and you see how that piles up when you have to go for it and you can't get those three points that will add up over the course the season it adds up in the course of a game and when UCLA couldn't make in a field goal against Cal and their kickers going four for four and it wasn't even the presumed starter in the beginning of the year that tells you the difference in that game where UCLA got blown out at home to end the season in the Rose Bowl in the regular season when they could have beaten Cal and had a much better season gone for a bigger win total no that that that is not what happened and we could had much better season in our hands right okay the kicking game is important it's between bani between glesner between last year's numbers the numbers heavily favor bani heavily but then it comes to offseason training workout regimen everything in between performance practice work ethic practice attitude and it might be glar who can steal it to start the season but if it's not over from the beginning of the year it might carry itself unfortunately throughout the season which you hope it does not okay so numbers favor bani but I think glar is holding his own if DeShaun Foster is not right now declaring a starter in either his kicking game or his putting game so that's important to look speaking of important to look UCLA officially officially announced the likes of Dominic Harris coming to UCLA they officially signed him I saw pictures of practice they posted and he's in uniform looks great let's talk about what his impact is and what Cronin had to say about his incoming believe it's techically red shirt senior who's got two years left of Eligibility here unlocked on UCLA well it's still barbecue season during this summertime as it comes to a close you can stack up on the rest of your grilling favorites and earn cash back as you purchase things using ibata you want to choose between burgers or hot dogs you can get both because it's a free app iata is you can earn cash back every time you shop on hundreds of items groceries Beauty Supplies even toys to make sure you're beating inflation no matter what you're purchasing you can save on over 2400 Brands and shop at over a thousand retailers including Lowe's Macy's the four Best Buy and more right now ibata is offering $5 to our listeners just to try ibata using the code locked on College when you register go to the app store Google Play Store download the free ibata app and use the code locked on College to earn cash back that's IBO TTA iata in the app store Google Play Store with the code locked on College start saving all right cruising on Final segment here in locked on UCLA it's finally officially official Dominic Harris which was the worst kept secret waiting to finish up his classes get everything going in LMU he's finally a bruin and let me tell you I remember I was broadcasting the game the other day and there is coaches literally on the day of the opener prior to the start of The Fall season worrying about transfers who couldn't get their summer grades in right because maybe teachers professors took their sweet dang time from a previous school not saying this is Dominic Harris's case this is not necessarily but it's not always a gimme and sometimes when it comes to paperwork transfers let alone International paperwork it is an absolute grind and there was times when it's seem like some players might not even play if they're trying to get those last second games in luckily for the basketball season and for UCLA for that matter they start so late in the year they get so many games in football-wise Fall Sports season wise you can help ease their travel and their load when it comes to Big 10 season for any of their fall sports like the soccers the volleyballs or for in this case men's basketball which starts in November and the Heats of the UCLA grind of the opening quarter now Dominic Harris the former Gaga Bulldog turn LM lion was one of the leading scores 14 points per game 45% from three that was the third best Mark in the country when it came to three-point shooting the threat by him brought in by mck Cronin just significantly extends the amount of options UCLA can have and use when it comes to scoring the basketball they've got varying options from the previous year's team with even more ability more options with what Cronin found in the portal in addition to the Freshman he brought in who are going to be feisty and compete for those starting spots making some players angry some players better and the whole team an absolute fun unit to watch and arguably as good as the team that W in the Pack 12 two seasons ago I was kind of comparing and contrasting where Dominick Harris could be he could look like a Dave Singleton with a three-point repertoire mck Cronin said quotes about Dominic Harris we're thrilled to have Dominick Harris join our program as he said this in the UCLA press release about his signing he's a talented and experienced player grew up in Southern California wants to be at UCLA Derek really thrived on offense last year particularly as a deep threat something UCLA this is my quote now something UCL as one of the worst day in the country now clearly he adds an element to our offense with his ability to make threes that high rate back to cronin's quote he took some major strides as a player last year led to WCC and three-point shooting percentage but we also believe he can make an Major Impact on the defensive end and really help our team in a variety of ways where m Cronin as much as he's selling out for the offense he still needs players to play defense and last year he said I don't have guys so I can't bench guys who can't play defense or not good enough he would say that multiple times without saying specifically who it was this year he's got the opt the options and if it's somebody who can't play 25 minutes a game Harris has been known to have a couple of issues last year was plagued by a couple by an injury missed the whole season due to injury issues in his second year at Gonzaga this is a guy still two years of Eligibility many scoring options who can come through and dominate in whatever role I hope UCLA throws at him whether it's line up run around a screen bury some threes get us on a scoring run that's huge now if he's a lock down Defender he doesn't need to be Kobe Johnson doesn't need to be the summit League Defensive Player of the Year and William Kyle or the one through four ability guarding wise for Eric Dy Jr or what Dylan Andrews has turned himself to be the scrappiness of stefanovic UCLA if they can use another utilize another guard Defender then Dominick Harris will earn himself a lot of minutes in a log Jam in a back court that is arguably the deepest in the country and most talented top to bottom for the perimeter this year right so you're have to play defense now Harris will see time he will absolutely see time if he's healthy if he's shooting well he will be one of those first few options Off the Bench if he does not start I'm not entirely sure sure if he's going to earn himself a starting position it's late to it's mid to very late August he just joined the team that's had summer workouts and while they're not exactly going into full practice mode just yet it's really late you saw those players in the RICO runs the other day I was watching those highlights would have been fun to see Dominick Carris split spashing threes from way downtown so you got a lot of guys who have made some inroads with each other to make themselves at home at UCLA and not that it's going to be a tough transition come from LMU to UCLA La LifeWise still who's going to get the ball does he get the ball in his hands all the time I'm not sure he's going to need the ball in his hand all the time he can still score he's got a very pure stroke especially in the corner if given opportunity if given space he will knock it down and if he continues that blistering 45% rate that led one of the better conferences at shooting the three one of the better conferences in basketball too especially top heavy threats like Gonzaga like St Mary's LMU had to go throw wrinkle there Santa CLA if they could have got anything right maybe could have had an outside chance at a tournament if they can win some games all right boom shakalaka this is a guy that played some competitive basketball in a stinky tough conference top to bottom and he's been there with Gonzaga and now he comes to UCLA to shoot the three ball he can play defense he'll be there but the ball's going to start in the hands of Dylan Andrews they're G to be guarded by Kobe Johnson you've got some much better Rim protectors and finishers at the rim with the athletic ability of William Kyle the versatility of Dy and just the skill of Tyler Bido is going to be on display next year is the four Harris I'm not sure he going to see the ball as much he might have seen at LMU but all he has to do is keep up the percentage shooting and he has proven it after last in this last year that's why he went to Gaga initially out of high school in 2020 as the co Year got the medical red shirt year so he still has another year even if he doesn't need to start if he can stick around another year might be a start as many of these UCLA Bruins could be in this great one to twoyear window with what UCLA brings to the table this year and hopefully even next year into 25 and 26 Harris can shoot he can score that is then the M Mo of this year's recruiting class in the class of 24 kind of the opposite of the class of 23 which saw a lot of international recruits a lot of youngsters who might need time to develop this is a guy that's been around the block he has been in the game of college basketball long time and I don't think mck Cronin needs to push him to play so many minutes when he can be build up his stamina build it up and find a way to get minutes on the court later in the season if he wants to Cronin push him into a bigger role a different role what he's coming here to do is shoot the basketball and make it all right and Cronin says he's made strides strides in the defensive player and we'll find out because if Cronin doesn't like turnovers or defense you're getting yanked this year short hook you're going to the bench don't care if you can score 30 a game you're going to the bench boom but Harris is a great ad officially which he committed a very long time ago so long ago one of the earlier commits this year even prior to Trent Perry coming through the transfer portal while Perry was a freshman commit but here we go the element to the offense that was missing last year that Elite Dave Singleton like three-point shooter that is what the Bruins got in Dominic Harrison that is the comp and and Singleton had to a lot with injuries not so much depth on that team the Bruins major depth that's the role he's going to play on a team that's starting to look a lot more like the team two years ago for M Cronin even though every year every team has its own identity okay get your hands up Bruins fans eight clap time baby and one two three four five six seven eight U C La UCLA fight fight fight this has been locked on UCLA Zach signing off go Bruins