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Football Recruiting Buzz, Part 1
Tracy Pierson - 3 hours ago VIP 0
We’re hearing that UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is expected to make the rounds at a few local high schools this week, to not only recruit but make contact with high school programs. He and defensive backs coach Don Pellum were at Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne early Tuesday, and then Los Alamitos High.


We’ve heard, too, he’s expected for an in-home visit with UCLA-committed defensive tackle Atonio Mafi, from San Mateo (Calif.) Serra.

As we hear Kelly making more in-home visits this week we’ll certainly keep you updated.

We’re going to do this buzz/update by position, and this one is so big we’re going to have to divide it up into offense and defense.

QUARTERBACKS
Committed:

Four-star Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman

K.J. Carta-Samuels, Washington graduate transfer

Four-star UCLA-committed Dorian Thompson-Robinson from Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman is at the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii this week and has repeatedly said he’s 100% committed to UCLA and will sign a Bruin National Letter of Intent on National Signing Day. He said he’s also trying to recruit some other recruits who are participating at the Polynesian Bowl, like Tyler Manoa, the DL from Mountain View (Calif.) St. Francis, and Devon Williams, the receiver/defensive back from Lancaster (Calif.) Antelope Valley.

UCLA got a verbal commitment from Washington grad transfer K.J. Carta-Samuels Monday. He has yet to be accepted into a UCLA grad program, and we know that’s not an easy proposition. We think, though, that Kelly is well aware of this and wouldn’t have accepted Carta-Samuel’s verbal commitment unless Carta-Samuels had shown on his Washington transcript that he was an excellent student. But, still, that doesn’t even necessarily guarantee a football grad transfer will be admitted into the UCLA grad program they apply for.

We know that DTR is absolutely fine with Carta-Samuels coming to UCLA. Since Bishop Gorman won’t allow early graduates, DT can’t come into UCLA early for spring and get a jump-start on the fall quarterbacks competition, which is vital for someone trying to win the starting position as a true freshman. A source told us he’s accepted, then, the possibility of redshirting in 2018.

RUNNING BACKS
Committed:

Four-star Kazmeir Allen of Tulare (Calif.) Tulare Union

With Allen signed, UCLA is clearly trying to bring in a second.

The Bruins offered Arizona-committed Martell Irby, of San Diego (Calif.) Morse right before the Early Signing Period (ESP), and he then didn’t sign with Arizona. He has since gone dark, and our sources, mostly 247Sports’ Greg Biggins, has said UCLA had become Irby’s leader as a result of the Bruin offer. But now that Arizona has hired Kevin Sumlin as its head coach, Irby’s status is unknown, and he’s still dark. We’d expect Irby to officially visit UCLA sometime in the next three weekends.


Martell Irby
There’s been a great deal of buzz about Maurice Washington, the three-star running back from Cedar Hill (Tex.) Trinity Christian, after he was named the MVP of the Under Armour All-American Game. He connected well with Thompson-Robinson that game, too. We’ve heard that he’s reached out to UCLA, and that even his coach in the Under Armour game, Deion Sanders, contacted UCLA on his behalf. UCLA, though, has known about Washington for quite a while, since he was formerly a recruit from Northern California. While we know Washington has a heartbreaking personal story of his father dying at a young age, the reality of the situation is that Washington is a non-NCAA qualifier, having not done well academically at the three high schools he’s attended. Even if he ended up qualifying by NCAA standards, which we’ve heard is an extreme longshot, he’d probably still struggle to get past UCLA admission. He might very well be JC bound.

WIDE RECEIVERS
Committed:

Four-star Kyle Philips, San Marcos (Calif.)

Four-star Chase Cota, Medford (Ore.) South Medford

Four-star Bryan Addison, Gardena (Calif.) Serra

Three-star C.J. Parks, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei

Even with four committed, UCLA is still in the market for at least one more receiver recruit for 2018. UCLA lost a lot of receiver bodies after the 2017 season. Plus, we’ve heard that Parks hasn’t heard from UCLA in a very long time, and not since the beginning of the Contact Period, so that doesn’t bode well for Parks signing with the Bruins.

The primary target has been Chris Olave, the four-star from San Marcos (Calif.) Mission Hills. He took his official visit to UCLA last weekend and we heard it went well, but the feeling was that Olave was still pretty open. Ohio State is still very involved, with OSU’s offensive coordinator visiting Olave at his home Monday.

Given that, UCLA looks like it’s looking at other options, with UCLA receivers coach Jimmie Doughery visiting Geordon Porter, the 6-2 speedy prospect from Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) Etiwanda. UCLA had recruited Porter pretty aggressively early on but it faded a bit, especially with the coaching staff change. We’re hearing UCLA is now right there with ASU and Tennessee. Porter already visited ASU in September and Tennessee this last weekend. UCLA will look to get him to visit over the next two weekends.


The recruitment of Isaah Crocker, the four-star from Sacramento (Calif.) Inderkum, has kind of gone hot and cold over the last few months, and it might be on a cold turn right now. We know his academics are a question, and that could be making it difficult to get him admitted by UCLA admission, and thus UCLA not looking like it’s all in on him. Oregon is probably the leader, and he visits the Ducks Jan. 26th, after just visiting Oregon State this last weekend. He says it’s between those two and UCLA, and he’ll announce his decision Jan. 29th, but he has yet to visit UCLA, and can’t do it this weekend since he’s playing in the Polynesian Bowl. So, it looks unlikely Crocker and UCLA will happen.

We also have to say that it doesn’t look good for UCLA with Devon Williams, the athlete from Lancaster (Calif.) Antelope Valley. He was thought to be leaning to Oregon, but now, after his official visit to USC, the buzz is he’ll be a Trojan. He still intends to visit Oregon either Jan. 26th or Feb. 3rd (he’s participating in the Polynesian Bowl this weekend). So there’s a chance he could still officially visit UCLA but what we’re hearing doesn’t sound good for him.

There are some other safety/receiver types that probably project as safeties but very well could end up receivers on the next level. Those will be included in the defensive backs run-down in Part 2.

UCLA is a possible destination for some transfers, however.

C.J. Sanders, the senior Notre Dame receiver, has announced he’ll be a graduate transfer. Originally from SoCal, the 5-8 slot receiver has interest in UCLA, but it’s unknown if UCLA has reciprocated at this time. Again, he’d have to be admitted as a graduate student, which is no small order. As a grad transfer he’d be eligible immediately for the 2018 season.

Hunter Rison is a sophomore-to-be receiver at Michigan State who has indicated he’ll transfer. Rison, a four-star out of high school that showed interest in UCLA, has indicated UCLA would be a school of interest. Rison played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2018, having caught 19 passes for 224 yards. The 5-11 receiver has very good quicks and ball skills. He was expected to be a significant part of MSU’s passing offense next season, but his father, former NFL player Andre Rison, said he wanted his son to go somewhere he’d get more playing time. Rison would have to redshirt a year after transferring, per NCAA rules.

Drake Harris, the 6-4 sophomore at Michigan, will transfer and has indicated UCLA would be a potential destination. Harris was a highly-touted prospect out of high school but he’s been plagued by injuries during his time in Ann Arbor. He’d have to sit out the season and lose a year of eligibility to transfer, making him a redshirt junior when he’d be eligible in 2019.

We haven’t heard if UCLA is interested in either Rison or Harris at this time.

TIGHT ENDS
UCLA tight end coach Angus McClure visited Spencer Webb, the four-star prospect from Sacramento (Calif.) Christian Brothers, Friday morning, the first few hours that the Dead Period was lifted. Webb visited UCLA in December and has a visit arranged with Oregon, where he’s verbally committed, for later this month. It’s definitely a UCLA/Oregon battle, with Oregon sources, which sometimes are a bit homerish, believing he’s sewn up for Oregon.

Our 247Sports recruiting expert on the east coast, Brian Dohn, reported that McClure visited Matt Alaimo, the 6-5, 240-pound prospect from Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph, Monday. Alaimo has recently been offered by the likes of Auburn (which he just visited last weekend) and Texas A&M, which he’ll visit this weekend. Dohn said that McClure’s visit with Alaimo went really well, with the UCLA coaching spending three hours with him. Once Alaimo gets past UCLA admissions, which he should do with ease since he’s a very good student, an official visit will probably be arranged for a one of the two recruiting weekends he has open. Alaimo is a three-star who might be a little better than that, with some great athleticism and mobility. In Chip Kelly’s program you just can’t have enough 6-5 athletes who could plug into various positions. There is another Oregon-committed tight end, Teagan Quitoriano, from Salem (Ore.) Sprague, that Kelly contacted (Quitoriano tweeted it out). He’s 6-7 and 240 and while some in Oregon have hyped him as a good prospect, others have questioned his potential. We think at this point Quitoriano is a back-up plan that UCLA could opt to offer late.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Commitments:

Four-star Chris Murray, of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei

Three-star Alec Anderson of Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) Etiwanda

Two-star Baraka Beckett, Pacific Palisades (Calif.) Palisades

Jarrett Patterson
Jarrett Patterson
UCLA is looking to bring in a very large, in terms of numbers, offensive line recruiting class for 2018. With three recruits committed, we could see a class of six, or even seven, when the books are ultimately closed. And it might not be done by Feb. 7th; it could take until spring with the way the transfer market works.

At this point, a big linchpin to the class is four-star Jarrett Patterson, from Mission Viejo (Calif.) If the Bruins get Patterson, the class suddenly looks pretty good as it is, with two four-star prospects and a very promising three-star in Anderson. Even though Notre Dame has come in late with an offer and a visit, the feeling among the 247Sports experts is that UCLA leads for his signature.

We also have heard about one prospect committed elsewhere that UCLA has a very good chance to flip.

And there will be transfer possibilities. Perhaps they won’t be grad transfers, but we know there will be some potentially from other programs that will, yes, have to sit out, but have a number of years eligibility remaining.

Most immediately, though, in terms of NSD on Feb. 7th, if UCLA is pretty confident it’s getting Patterson, we could see it maybe just taking one more among the high school prospects it’s currently recruiting. We’ve provided you a heads-up of the recruits UCLA could target in the last couple of weeks, and it’s come to fruition for some of them – like with Tank Jenkins, the four-star from Montgomery (Ala.) Park Crossing. A story on Jenkins today has him potentially visiting UCLA after coaches made contact, while he’s probably leaning to Oklahoma, after his most recent official visit.

Latest on Tank Jenkins
Hunter Mayginnes, the three-star ASU commit from Hamilton (Ariz.) Chandler, officially visited UCLA last weekend but didn’t get an offer. We could see Mayginnes possibly getting one sometime in the next few weeks, especially if UCLA loses poll position with Patterson. UCLA also tripped in two JC prospects from Ventura College, 6-8 Blake Walker, and 6-3 Tyler Orsini. We think Walker and Orsini are back-up options at this point, with UCLA probably more likely of offering Orsini as a center than Walker.

There could also be more guys UCLA picks it up with from this list we published last week:

Possible UCLA OL Targets
Author
Tracy Pierson  @BruinReport

Alford on Parity in Pac-12, Facing Zone Defenses
Matt Joye - 3 hours ago 0



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Author
Matt Joye  @BruinReport


Will Dana Bible Be UCLA's Quarterbacks Coach?
Tracy Pierson - 6 hours ago 0

Dana Bible (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)


Reports and sources have indicated that Chip Kelly has offered the job of quarterbacks coach to Dana Bible.

Bible, 64, is best known as the one-time offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Boston College (1999-2006) and North Carolina State (2007-2012).  He's considered a very good offensive mind and a longtime football friend of Kelly, and served under him as an offensive assistant when Kelly coached the San Francisco 49ers.

Bible was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2009 and has been managing it ever since. A source told us that his health could be the biggest consideration whether Bible would accept the UCLA coaching position.

Kelly has already hired Jerry Neuheisel, 25, the one-time UCLA quarterback, and Nate Costa, 29, the former quarterback who played under Kelly at Oregon, as graduate assistants.

Kelly, of course, will be UCLA's offensive coordinator, calling the plays. It's thought that Kelly's idea is to combine an experienced quarterbacks guru like Bible, along with Neuheisel and Costa, to coach the UCLA quarterbacks, help organize the offensive gameplan and recruit.  Neuheisel worked at Texas A&M last season under former UCLA coordinator Noel Mazzone, and Costa most recently coached at the big-time high school program, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.  Bible would bring along both Neuheisel and Costa as potentially future quarterback coaches.

We don't know the timeframe for Bible to make his decision.


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Author
Tracy Pierson  @BruinReport




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