As recently as a week and half ago, it felt like the UCLA Bruins were all but deceased after an 0-4 start that included two losses against Group of 5 opponents. In the days since, UCLA beat then-No. 7-ranked Penn State, 42-37, at home and Michigan State, 38-13, on the road after only scoring a combined 57 points in those initial four losses.
The UCLA offensive resurgence can be directly traced back to interim head coach Tim Skipper handing the offensive playcalling reins to former Bruin quarterback Jerry Neuheisel ahead of that pivotal win over Penn State.
Neuheisel initially joined Chip Kelly’s staff in Westwood as a graduate assistant in 2018 and saw his role promoted to assistant head coach under Deshaun Foster ahead of this season.
Foster, of course, was let go after a 35-10 Week 3 loss to New Mexico at the Rose Bowl. Skipper would take the Bruins to Northwestern’s lakefront stadium the following Saturday and lose another ugly game, 17-14, prompting a mutual parting of ways with offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri that led to Neuheisel taking over the role in the interim.
Neuheisel Is A Collage Of His Mentors
There’s definitely some Kelly elements to Neuheisel’s offense, most notably apparent in the Bruins’ suddenly dynamic running scheme after their backs got negligible production under Sunseri.
It’s also clear that Neuheisel is leaning on UCLA offensive analyst Noel Mazzone, who served as the Bruins’ offensive coordinator from 2012-2015 when Neuheisel was a quarterback for the team. Skipper explained on Monday that the pair has a deep bond dating back to their time as a player and coach together, which has made their transformation of the offense so seamless.
“It’s definitely a special connection (between Neuheisel and Mazzone),” Skipper said. “It’s kind of like me with (Kevin) Coyle. They coached you, and then now, you get to coach with them. And you’re still learning from them. That’s what’s crazy about it. You’re still constantly learning. I see that same kind of connection with those two.”
Traces Of NZone
Mazzone’s patented “NZone” offense is a quick-hitting system designed to simplify reads for the quarterback, allowing for increased pace and scoring output in the right conditions.
For a quarterback like Nico Iamaleava, who was struggling to get to his third and fourth reads behind the Bruins’ shoddy offensive line, the stripped-down nature of an NZone-like offense allows him to play the almost backyard style of football in which he so clearly thrives. Instead of waiting in the pocket for those third and fourth reads to open up, the NZone offense encourages the quarterback to scramble and make plays on his own if the first two reads aren’t there.
“Noel is very knowledgeable,” Skipper continued. “I mean, very knowledgeable. He’s a Rolodex of information when it comes to football and offense and things like that. I’m glad he’s here. … He helps us every single day. He helps us every day. I enjoy talking to him because he has energy and juice, and passion.”
Simplicity Wins
What Neuheisel is running now isn’t a perfect marriage of Kelly and Mazzone’s offensive philosophies, but like every great playcaller, he’s taken significant chunks from each of his mentors’ repertoires.
It’s certainly a great benefit to have Mazzone right alongside him, if for no other reason than the fact that it allowed for a rapid implementation of the offense before the Penn State game. Neuheisel’s comments after that win emphasized the crux of Mazzone’s and now his own offensive philosophy: simplicity.
“I think what we were trying to do was get a game plan together where the guys could feel confident,” Neuheisel said. “That no matter what look they gave us, we would know exactly who we’re blocking and what we were doing at all times.
“We know with how special (Penn State) is on defense and how special they are as a team, we were going to have to do different things to be able to try to throw them off. I thought our guys just went out and executed the game plan as well as we possibly could.”