COSTA MESA, Calif. -- With all of the moves that came over the UCLA Bruins offseason, one of the biggest was the acquisition of offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri.
Sunseri is coming over from serving as a co-offensive coordinator position at Indiana last season where the Hoosiers ranked as a top 24 offense in college football last season, averaging 439 yards and 43.3 points per game.
Finishing 3-6 in Big Ten play and 5-7 overall, the Bruins offense was ranked near the bottom in all of college football scoring just 21 touchdowns and having 3,927 yards.
As the Bruins are getting the new offensive system instilled to the playbook, tight end Jack Pedersen labeled it as "Elusive" on Wedensday.
"I'm not gonna give up too much scheme" Pedersen said. "But we got a lot of playmakers on this offense and I think we're gonna suprise people this year and make a splash in the Big Ten."
When asked about players feeling "Elusive" in the offense on Friday morning, Sunseri grinned and cracked a joke about Pedersen losing weight over the offseason and feeling more elusive in the way he moves.
While Sunseri might be correct about Pedersen shedding some weight, he did lose only five pounds, weighing 240 this season compared to last season. So perhaps, the new offense is ineed, "Elusive."
"We want them to be able to feel empowered in this offense," Sunseri said. "I'm not telling them what to do. I'm teaching them how to be able to handle situations."
On paper, the Bruins offense looks to be a major upgrade when compared to last season, with quarterback Nico Iamaleava transferring over from Tennesse to UCLA, Sunseri's vision for the offense is to be as physical as possible by running the football.
Sunseri has a rich history in his backgroun when it comes to running the ball effectively.
Having his earliest days of coaching trace back to when he was working as a quality control assistant at Tenness and a graduate assistant at Alabama, Sunseri knows a thing or two about running the football.
Last season the Hoosiers ran the ball for 3,397 yards with 33 touchdowns setting high expectations that he will be running the ball plenty this season for UCLA.
But how will he do it? Simple as keeping the tires fresh on the field.
"You don’t wear out the tires. So whenever you have it to where you can be able to have a bunch of guys that are being able to split the carries. It allows those guys to be able to stay fresh," Sunseri said. "As those defensive linemen are playing 40, 50, 60 snaps in the game and you get into the fourth quarter. Those guys are a little worn out."
This season, the Bruins have a few options at running back for what can be a three headed monster. In goal line drills today, junior Cal trasnfer Javian Thomas shared snaps with junior Utah trasnfer Anthony Woods and senior Jalen Berger.
Last season Berger had 48 carries for 178 yards primarily serving as a backup to T.J. Harden. Berger noted today after practice that he was dealing with an ankle injury he suffered against Iowa.
"It hindered me for the rest of the season," Berger said. "But it's fully healed right now. I'm feeling perfectly fine."
Before last season, Berger was a late transfer to UCLA, from Michigan State, coming in the midst of the Bruins fall camp.
Berger said that having a full offseason with the program has benefited him tremendously as he believe's his body has changed a lot when compared to where he was at this time last year.
While Woods didn't play a snap for Utah last season due to injury, he had 1,131 yards in 2023 with 16 touchdowns at Idaho as a sophomore in 2023. His freshman season , he ran the ball 154 times for 872 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Thomas was also dynamic out of the backfield last season at CAL. Working as a backup for the Golden Bears behind Jaydn Ott. Thomas had 100 snaps in the backfield last season with 626 yards and 7 touchdowns.
During Big Ten media day last week, Deshaun Foster described Thomas as a home run threat when the ball is in his hands.
Going back to when he was a little kid, Thomas earned the nickname "Jet" from his father. He said the nickname started as a kid and followed him all the way through high school, to Cal and will now follow him at UCLA.
As the three have been wrapping up the first week of fall camp, the message has been similarly told across the running back room, that the intensity on the team has been high every single day.
When asked about Sunseri's "Elusive" offense, Thomas said the area that's suprised him the most so far is how balance it is, especially with the play calling having a good mix of pass and run.
"The thing about this running back group is everybody is versatile in their own ways. Everybody can be used in all different positions and that's something that's really good for any offense," Thomas said. "I feel like this running back room will be the heart of the offense and we're gonna make it work."
Practice Notes
Nico Iamaleava lead the Bruins out to first team snaps in goal line drills today. He sold a great read option, resulting in him scoring a rushing touchdown. He also fired a sure touchdown pass on a slant to Ezavier Staples but Staples dropped the ball after breaking on his slant route. The Bruins had a total of three touchdowns during the drill.
No. 6 Anthony Woods took the first kickoff return in practice today. He was followed by as in order No. 43 Brett Barry, No. 20 Shane Rosenthal, No. 33 Karson Cox, No. 31 Chase Coleman and, No. 89 Jace Brown.