Jim Mora, UCLA’s football coach, has been pushing his players to reach “the next level,” clean up the penalties and focus on assignments.
Keeping that message fresh takes work.
Mora says he sends text messages and videos to players at times instead of talking with them.
Call it new-age coaching for a new age.
“This generation is so easily distracted because all the access to the Internet, Facebook and Twitter,” Mora said. “When we were kids, you had to, like, think about stuff. Nowadays, I don’t know if kids think about things for as long as we did.”
His goal is to get players to focus on the task at hand.
“Don’t go immediately to a distraction,” Mora said. “Think about what just happened in the practice instead of just picking up your phone and looking at the latest Instagram photos.”
Going old school would require confiscating the cellphones, but “I can’t do that,” Mora said. “I wish I could.”
So he incorporates the phones into his plan.
“I text them constantly during the day,” Mora said. “Maybe that’s a way to get in there. Maybe they will read it and comprehend it. Instead of asking them to change to my way, maybe we meet halfway.”
Mora said he was aware that he is not alone in this struggle.
“That’s a battle for every college coach, every teacher in America,” he said. “Even with my own kids. I will be in the middle of a conversation with them and they start looking at their phone.”
Home repair
UCLA has a 3-0 record on the road in Pac-12 Conference play, but is 0-2 at the Rose Bowl heading into Saturday’s game against No. 12 Arizona.
“I hate losing, period, but losing at home is double bad,” Mora said. “First, you lost. Second, you let your fans down that are out there spending their days to support you.”
Home cooking has left a bad taste for Pac-12 teams all season. Home teams are 9-19 in conference play. The South Division is particularly effective on foreign turf, going 11-3.
Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA and Utah have yet to lose on the road in conference play.
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Mora said.
Saturday would be a good day to come up with an answer.
“We got to come out, play our game. That’s one thing,” quarterback Brett Hundley said. “We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. We can’t have penalties.”
Respect the flag
UCLA was penalized 14 times against Colorado. There has been an emphasis on technique during practice this week.
“Before Saturday, we had made huge improvement,” Mora said. “But to put 14 on paper … whether they were legitimate calls or were fabricated, they still count.
“A lot of that is gaining experience in the scheme so there is less thought and more reaction. There is improving technique so their feet are in the right position and they don’t have to grab and hold. When you have a higher caliber of athlete, you see a decrease in penalties as well. They don’t have to cheat as much.”
Injury update
Receiver Thomas Duarte (hamstring) was limited to individual workouts and left practice early Thursday. He is not expected to play Saturday. Duarte has 18 receptions for 329 yards and two touchdowns but has not played since the first quarter against California two weeks ago.
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