Kelly is thinking big
Size is important to new UCLA coach, and Bruins pick up some tall receivers, including a surprise.
In the coach’s first recruiting class with the Bruins, there are 15 players who stand at least 6 feet 4.
Chip Kelly doesn’t concern himself with a recruit’s number of stars. Size is another matter.
“Big people beat up little people,” Kelly said Wednesday, “so we’re looking for big people.”
The UCLA coach loaded up on outsized prospects during his first national signing day with the Bruins. Combined with its efforts from the early signing period in December, the team has signed 15 players who stand at least 6 feet 4 as part of its 27-player class.
Like the game itself, recruiting can be a game of inches.
“It’s easier to follow the measurables than when you take a bunch of underachievers and you have a 5-8 nose guard backed up by a 5-7 linebacker backed up by a 5-6 defensive back,” Kelly said. “Then you’re probably going to get run over.”
The Bruins brought in a handful of receivers who they hope can help them do the pounding. Bryan Addison from Gardena Serra High is 6-5 and Chase Cota from South Medford (Ore.) High and Michael Ezeike from Ontario Colony High stand 6-4.
Ezeike picked the Bruins over USC and Oregon in something of an upset, revealing his decision when he lifted a UCLA cap off a table that also included the caps of his other finalists and placed it on his head.
He was one of nine four-star prospects UCLA signed according to 247Sports.com’s five-star scale, giving the Bruins a class that ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12 Conference and No. 18 nationally.
As expected, UCLA landed Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High quarterback Dorian Thompson Robinson, a possible successor to NFL-bound Josh Rosen. Thompson-Robinson had committed to the school long before Bruins coach Jim Mora was dismissed in November.
“He was a priority to make sure we kept him,” Kelly said of the quarterback known for running as well as passing.
The Bruins didn’t get everyone they wanted. Highly touted offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson from Mission Viejo High picked Notre Dame over the Bruins despite what was written in a program distributed by his high school, which listed Patterson as having picked UCLA.
UCLA did replenish its offensive line with four players, including Santa Ana Mater Dei High’s Chris Murray.
The recruits include a class president (offensive lineman Jon Gaines from Milwaukee Marquette University High), a former janitor (linebacker Tyree Thompson from L.A. Valley College) and a running back who plays three musical instruments (Martell Irby from San Diego Morse High).
“He can make cuts at full speed, he catches the ball really well,” Kelly said of Irby, who also holds a 3.96 grade-point average. “He played some quarterback, he’s got some versatility, he’s also just a unique kid.”
Ezeike wasn’t the only player UCLA flipped from a previous commitment.
The Bruins landed Memphis (Tenn.) Whitehaven High defensive back Rayshad Williams, who had been committed to Vanderbilt, and convinced Katy (Texas) High defensive tackle Otito Ogbonnia to pick them over Tennessee, Texas Tech and Nebraska. Irby had previously committed to Arizona.
Kelly brought in three junior college players but said they weren’t any more likely to play next season than the freshmen.
“I hope everybody we signed is ready to play the day they get here because that’s what we want them to do,” Kelly said, “and if we did a good job recruiting then they are ready to play.”
Kelly said San Marcos High receiver Kyle Philips, who signed in December, was already enrolled in classes and he hoped that the junior college players and one unspecified high school player could begin classes at the start of the next academic quarter in April.
Kelly acknowledged that being on the job for less than three full months affected the class but didn’t necessarily result in UCLA bringing in more unheralded recruits.
“We’re going for guys that fit what we’re doing and what we want academically and athletically,” Kelly said, “and whether they have a lot of stars or have no stars, that’s not a big concern to us.”
Kelly said he didn’t intend to redshirt any of his recruits. Their readiness could be bolstered by their size, something the Bruins hope can help them reach new heights.