UCLA Seniors Won’t Lose Starting Status

Rather than starting to build, or rebuild, now for the 2000 season, UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said he will keep his seniors on the field.

Toledo said the thought of decreasing the roles of seniors to allow younger players more experience has not even crossed his mind, no matter that this season is all but over and the next one is filled with potential.

Of course, that also puts him in the minority among Bruins.

“Obviously you’re thinking about that a little bit,” said safety Joey Strycula, one of the seniors.

Thinking about whether the end of the season might come early, because that notion can’t help but cross your mind.

“It does,” senior defensive tackle Pete Holland said, “because obviously we’ve got so many young guys coming back next year and relatively few seniors.”

Few seniors? Three will start on defense Saturday night at the Rose Bowl against Arizona and three are usually in the opening lineup on offense, two at receiver, a position where the departures can most easily be absorbed because of quality depth.

But for now, the best players will play. Next season will be dealt with in full next season.

“I’m not preparing for the future,” Toledo said. “I want to beat these guys [Arizona]. I want to beat Washington. I want to beat USC. And the way you do it is by playing the guys who are the best players. Pete Holland is playing really good. Why should I bench him? I’m going to play the best guys who’ll give me a chance to win. Brad Melsby, he’s starting. I could put [Jon] Dubravac in there or somebody. I’m not going to. He [Melsby] is playing good. He’s doing a good job.

“My biggest thing is I really want to try and end this on a good note if we can. I want to win now. I think we owe it to the seniors. We owe it to the rest of the football players to try to win and show them what it’s like to win. We really have not, honestly, mentioned next year at all.

“We have not talked about it as a staff. I have not even thought about doing that. I really haven’t. I think when you do that you turn kids off, seniors off, and I’m not going to do that. I’m going to play who ever the best player is. I want to win. Regardless if they’re seniors or freshmen or whatever, I’m going to play the best guys that’ll give me a chance to win.”

Besides, it is not a major issue because of the positions of the seniors. That is, few are blocking the path of a younger player. The closest comes at defensive tackle, where sophomore Anthony Fletcher is getting time along with Holland and Ken Kocher.

“Anthony will be the starter next year, barring something unforeseen,” Holland said. “But last year he played a little bit, this year the reps have increased, and he got some starting experience [when Holland was out against Fresno State]. So even though I’m one of the seniors that plays the most, especially on defense, I don’t see it being a huge shot to Anthony or the defensive line when he’s going to have to step up and start next year.”

Nowhere else is the class system a factor for the future.

Two seniors, Ryan Roques and Strycula, start at defensive back. But there is hardly anyone on campus who hasn’t had an opportunity in the secondary. All eight players on the two-deep have started at least once.

Two seniors, Danny Farmer and Melsby, are the starters at flanker and split end, respectively, when Farmer is healthy. A projected replacement, Freddie Mitchell, is the team’s leading receiver with 25 catches.

One senior, fullback Durell Price, starts in the backfield, as long as tailback DeShaun Foster is healthy. But Matt Stanley, the backup at fullback, has been in the opening lineup in two prominent situations, at Ohio State and in the season opener against Boise State.

The only other seniors on the two-deep chart for the Arizona game are tailback Keith Brown, at a position where the already experienced Foster and Jermaine Lewis will be back, and the second-string guards, James Ghezzi and Matt Phelan. Shane Lehmann will fill one of those roles next season without the pressure of starting, but is being redshirted in 1999 as a freshman.

So Toledo’s commitment to the seniors is largely a moot point. But it is still a point well taken.

“That’s why I love Coach Toledo and love the coaches here,” Strycula said. “I respect the heck out of them. It would have been real easy and go in the tank and say, ‘Hey, we got Ryan Roques, we got Joey Strycula, we got Pete Holland and some other guys on defense. Your NFL careers are not going to be jeopardized if you don’t play these last three games so we can start building for next year.’

“They could have easily said that. But I think these coaches have been fair all along. They realize we come out here, we work our butts off, and it is our senior year. So obviously if we deserve to be on the field they’re going to give us that shot.”