When UCLA fired Karl Dorrell as football coach Dec. 3, the reverberations were felt from South Central Los Angeles to Katy, Texas.
The futures of 23 high school football players who had said they were accepting scholarships to play for the Bruins were up in the air. And, more so than ever it seemed, so was the future of UCLA's program.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
High school football: A photo caption with an article on UCLA's recruiting class identified a Crespi High player as E.J. Woods. The Crespi player pictured was Austin Shanks.
These recruits, experts said, formed the type of highly rated group capable of catapulting the Bruins up the Pacific 10 Conference standings. But if it splintered, the team might be set back even further.
A few of the players quickly sought fall-back plans, reopening talks with other schools as what was left on the UCLA coaching staff preached a please-wait-and-see approach.
Yet, all the while, plenty of recruiting was going on behind the scenes via text messages and phone calls, the players recruiting each other.
"We kept saying, 'Stick together,' " said E.J. Woods, a defensive back from Encino Crespi High.
And, as Wednesday's signing day approaches, it appears they did. To date, Lawndale Leuzinger High linebacker Uona Kavienga is the only player to change his mind. He has announced he has switched to Brigham Young -- though some other Bruins recruits say he may switch back before he signs.
New Coach Rick Neuheisel credits the players themselves as opposed to any magic performed by him and his staff. He could sense their closeness at a meeting he called last month.
"We had a Saturday morning meeting in the team room, with all the moms and dads," Neuheisel said. "You learn body language, and people sit apart from each other because they are not comfortable.
"All these kids came in and sat right next to each other. I was going, 'This is really special.' It is going to be fun to watch the progression."
On Wednesday, about half of the Bruins recruiting class is expected to sign as a group outside a restaurant owned by the father of Jerry Johnson, a wide receiver from Venice High.
"A lot of us have played Pop Warner, either with each other or against each other," said Johnathan Franklin, a running back and defensive back from Dorsey High. "We are from the inner city, so we were already family. There was a lot of confusion when coach Dorrell was fired. But you understand you go through struggles and, in the end, you come together because you're family."
Neuheisel says he feels fortunate to have landed players who "weren't all independent contractors deciding this was the best place. It was a group that wanted to be together."
