Ucla Football

UCLA basketball players are off to China, where they will see the Great Wall. UCLA football players are off to San Bernardino, where no one will see "over the wall. " "I would love to be in China," senior running back Johnathan Franklin said during the Pac-12 media day. "Anywhere but San Bernardino. " Franklin, laughing, said, "I hear it's going to be 105 degrees out there every day. " First-year Coach Jim Mora can only hope. If the UCLA football team has been known for anything recently, it's for being soft.

Ending a UCLA football career that he began as a non-scholarship player in 1964, Terry Donahue retired Monday as the Bruins' coach to accept a job as a television color commentator. Donahue, 51, had coached UCLA for 20 seasons, compiling a 151-73-8 record that included a Pacific 10 Conference-record 98 victories. He will continue to coach through the Aloha Bowl game against Kansas on Christmas Day, his 13th bowl berth, then will join CBS on the telecasts of the Sun Bowl in El Paso on Dec.

College football is all about traditions. At Florida State, Chief Osceola throws a flaming spear into the ground to announce the Seminoles' arrival on the field. At Clemson, players touch "Howard's Rock" as a promise to give their all during a game. At UCLA? Players run away.

UCLA resumed football practice Sunday, with new Coach Jim L. Mora expected to be in Westwood on Monday. There were still things to settle. Mike Johnson, the Bruins' interim coach, has been contacted by Akron, his alma mater, about the Zips' head coaching position. Johnson said he also will meet with Mora about staying on. Jim Mastro, run-game coordinator, missed practice. He was in Pullman, Wash., preparing to join the Washington State staff. UCLA players, meanwhile, broke a sweat in the first day of preparation to play Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, knowing they had a successor for Rick Neuheisel, who was fired Nov. 28. "The last couple weeks have been weird," quarterback Kevin Prince said.

This is not the UCLA football program Xavier Su'a-Filo left. The offensive tackle went off to his Mormon mission in 2009, leaving behind a team that finished with a 7-6 record after winning the EagleBank Bowl. Coach Rick Neuheisel appeared to have the program pointed in the right direction. Su'a-Filo returned to find Neuheisel fired and the future in the hands of Coach Jim Mora , who met with the team on the first day of classes Monday. "It's a little sad," said Su'a-Filo, who started 13 games as a freshman in 2009.

The cheers escalated into a standing ovation. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA's new football coach, stood at center court in Pauley Pavilion during halftime and introduced offensive coordinator Norm Chow and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker. The Dream Team, it was billed. Neuheisel closed by shouting to delirious Bruins fans, "Thank you very much and, fellas, we're just getting started. " Two things at UCLA have been clobbered by a wrecking ball since that January day in 2008: Pauley Pavilion and that Dream Team.

Fred Hessler, the radio voice of UCLA football and basketball for almost 24 years, died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday at the age of 73. Hessler had been battling a liver ailment for about five years. When he attended a Southern California Sports Broadcasters Assn. luncheon at Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake in November, he appeared very frail. Hessler, a native of Sheboygan, Wis., began his broadcasting career there at radio station WHBL in 1941.

What's new with the UCLA football team? For starters, there's a new offensive coordinator, Steve Axman. He is replacing Homer Smith, who has gone on to the pros. Axman was the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator at Arizona for five years and also coached the offensive line at Stanford. Here, he will tutor the quarterbacks, call the plays and have a lot of input into the design of the offense. Coach Terry Donahue promises, though, that the Bruin offense will undergo few major changes.

From Salt Lake City -- The facts are as cold as the night here. Rick Neuheisel has been unable to make the case he has what it takes to rally support for the UCLA football program and buy himself more time as coach. This game was huge, and that might very well be an understatement given the focus on his remarkable comeback. It was a defining moment for Neuheisel, a third straight conference win Saturday night in this Utah refrigerator and both UCLA and Neuheisel could make the argument they're back.

The scores have never really mattered here. Someone wins, and the next week someone loses. It's always been about people: the ones so difficult to get to know, like Phil Jackson and Mike Garrett ; the ones so offbeat, like Manny Ramirez and Jeff Kent ; and the ones so glorious, like John Wooden and Vin Scully . I still marvel at Karl Dullard's ability to take punches, Mike Scioscia's thin skin, Tim Leiweke's ...