UCLA associate head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is pushing to get the Bruins’ offense on track. (Joseph Reedy / Associated Press)
The expletives and biting one-liners that Eric Bieniemy unleashes on a football field never cut as deep as the internal dialogue.
If anyone is to blame for what goes wrong, it’s UCLA’s offensive coordinator, and he’s not afraid to let himself hear it.
“You’ve got to understand, I go back and kick myself in the ass — man, ‘Why’d I call this play? Why did I do that? E.B., what are you doing?'” Bieniemy told The Times on Wednesday with a hearty chuckle.
“Just like I’m hard on them, I’m even harder on myself because it’s my job to make sure that I’m giving them the best opportunity. There’s a few calls that I know I would love to take back and if you could, if I had an opportunity to be a time traveler, certain things would be different.”
Read more: Eric Bieniemy taking a loud and collaborative approach to reshaping UCLA’s offense
Things aren’t great for the Bruins two games into Bieniemy’s first season leading an offense that was supposed to be the team’s better half.
The veteran quarterback and running back have regressed. The wide receivers have been largely ignored. The offensive line has been pushed around.
Bieniemy’s West Coast offense has produced just one touchdown in each of UCLA’s first two games heading into a Saturday showdown between the Bruins (1-1) and No. 16 Louisiana State (2-1) at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. UCLA is averaging 14.5 points, ranking No. 126 out of 133 major college teams.
It’s been a collective, and yet singular, mess.
“We’ve all just taken turns not doing our thing and so when that happens, I’ve always got to look internally, OK?” said Bieniemy, who is making $550,000 per year as part of a two-year…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/e-b-doing-eric-bieniemy-161153035.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-19 16:11:53
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