So coach Chip Kelly could be excused for exaggerating Steele’s status among returning rushers across college football when he said Thursday, “you look at him statistically, and he’s the leading rushing returning guy in the country. He also had the most broken tackles in the country.”
With 1,556 rushing yards for Ball State, Steele actually finished 11 yards shy of Mississippi freshman Quinshon Judkins. The other seven running backs who rushed for more yards than Steele are headed to the NFL draft. Texas running back Bijan Robinson led the nation with 34 forced missed tackles, one more than Steele and Judkins.
Point taken. Steele, even though coming from a mid-major, is a welcome addition for the Bruins, whose top running back last season, Zach Charbonnet, is projected as a second-round NFL pick later this month.
“[Steele] is a tough, hard-nosed physical player, so when we lost Zach … it was a priority to get another back in here,” Kelly said. “I think in this day and age, you’ve got to look at the portal.
“He’s a beast in the weight room, he has an unbelievable work ethic. You watch how he trains and approaches things and he fits in perfectly with what we are looking at.”
Steele’s performance last season was enough to impress UCLA coaches even when they only watched from the corners of their eyes. The Mid-American Conference played Tuesday and Thursday nights — games that became known as MACtion — while the Bruins held coaching meetings.
“All of us got an opportunity to watch the MAC play,” Kelly said. “We’d be game planning with the TV on and he’s playing. It was like, ‘Wow, that guy is a really good player.’ “
Giving leadership direction
When highly respected coach Ken Niumatalolo was fired by Navy after the 2022 season, Kelly and UCLA administrators brainstormed how to bring him into the fold even though the Bruins had a full allotment of 10 full-time coaches.
Answer: They created a position called director of leadership, which Niumatalolo accepted over several coaching offers at other schools. He can’t coach players on the field, but Kelly believes the time Niumatalolo will spend with them in meetings and the locker room will make an impact.
“You are talking about the foremost person who can teach leadership,” Kelly said. “He did that at the Naval Academy … What a freshman has to do to lead is different from what a senior has to do. And really to break it down and have a person who can foster that mentality with our players, and then meet with them one on one, we are excited about it.”
Niumatalolo was 109-83 in 15 seasons at Navy. His son, former Utah tight end Ali’i Niumatalolo, is a Bruins offensive line graduate assistant and former Navy assistant coach Bryce McDonald is the UCLA football chief of staff.
Get your motor running
UCLA practiced Thursday with a sense of urgency. Drills lasted only five to 15 minutes each and players hustled through their two-minute offense during a scrimmage.
“The tempo is super fast,” veteran wide receiver Logan Loya said.
Kelly said the spring roster is the largest he’s had at UCLA and the way to get everyone ample repetitions is keep them moving. With only 15 spring practices, every second counts.
“You are trying to get a lot of guys reps,” he said. “We learn by doing and we only get 15 opportunities to do this, so we have to be really structured and efficient in how we do it.
“We are really healthy now, so we can play fast and get a lot of reps in training sessions. Everybody benefits from that.”
Players wore shorts the first two spring practices and will transition to full pads starting Saturday.