LOS ANGELES — Tino Sunseri begins every relationship with a confident handshake and direct eye contact.
“You need to be respectful to the people that you’re around,” the new UCLA football offensive coordinator told reporters Saturday. “You need to be able to make sure that you address them, introduce yourself, and start off on the right path.”
Sunseri has paved a way to UCLA with his relationships-first framework and has quickly become entrenched with the Bruins, working with second-year head coach DeShaun Foster to develop an offense that can make the most of its many new pieces.
“Tino’s just firing,” Foster told reporters. “He brings a lot of energy. He holds them accountable. I like how the way that he approaches everybody’s similar. He’s doing a good job of motivating them, and then finding ways for all of them to get reps also so that it’s an even competition.”
The former Indiana co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach said he had many offers after he helped guide the Hoosiers’ offense to become the second-best scoring unit nationally with the second-best passing efficiency.
It was Foster’s emphasis on player development that won over Sunseri.
“The only thing that he repeatedly talked about was the players in every situation, helping them grow, helping them learn, helping them evolve, making sure that they are going to be able to understand that life after football was more important than football itself,” he said.
“After being able to talk to everybody, there was no doubt that with my heart and my mind, the only thing I could think was UCLA.”
Now, the two are freely collaborating as spring football practices continue. Saturday marked the third practice and the first day of full pads.
Sunseri said they want to build a cultural groundwork in spring based on being physical and fast. The 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods featured quarterback Joey Aguilar taking repetitions with the first-team offense, Luke Duncan paired with the second team and Dermaricus Davis with the third team. Nick Billoups also worked in for a handful of reps.
Aguilar is a transfer from Appalachian State and the others are returning quarterbacks without significant playing time.
The offense used a silent count and the passing game was most successful with short passes up the middle or screens, whether it was to receivers or tight ends. Early enrollees Noah Flores and Dylan Sims were two of the most-targeted tight ends.
Aguilar was picked off by Ben Perry on an attempted 40-yard pass to Kwazi Gilmer and made a poor read that led to another interception.
“What we’re doing is we’re taking what the defense is giving us,” Sunseri said. “The biggest thing that these quarterbacks have to be able to learn in college football is that you need to be needy, not greedy.
“What we have to continuously do is be able to develop our discipline at quarterback to be able to take what they give us – especially with it being a base-down, day-to-day first and second down – that if all of a sudden, they’re being able to sink off, we’ve got to be able to take five-, six-, eight-, 10-yard completions.”
Bruins for Life’s springtime push
UCLA football’s NIL Collective, Bruins for Life, has raised $36,400 from 26 supporters in a two-week fundraiser that coincides with spring football practices.
The timing is critical, since the NCAA football transfer portal opens April 16 and closes April 25.
“The nature of the business right now, we need help with signing players,” Foster said. “And it comes down to money sometimes. The more that we can raise money and find ways to support our current student athletes and the ones that we want to bring in, the better off we’ll be.”
One anonymous donor has made a $30,000 contribution, according to the fundraiser’s Givebutter website.
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