UCLA football season-ticket holders were given an exclusive opportunity to submit questions ahead of and view a Zoom interview between Josh Lewin and Assistant Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator/ Defensive Backs Coach, Brian Norwood, today. The following is what transpired
on where he’s settled in Los Angeles
Norwood: “I found a place here in Santa Monica. My wife and I. I have a son, Zac—my youngest son—is here. Really loving California and Santa Monica is a beautiful place. Outside [of] there was a little tremble last night; looked at each other like, ‘What’s going on?’ We figured it was too late to do anything, but we did get a little feel, a little welcome to California. It was nice. This is a beautiful place.”
on his daughter, Brianna, being engaged to Michael A. Taylor of MLB’s Washington Nationals
Norwood: “I have my Nats stuff. I had to realize I can’t put this hat on [in Los Angeles] all the time. Yeah, that’s exactly right. She’s engaged.”
on the explanation of his title, particularly Passing Game Coordinator“
Norwood: "I had a bunch of buddies that called me up. It’s crazy, a few of them congratulated me, ‘Hey, good, glad you’re coming over to the offensive side of the ball…,’ giving me all the reasons, what a great move, and I’m like, ‘Hold on, it’s Pass Game Coordinator.’
"So, basically, I’m an assistant to Coach Azz (Defensive Coordinator Jerry Azzinaro) and the rest of the defensive staff where there’s emphasis with my background and history on the secondary and defending the passing game.
"Basically, Coach Azz is the defensive coordinator, I’m assisting him, as well as the other coaches. We’ll go a little bit more in detail in regards to some of the pass-game concepts and strategies, but all going under the umbrella of Coach Azz and what he does.”
on his day-to-day responsibilities on a typical day
Norwood:“I feel like I’m working harder and longer here at home—and that’s probably for a lot of folks—than I would be at the office or going out to practice. I long for a day to get back out to practice, see the players face to face. What we’re doing now, Coach Kelly has really done a tremendous job, and the whole staff—Coach Wintrich, our strength coach, nutrition, everybody—has done a tremendous job staying connected to the players.
"Usually, we have a breakfast Monday morning—and that’s a team breakfast, all on Zoom. Coach Kelly will have speakers. We’ve had Inky Johnson, Jon Gordon, some great speakers that have come and spoke to the team. I’m getting a technological-advanced course because I didn’t realize all you can do with Zoom and all the different teaching avenues you have right now, being separated. But we’ll do a team meeting and speak, and during that, we’ll break into groups and have a group meeting, and then come back.
"They’ve been very educational, but one of the things that have been big, it’s kept the team together and united. We’ll do that and then each coach, the NCAA allows us a certain amount of time that we can do meetings with our players, so each coach sort of, based on their players’ schedule—my group is a little bit larger than the other groups—so, we’ll meet on Tuesday and Thursday for 45 minutes, a little bit longer, and then have some little broken-up meetings, in between then, where we’ll address installs, sort of what we did during the spring, with Zoom on both my computer and my iPad.
"I can show film, we can meet, we can divide up the groups. We can do a lot of things, so that’s been good. Being able to see the players consistently during the week, our Sports Performance staff, Coach Frank (Wintrich) has done a tremendous job giving those guys information and things they can do from a workout standpoint to stay the course. And, like I said, just meetings, film, recruiting. Everything is still going as normal right now. I’m just in front of a screen a lot more.”
on lessons from Jon Gordon and keeping student-athletes upbeat
Norwood: “Yeah, he is. He’s one of the most positive individuals. And his life story. Usually, when a person’s able to tell you their testimony and tell you sort of what they’ve been through, what’s brought them through, people can relate to it.
"Right now is a time where people are fearful in some aspects, and then talk about fearful, you’re talking about faith, you’re talking about guys just being committed to each other and then joining hands as a group and encouraging each other. He just did a good job of talking about positive thoughts, attitudes, and then also, staying the course.
"We had great discussions within our groups. Guys were able to ask more questions. We had players that talked about, just with regards to fear, at times, you can stay in your comfort zone and do things just the way you’ve always been doing them when you’re fearful of really taking a step off the cliff, to do something greater. His conversations just brought on more conversations. At the end of it, with the players being interactive, I can tell you I probably learned more from him, but also just from the players and input that they had as we all talked as a group.”
on what appealed to him when he considered job at UCLA
Norwood: “I’ve really been blessed to be coaching at different institutions. Every one of my spots that I’ve coached at, I’ve felt has been a calling and there have been things that are outside of just the realm of football… my faith, my thoughts, my family. And then some foundational things. I’ve always been a fan of UCLA since I was a kid. It’s amazing that I’m here. I have some connection stories that we’ll talk on, hopefully, later, with a certain player that played here—that he doesn’t even know.
"Anyway, when I came out here, first of all, [Coach Kelly] did a tremendous job of just introducing me to UCLA, introducing me to his vision and what he had and sort of what they’ve been doing over the last couple years, just laying a foundation and building things.
"So, when I came out here, my eyes were really wide open just to view and see and, I tell you what, once I got on campus—things at the Naval Academy were great, I’m originally from Maryland, my mom’s back there, my father’s interred at Washington National Cemetary, there’s a lot of things that really tie me to the area—so it had to be something strong that brought me out here.
"Getting here, I went to the museum, first of all, on campus. I’ve been a John Wooden fan. I’ve read books written by him, his principles, his Pyramid, and all the things that sort of speak of education, young men achieving through hard work and discipline.
"The institution sort of having some of the values of some of the places that I’ve worked at—the Naval Academy, K-State with Coach Snyder, Coach Paterno at Penn State—just the foundational things with young guys being educated and achieving their highest goal.
"There’s a lot of things like that that tied to me. Then, when I came to campus, it was sunny, there were smiles everywhere—and I just came from cold weather—it was like a very happy time. And everything fits together. Coach Kelly just did a tremendous job of just saying ‘Here it is, touch it and feel it.’”
on connection to former UCLA football player
Norwood: “Kenny Easley was one of my favorite players. I’m from an area called Glen Arm, Maryland, PG County, Maryland. I lived the longest in Hawaii, but growing up, my roots were in Glen Arm, Maryland.
"My mother, her family all went to IC Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Virginia. Kenny Easley was an Oscar Smith (High School) kid—or man, he’s older than I am. But when I was in little league, our uniforms in Glen Arm were blue and gold, very similar in a lot to UCLA.
"I always dreamt of, ‘Man, maybe I can go to UCLA one day.’ I’d see the UCLA-USC game on TV. That was back when there were only a couple of games that were on and there were a few strong ones that were always on.
"That one of them. Kenny Easley’s from Chesapeake, Virginia and when I was a kid, my aunt, she was a writer for the Post; she had contacted me, contacted my mom, said, ‘Hey, Kenny Easley’s going to be at a camp, a football camp at Chowan College,’ which is this small, tiny college back on the East Coast.
"She said, ‘You can go.’ She took care of me, drove me down to where the buses were leaving to go to this camp. I was driving with a gentleman, one of her friends that was going to put me in a car and drive me up to the camp, so there I go.
"All I wanted to do was go and meet Kenny Easley. Kenny Easley came to the camp, it was like a sports camp. I had a chance to meet him. It was probably ’79, ’78-’79. I was probably, maybe 11 years old. I don’t know my age. That was it.
"I dreamt of going to UCLA, never really thought I would… that situation in my life, so here I am. So, he’s a favorite, but you’ve got Jackie Robinson, Tom Bradley. As a black young man, the history of UCLA was off the chart for opportunity and for cutting edge and people stepping in to do dynamic things that look like me. From a historical standpoint, it was really a blessing being here.”
on why he got into coaching
Norwood: “It was really just coaches have always impacted my life, probably at the pivotal times in my life. When I was younger, like I said, living in PG County, even before that, when my dad was in Vietnam. He was career military. He was TDY a lot and between my mom’s sisters, my aunts, and the coaches, they were the ones that sort of took care of me.
In my community, coaches have always been held at such high esteem. A coach can check anybody. If something was happening, a mom knew that they could go and talk to the coach and the coach would get things right—in a right way, out of love.
"I had a lot of impactful coaches in my life that helped me. When I was in college, my wife, Tiffany—I lived in Hawaii, went to high school and college there—we got pregnant early. I had coaches that sat me down and said ‘Hey, you’re a freshman,’ [and I said] ‘Hey, I want to get married.’ She was my high school girlfriend, loved her and it was coaches that sort of helped me become a man at a faster pace, having kids.
"I got out of college, though I was working. My dad always said ‘You need to get into coaching.’ I worked this job, worked that job. ‘You need to get into coaching.’ And then eventually, I said ‘OK, you know what, I’m not really finding my place,’ called Coach Tomey up, who was at Arizona at the time, and a guy named Duane Akina, who coached me [and] who’s one of my best friends.
"We communicated and end up jumping in. It’s been a blessing ever since. It’s been more of a calling, I believe, for me… because I like impacting young people at a pivotal time in life and pursuing victory through the game of football.”
on his sense of UCLA football team right now
Norwood: “I’ll tell you the fine line of being victorious in a lot of ways is really the simple things. Going into spring, really my total concern was the guys just, how tight are we as a group? How much do we sacrifice for each other? How committed are we to the goal?
The Bible says without a vision, the people perish. We have a vision as a program. How close are we at achieving that vision together? In the spring, one of the biggest things that I thought, even with the limited practices that we have, was that the team was close and g"etting even closer.
"There was a unity in how they attacked the weight room. And the coaching staff and strength staff and the great job that they’re doing. A focus and way how they attack just learning concepts and making corrections on last year’s concepts and buying into things.
"That is something that has been just great and we feel that if we can continue, even during this time, and grow together as a team, I think Coach Kelly is doing a tremendous job of speakers and everything like that.
"When we do hit the ground running when we’re given an opportunity to get back into it, I think it’s going to pick up from there. So, that’s probably been the biggest thing, biggest commitment, the fundamental things, defensively, just running to the football, effort, pursuit, understanding the concepts and what we’re trying to do, defensively. That has been great.
"Then competing against each other, offense/defense. It’s been great competition out there on the practice fields. And even before that, in the weight room and some of the stuff that we were doing there. I feel really good.
"I don’t know everything as well, being new. There are still things right at the edge before we lost our last practice that was still sort of out on me. I’m still learning right now, but I think the foundation of the things is good.”
on magnitude of tweaks from last year’s defense
Norwood: “You know, I think it’s really just what we’re doing now, to be honest with you. There’s a lot of guys that we’re looking at right now that haven’t played a lot. Some of them are doing different things, so I think right now, really for me, is just still really an open book that we’re still writing. And this is a new team. This is not last year’s team. This is a new team, new effort, new pursuit, new dynamics that are going on. A lot of that for us is still a growing thing as we continue to move through practice.”
on his specific philosophy coaching defense and how it has evolved
Norwood: “Well, you know, things have really changed since I’ve gotten in. This is my 30th year. Back in the day, really all the way up, even when I was coaching Penn State, you could play Cover 3, you could play Cover 2, you could play some basic things that we still need to do now, but offensively, it wasn’t as much as the formationing and spreading you across the field.
When I was at Baylor, it was East to West. I never thought that a cat could be standing two inches from the sideline to be a threat. Move 15 yards inside, you’re fine. But when that No. 2 receiver’s running a bubble in one on one in space, it’s all these basketball one-on-one areas, the spatial-ness, if that’s a word, of football now is really spread. The perimeter, "now an RPO can be a toss like it would be if it was a two-back run game.
"A lot of the game has changed, so what you have to do is sort of match that game with personnel, with concepts.
"Defensively, you change just like the offense changes. Sometimes, it’s dictated by the offense, but there are times when you can dictate it, defensively. I think what Coach Azz has done, in regards to just being multiple and having that sort of attack is something that all folks want to do. And then the rest of it is just a lot of just fundamental stuff.”
on if football IQ of young people has gotten better or worse over years
Norwood: “I think being able to do other sports is something that I think is a little bit missing. And guys being pushed to do other things, movement wise. We were talking the other day, said ‘I don’t know if kids these days play tag anymore.’ And all those little things. So, as much as we’ve got technology and all that to mentally grow you forward, that’s great. I’m not, just a diehard football year-round guy. That’s just me.
"I don’t think you’ve got to be out there doing that. If you’re back in Hawaii surfing and doing other things, hips, balance, all that other stuff are things that are just sports. And you want to be the best athlete you can be. And I think when you just lock into things sometimes, even mentally, your own clarity of mind and thought, you can get beat up just thinking about one thing. Too much of anything.
"I think sometimes, you’ve got to guard your heart because out of your heart comes the issues of life. Where you set your deal sometimes may not always be right, even though it may seem right. Hopefully, that makes sense.”
on draw of working with a football mind like Chip Kelly’s
Norwood: “The thing with Coach Kelly is that it’s important for him for the student-athletes to have success. It’s important for them to do well in the classroom. Those fundamental things, for me, are really things that I didn’t know until—I knew he had won games and did a lot of things—but that was sort of like something that made it even more concrete. In just that approach. He’s a very intelligent person and I’m excited.
"I’ve already learned a lot of stuff from him in the short time that I’ve been here and look forward to continuing to do that because I can always learn. There’s no doubt about it. But he has a great group of guys around him on the staff and he’s very open to input and one guy’s suggestions and thoughts. And that always tells me that there are humility and unselfishness to do things that benefit the whole team and group.”
on how recruiting is going
Norwood: “Yeah, and some of that may be me being a little bit different because I’m a little bit behind in the sense of just getting there. But on the grand scheme of things, I think this whole situation now has changed recruiting because the NCAA just allowed us to make our one phone call during this time period, but we’re usually on the road right now, going out watching guys.
"A lot of the evaluation parts, just like the NFL draft, they’re doing a lot more film work because they couldn’t go out there and do actual workouts with guys. So, we’re in the same boat where, doing a lot more film evaluations, talking to coaches. We’ve got our standard way of communicating through social media and then also having guys call, contact us.
"We had Zoom meetings initiated by the recruits that we’re able to do. Might not be able to go to a school and maybe watch a workout or something, but we can get a chance to talk to the young man and his family and stuff like that, so that’s beneficial.
"I think there are benefits to it and what we try to do and sort of what Jon Gordon talks about it as being able to find those positive things. ‘What can you do? I know you can’t do this, can’t do that. Why dwell on that? Let’s see what we can do.’ And that’s how Coach Kelly and we’re approaching it from a recruiting standpoint, also.”
on evaluating prospects and if that process has changed drastically during COVID-19
Norwood: "Not really from that standpoint. It’s been mostly just the opportunity to be out and face to face with coaches and then being able to watch a workout because film is one thing.
"Sometimes when you see a guy in person, you go to Texas and go to a spring-ball practice, and seeing somebody actually play the game at times can be a little different than watching a film or a highlight tape or game tape or anything like that. And that’s usually in those cases that are close.
"There’s some film you watch, you’re like ‘OK, yeah, no question about it.’ Then there’s a guy you want to do a little more evaluation. ‘Is this what I’m seeing?’ Those ones probably get a little bit tighter and one of the things we do it put it through different eyes. We’ve got a chain of who sees it and who stamps it and sort of go from there. The thoroughness of things has been good.”
on how he’s been able to improve pass defenses in the past
Norwood: “The great thing about it at all those places [that I’ve worked], when I went into K-State, Blake Seiler, who was the defensive coordinator, was a tremendous mind and solid coach, and the coaching staff was great.
"We were able to get the players to buy into what we were doing. There were some changes we were doing secondary wise, implemented a few things here, but it wasn’t an overhaul on anything. It was really, at times, in all honesty, the change in attitude and thought and approach and work ethic and guys doing things together.
"At Navy, we came in and changed some things there, defensively. Brian Newberry, who I worked with, was coordinator. Tremendous guy and we had a strong staff that came in, four guys that came in, new. But, the players, a majority of them hadn’t played before. We had a secondary, two safeties that hadn’t played before, but they were great workers and they played their butt off.
"It’s sort of getting the right guys, guys joining hands and believing in what you’re doing, defensively. You could run, at times, really the same coverage, but run it with a different attention to detail, maybe at times a different person.
"All the different dynamics that go into competing, competition, and playing at your highest level that make that same defense better. Or is a d-lineman running to the ball after he gets a pass rush and turning and sprinting his butt, which at times might’ve been an eight-yard gain, now it’s a two-yard gain if everybody’s running to the ball. We’re still moving and moving forward.
"There’s still a lot of things that we’re doing as a staff and, like I said, the practices have been going well. Got a lot to continue to do and grow. Coach Azz and the rest of the defensive staff are committed to that. I think Coach Kaufusi, Coach Nansen, Coach Pellum, Coach Azz, all the GAs, everybody is joining hands, as well with the offense and special teams and really excited for this year. Really am.”
