Last month, Rick Neuheisel left the door slightly ajar for oft-injured quarterback Kevin Prince to take part in at least some of UCLA’s spring drills.
With the start of spring practice less than a week away, the Bruins head coach has officially slammed the door shut on that notion.
“Kevin will not do much except isolated throwing,” Neuheisel said according to the Los Angeles Times. “I had hoped that he could do seven-on-seven drills, but I’m told he won’t be able to.”
In the latest of his multitude of injuries, Prince’s balky knee finally forced the QB to shut it down in October and miss the remainder of the 2010 season. That injury was followed by a pair of medical procedures -- arthroscopic and microfracture surgery -- and the subsequent rehab on the knee has not progressed at a rate that allows the junior to participate in the spring.
The Bruins remain hopeful that Prince will be ready for the start of summer camp.
Prince’s loss, however, is a gain for Richard Brehaut and Brett Hundley.
Brehaut, who started seven games last season, has been dipping his cleats into the Bruins’ baseball pond the past couple of months, but maintains that football is still his top priority. That would be a good attitude for Brehaut to maintain as he’s expected to get a significant amount of work with the first-team offense thanks to Prince’s absence.
And then there’s Hundley, a four-star member of UCLA’s 2011 recruiting class who enrolled early at the school and will participate in spring practice. Hundley comes to campus from Chandler, Ariz., with a great deal of hype -- the No. 2 dual-threat QB in the country -- and Neuheisel wants to see if the true freshman’s high school press clippings translate into on-field collegiate success.
“We’ll see how fast he grows and matures in the offense,” Neuheisel said. “If he shows he can handle all he needs to handle to be effective, it will enhance his chances of playing.”
Regardless of who’s ultimately under center, Neuheisel & Company need to begin the process of finding some way to get better production from the position; last season, the Bruins were 116th in the country in passing yards per game, and were one of just seven Div. 1-A teams that failed to hit double digits in touchdown passes for the season.
Another season like that, along with a similar number of wins, and Neuheisel won’t have to worry about finding new coordinators next year as he’ll be too busy trying to land himself a new job.