Brandon Willis' long, winding road is finally going to lead him back to the one place he always wanted to return.
The football field.
The would-be-Tennessee Volunteer-turned-North Carolina Tar Heel-turned-UCLA Bruin-turned-Tar Heel-turned-Bruin finally laces it up for UCLA at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night at Rice Stadium, more than two years after he was ranked the No. 22 defensive tackle in the country by Scout.com.
Before signing with North Carolina, Willis verbally committed and decommitted to Tennessee twice, the second time after Lane Kiffin's departure for USC. Six months later, Willis transferred to UCLA, only to flip back to the Tar Heels just a half-year later. When Butch Davis was fired by North Carolina, Willis about-faced once more, returning to Westwood, where he had to redshirt last season.
He sure would’ve helped.
After the loss of defensive tackles Brian Price and David Carter to the NFL in successive years, the Bruins were left thin up front, as evidenced by a No. 97 national rush defense ranking (190.57 yards per game) and a combined 14 sacks for the team. With so little pressure -- the team also added just five tackles-for-loss per game, tied for 87th nationally -- UCLA was picked apart in the short passing game, leaving linebackers scrambling to chase running backs and slot receivers.
The addition of Willis, though, gives UCLA a lot of options for defensive coordinator Lou Spanos and coach Jim L. Mora’s new 3-4 defense; the versatile lineman can plug in at either defensive end position or even nose tackle, despite his relatively slight, 6-foot-3, 275-pound frame. Willis actually thinned out during the team’s exhausting fall camp in San Bernadino, so the coaching staff has him pegged for a defensive end now, though he could bulk up some during the season and figure inside.
“Out there, I lost like 10 pounds, just sweating,” Willis told reporters on Aug. 21. “I'm a big sweater, getting to the ball. It did kind of take shape; I felt like I'd be a more ideal end than nose, and I sat down with my coaches and made the switch. I’ll still be taking some nose snaps. I feel like I can play anywhere on the line having this system and technique.”
Inside or outside, he adds to what should be an impressive defensive line for the Bruins, one that's hoping to atone for a 2011 season that fell well short of expectations after a dominating fall camp. Redshirt senior Datone Jones (6-4, 275) returns to hopefully/finally/maybe live up to his mammoth potential, highly touted juniors Cassius Marsh (6-3, 275) and Owamagbe Odighizuwa (6-3, 270) could be looking at breakout seasons and Seali’i Epenesa (6-1, 310) and Donovan Carter (6-1, 305) should hold down the fort until the return to form of the program’s best recruit in years -– defensive lineman Ellis McCarthy (6-5, 330) –- who missed most of fall camp with a knee injury but could return for Week 1.
If Willis can supplement what is already a sound unit, the Bruins should be much improved from last season.
Finally, the been-around-the-world story, filled with more swerves than Dead Man's Canyon, ends on Thursday.
Or does it begin?
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