UCLA football offensive lineman Sam Marrazzo spoke to reporters after Tuesday morning’s fall camp session. Marrazzo talked about his relationship with Jon Gaines II, his long road to recovering from a knee injury and the importance of versatility and communication for the Bruins up front.
Who won pool between you and Jon?
Better pool player? Um, between me and Jon, I'd have to say me, right? But our girlfriends was where the real competition was, ok? So I think Jon and Dakota actually beat us, that was a little unfortunate.
Shuffleboard?
Yeah, that was a good story. My girlfriend Jess and I beat them, and then we went girls vs. guys and we lost. Jon and I lost. Clearly we weren't caring anything there, need to improve on that next offseason.
Happy to have Jon back?
Yeah, I mean, as I heard you guys say, I've been here a long time, old man. But I remember years ago, when Jon pulled a couple of us into a room and told us that his dad had cancer, had kidney cancer. And so just seeing that and his dad going on dialysis and everything and then a couple weeks ago, Jon texted us being like "Hey, I'm flying home, my dad got a kidney." Like, you can't help but be extremely happy for him. Glad I saw a lot of pictures of his dad in the hospital, talked to his mom a little bit. I can't imagine the stress relief, the anxiety relief that that has on just that whole family and just I'm really happy for him.
Pile on him in celebration?
Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, when he texted us, he went home right away, but when he got back, we were all over him. You know, just loving up on him cause that's my brother right there. So, you know, it's just great to see, it's just great to have him.
How are you feeling coming back from your injury?
I'm feeling good. You know, coming into camp, unlike last year, I was limited in camp. This year in camp, I'm full go. So I'm feeling really good, just trying to work on my fundamentals, work on my techniques, just get the mental stuff down. It's just fun being out here. Working with the guys every day, like, didn't get that in spring ball. Last year, as I said, I was only doing indies so you don't really get the full effect. But being out here with the guys on the team, working on the sideline during the team periods, just having fun, talking crap to the defense and stuff, it's a good time.
Leg injury?
Yeah, it was a left knee injury, so yeah.
Where do you think you are in terms of returning to pre-injury starting form?
I mean, strength-wise, I'm 100%, I'm cleared like that. Obviously, I gotta work on technique, right? You know, it's been a while, not having spring ball, but I really appreciate the guys like Jon, Duke, Nio, those guys and coach Drev really for letting me get reps, letting me – giving me the opportunity to come out here and play with them. You know, it's a work in progress all the way through camp until day one of the season, so just gonna keep doing that.
Working a little bit as a coach in spring? Help you at all?
It definitely helps me in terms of just the mental aspect. Just being able to see the field. I was over there signaling for Drev. Drev coming in, he was with us the year before, but just coming in and really taking over the offensive line. He had more pressing stuff to take care of, so I was able to help with that. It really helps to understand the full offense. I know (inaudible), just signaling when a motion is and what that play means helps for me as a center when I'm actually in. I'm not a fan of coaching. I don't want to do it again. I want to stay on the field. But it's been helpful mostly.
Movement at tackle positions?
I think, especially with these new guys, there's a lot of maturity coming in the room. So that helps in the meeting room and out on the field. I just think as a whole unit, when we have meetings and stuff, we're a pretty old unit. Like, a couple years ago, it wasn't that way. We were all kind of younger guys, but now we kind of have a maturity, a sense about ourselves, so we take in information really well. I really like what Raiqwon is doing. He definitely has an attitude that he's the boss of the room, so I really appreciate that. And a couple of the younger guys too, like Sam Yoon, coming in as a freshman, he's picked stuff up really fast. He's really mature and stuff. He takes all his notes. I couldn't be happier where we're going. We still have a long way to go, but I think we're on the right track.
Help being alongside guys with center experience (Duke and Jon)?
That's one of the great things about our O-line and our maturity right now is that everybody has played multiple positions. Everybody knows the offense pretty well. So it becomes more of a collaboration at that point than just coach dictating or telling us what to do. It's more a player led sort of thing where we can collaborate with coach, like 'We should work this technique, that's what I'm more comfortable with.' 'OK, yeah, let's do it, let's try it. And that works when you have older guys and guys that can communicate and work that in practice.
Most reps at center? Any guard work?
No, I'm playing primarily center right now.
Lede
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