TIME FOR THE NORVELL SHOW BRUINS' OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR IS A STICKLER FOR PREPARATION.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

Staff Writer

On Zac Taylor's first day of spring practice at Nebraska, he was handed three-piece, five-piece and seven-piece sets of DVDs, but it wasn't the latest and greatest compilations of the Beatles or Metallica or Tim McGraw.

The little discs were filled with football plays, complete with voiceover work by Jay Norvell, who was not some newbie on the pop circuit, but rather the Cornhuskers' new offensive coordinator.

The gifts were courtesy of Norvell, who also added a stack of note cards at no extra cost. Each card came complete with a play, and the proper calls.

"There's no excuse for a lack of preparation on the players' part with Norvell," said Taylor, who was a senior quarterback in 2006. "He did whatever he needed to do. He's really passionate about the way he approaches the game."

It is that attention to detail, the passion for and understanding of the West Coast offense, that UCLA coach Karl Dorrell is hoping will galvanize a Bruins offense that was, too many times, embarrassing to watch under the leadership of coordinator Jim Svoboda last season.

Norvell, who opens his first UCLA training camp today, was brought in as offensive coordinator to provide structure and direction to an underachieving offense that averaged 23 points and ranked 71st in the nation in total offense (330.1 yards per game) last season.

Along with that pressure comes the underlying current that the offense must succeed this season for the Bruins to challenge for the Pacific-10 Conference title, and cool the heated embers now burning under Dorrell's seat.

Having come from Nebraska, where the West Coast offense was instituted after the option offense ruled for decades, means Norvell understands the pressure he will be under.

"I had a chance to go to a place where they ran the option for 40 years and run a pro-style offense," Norvell said. "That was a helluva challenge."

Building UCLA's offense is one thing, but Norvell's first repair work was done off the field. The relationship between many offensive players and Svoboda, who is now at Montana State, deteriorated to the point that neither side had confidence in the other. The game-planning and play-calling became so inept that Dorrell stepped in halfway through the season and took charge.

So, in an effort to fix last season's mess, Dorrell attempted to alter time. He wanted to hire Norvell after the 2003 season, but Norvell, a former Oakland Raiders assistant, opted to follow Bill Callahan to Nebraska.

This offseason, in need of a big-time fix, Dorrell had the bankroll (Norvell is paid $300,000) to get Norvell, who was looking for a new challenge. Callahan and Norvell had success transforming Nebraska's offense, but Norvell didn't have all the duties of most offensive coordinators. Norvell installed game plans and ran the meetings, Taylor said, but he did not call the plays.

"That's kind of overblown," Norvell, 44, said. "I've been coaching for 20 years, I've called some plays and Bill and I collaborated on calling some plays. It comes down to there's a strong history in this system of the head coaches being play-callers. (Mike) Holmgren is a play-caller, (Jon) Gruden is a play-caller."

And Norvell was not, but that changes Sept. 1 at Stanford because at UCLA, Norvell will call the plays. But in a surprising move, Norvell, who doubles as the quarterbacks coach, will do it from the sideline rather than with the press box.

"The key is you have to have good communication, and the speed of the communication," Norvell said. "I've done both, upstairs and on the sideline. Communication is important."

An intimate knowledge of the offense is another necessity. One of Svoboda's faults was his inability to get plays to the huddle quickly, which often resulted in the Bruins rushing up to the line of scrimmage and hurrying to get a play off, or a wasted timeout, or a delay-of-game penalty, or a flat-out bad play call.

Play-calling itself was another issue, and it bottomed out in the third game last season, when UCLA ran the ball 19 times on 24 first-down plays while blowing a 16-point lead at Washington.

The fact that Norvell, who spent six seasons as an NFL assistant, didn't call plays at Nebraska doesn't bother Dorrell.

"I remember when (defensive coordinator) DeWayne Walker was hired, there were concerns about him, and that turned out fine," Dorrell said. "Jay will be fine, too. I'm not worried about him. Jay and I speak the same language. He's the only one who I've had in my career whose expectations are the same as my expectations. He is going to do a tremendous job."

In speaking with Norvell, it sounds as if the offense will also be opened up. He said he is a pass-first coordinator -- "I love to throw the football," Norvell said -- but he added the running game needs to be efficient, "which means for four yards an attempt."

A goal of training camp is to build the "collective confidence" and "the trust with one another" so UCLA can perform under pressure, he added.

"I think the best combination is a physical running game and play-action passing, and high-percentage passes," Norvell said. "The beauty of what we do is balance."

In his final season at Nebraska, the balance was outstanding. The Cornhuskers ranked 23rd in the nation in rushing (170.5 ypg) and passing (244.1 ypg), and 14th in total offense (414.6). Nebraska was 17th in scoring (30.6 ppg).

UCLA tailback Chris Markey, who led the Bruins in rushing and receiving in 2006, said the hard work and detail Norvell is known for was visible immediately. Markey has his own seven-piece DVD, which he checked out of the coaching offices.

"He made the DVDs of the system, of the plays and the concepts, and he actually put in plays from the spring, and he is on the DVD talking about each play," Markey said. "That shows how much he is committed. Coach Norvell seems so dedicated, and he makes us feel like he's our No. 1 priority. It boosts our confidence because we know that he knows the offense like the back of his hand."

Taylor, who was the Big 12 offensive player of the year at Nebraska last season, said Norvell's charm as a coach goes beyond the norm. In Lincoln, players were often invited over to Norvell's house for a barbecue, and got to know Norvell's wife, Kim, and their son, Jaden. The day after games, Norvell called Taylor to see how he was doing, and rarely did the conversation include football.

And when Taylor was recently released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Norvell was the first one to call.

"There's not a better guy I played for," Taylor said. "He really loves his players. He's still someone I talk to every couple of weeks. A lot of coaches act like they care about you, about your personal life, but Norvell is really genuine about the way he coaches the players. He's a guy that you'll do anything for."

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(color) New UCLA offensive coordinator Jay Norvell likes to send DVDs to players.

COURTESY OF UCLA