LOS ANGELES — The UCLA football team emerged on Wednesday morning in full pads for the first time in fall camp as the summer heat tightens its grip on Southern California.

“It brings out a mindset that you’re gonna have to have during the season,” said linebacker Kain Medrano. “We’re gonna play at 11:00 in the Rose Bowl. It’s gonna be hot out there.”

The August crucible is affecting the linebackers, especially. Inside linebacker coach Ken Norton and defensive coordinator Bill McGovern are new additions to this season’s fall camp and both bring NFL experience and a hard-nosed style.

“You see him yelling at us out there. He’s hard on us,” Darius Muasau said of Norton, a UCLA alumnus. “He’s the old-school coach, he’s been here, played here, been in the league, coached in the league. We’re loving every second of him.”

Muasau is in his first fall camp with the Bruins as well after transferring from the University of Hawaii. He left the Rainbow Warriors as the team’s leading tackler in 2021 with 109 total tackles with 64 solo tackles and 14 for a loss.

The senior balances the ferocity of camp’s daily physical regime with film. After three to four hours of film with the team, he unlocks his iPad and starts watching even more on his own. San Francisco’s Fred Warner, Indianapolis’ Darius Leonard and Tampa Bay’s Devin White are some of his favorites.

“Just things I can get better at and just not in our own film, but also like NFL film as well,” Muasau said. “I’m picking out specific things that they do in the league that I can implement to my own game.”

Although he spends a lot of time focusing on his own game, Muasau said that there’s a deep connection among the linebackers. They’re always texting each other and, of course, Muasau said he’s always willing to spend extra time on film with a less experienced teammate.

“But it’s not that I know everything. I’m still learning myself,” he said. “So I’m just learning, teaching them what I know already.”

On the sweltering field, new coaches like McGovern are imposing and vocal as each linebacker finds his role in camp. Muasau transitioned quickly into an intangible leadership position, while players like Medrano are focused on footwork and hand speed to improve the linebacker corps’ efficiency.

“Whether it’s raining, snowing, hot, whatever it is, we just got to come out with the same mindset of we’re just out here to work and we’re just out here to get 1% better every day,” Medrano said.

An “old” offensive line

The word “old” can be subjective. Redshirt-senior Sam Marrazzo defines this year’s offensive linemen as old, but in the best way possible.

“We’re a pretty old unit now,” Marrazzo said. “A couple of years ago, it wasn’t that way. We were all really still kind of younger guys. But now we kind of have a maturity, a sense about ourselves. So we take in information really well.”

This season’s roster lists six senior or redshirt-senior offensive linemen and another four redshirt-juniors.

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Marrazzo, who started at center in 2020, is back in fall camp after missing most of 2021 due to injury. He seems a strong contender for a starting spot at center, and there’s competition at tackle.

Coach Chip Kelly mentioned Garrett DiGiorgio (redshirt freshman), Tyler Manoa (redshirt senior), Josh Carlin (redshirt junior) and Bruno Fina (redshirt sophomore) as players who thus far in camp are candidates for the position.

As Kelly looks for the best eight players for the o-line rotation, Jon Gaines II, who has experience at center and tackle, thinks that being “old” will be an overall asset.

“The best thing is experience,” Gaines said. “You get a lot of looks, you get a lot of experience and you have a lot of communication and knowledge is how you excel and execute.”