At age 22, Mike Babcock is the youngest member of UCLA's coaching staff. After playing for 3 years (1997-99) and coaching as an undergraduate assistant for two more, Babcock begins his first season as a graduate assistant coach. He granted the Daily Bruin 10 “burning” questions, á la ESPN.com, and gave us 12 burning answers ranging from Brendon Ayanbadejo to Diddy Reese.
1. What’s it like being a graduate assistant? It’s pretty good. I like working for (defensive coordinator) Phil Snow and the other coaches. They have a lot of experience. It’s nice being able to learn a lot of football from them.
2. What’s the biggest difference between being an undergraduate and a graduate assistant? The title. As an undergrad assistant it was kinda hard, all the guys were pretty much the same age as I was - there were a couple guys that were older. It’s the same responsibilities, but to have that level of grad assistant, it’s nice to have that now.
2a. Is the paycheck at least a little better? No. I got the same as an undergrad, but now I’m on full scholarship (Editor’s note: as a grad student in the education department).
3. Do you ever want to lace up and play again? I think every coach out there wants to lace it up one more time. I’ll do some drills or go to a tackling or inside run drill and want to get up there and hit again. Now I take my enthusiasm and teach the other guy how to hit.
4. Who on the team could you take in a 40-yard sprint? Maybe some of the linemen, they’re pretty big. Definitely not the DBs or any of the skill guys.
5. Who was your favorite teammate to watch as a player? Offensively, Cade McNown, just watching his tenacity and leadership, it made him a great leader and great player. Defensively, Brendon Ayanbadejo, he was just fun to watch. Every play, didn’t matter if it was in a game or practice, he just loved playing football.
5a. Who is your favorite player to watch now? I like Ricky Manning, Jr. He’s a very mature athlete, has the leadership role, he’s an all-around great athlete.
6. What’s your dream coaching job? It’s hard to say because I’m still pretty young. If I had to pick right now ... I don’t know how coaching players or the business in the NFL is right now. I’d want to be a head coach at a Major Division I school or in the NFL.
6a. Which college? UCLA.
6b. Which NFL team? I’m from the Bay Area, so the 49ers.
7. What major were you as an undergrad? Sociology.
7a. What was your favorite soc class? One of my classes was called American Urban Sociology. You study the trends, census polls, the regions of LA that have poor people and the regions that have rich people, and what races were in a particular point. I thought that was the most interesting “sub-subject” I had.
7b. Who was your favorite professor? (David) Halle, he taught American Urban sociology.
8. What’s your favorite place in Westwood? It’s a tie between the Fox Village Theater, because it’s the biggest and the best theatre anywhere in the U.S. A close second is Diddy Reese, just because it’s right there.
9. Why has the Pac-10 produced a difference conference champion every year since you first set foot in the Rose Bowl? I think that the Pac-10 is an interesting conference, because unlike a lot of other conferences that might have one or two powerhouse teams, every team in the Pac-10 can beat up on each other.
10. Last year, DeShaun Foster got in trouble for driving an SUV, honestly how long did people know about that? Honestly, I don’t even know. Some people found out about it before, but I found about it when everyone else did.