A Big Project for Coaching Staff

He’s 6 feet 8 1/2, 295 pounds, a 21-year-old former nightclub bouncer with the agility of a basketball player--which he also was.

The drawback to Braden Weber?

He has never played a down of football.

Not in college. Not in high school. “Not even in pee wees or anyplace else,” said Weber, from Glendale and a project--if ever there was one--at UCLA.

“I tried to play in high school and went through ‘pre-Hell Week,’ but my basketball coach told me, ‘You’re going to get hurt and hurt your best chance of going to college,’ ” Weber said.

So Weber played basketball at St. Francis High in La Canada, and then for two seasons as a power forward at Westmont in Santa Barbara, until he suffered a leg injury in which his right hamstring was pulled away from the bone. Rehabilitation involved leaving Westmont for UC Santa Barbara, where time in the weight room put 25 pounds on his frame and an idea in his mind.

“I thought about going to junior college to play football, but I had already lost some credits going to UCSB, and some friends said, ‘Why not just transfer in the UC system and save the classes?’ ” Weber, an academic junior, said.

Tape was sent to UCLA, where defensive line coach Terry Tumey watched what might be a football player playing basketball.

“He’s tall, and one of the things tall people have trouble with is getting low enough on their man to get leverage,” Tumey said. “But he’s big enough that we should be able to find something for him, even if it’s standing up at the line to try to block field goals.”

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Particularly impressive in early practices have been freshmen Kenyon Coleman, a defensive lineman from Alta Loma, and Brian Polak, a 319-pound offensive lineman from Bishop Amat High. “Coleman will play some,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “And we’d like to save Brian Polak a year, but if we need him, I think he could play too.” . . . Cornerback Javelin Guidry, receiver Ahmad Hebert and defensive end Darren Cline are being held to once-a-day practices as they recover from various injuries.