Xavier Su’a-Filo stayed in the United States for his two-year Mormon mission, venturing to Florida and Georgia. But for UCLA fans, it might as well have been Jupiter.
Su’a-Filo left a black hole at left tackle, his one season as a freshman in 2009 flashing like a supernova, brilliant, mesmerizing and in an instant, gone.
He arrived in Westwood in 2009 as the team’s best offensive line recruit in more than a decade — a Parade All-American, a three-time state champion, the No. 1 player in the state of Utah, according to Rivals.com. He slid in almost immediately at left tackle and lived up to the hype, winning honorable mention all-conference honors from Pac-10 coaches.
The joy was short lived.
In December of his freshman season, during the team’s trip east to Washington, D.C., for its EagleBank Bowl matchup with Temple, Su’a-Filo decided to embark on his LDS mission, leaving UCLA fans to wonder if he’d ever come back.
Rick Neuheisel’s firing late last season, and the ensuing staff overhaul, caused even more worry.
Given the way he described his first meeting with new UCLA head coach Jim Mora and offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, though, it’s obvious the fretting was for nothing. No handshakes, only hugs. He says he wasn’t sure if the new Bruin staff would even want him back. They say he was their top priority.
“They told me they were coming over, then I got to sit down and my parents got to sit down and feel comfortable with Coach Mora and Coach Klemm,” Su’a-Filo said.
“I was really able to connect with them and build a different relationship than I had with Coach Neuheisel and coach (Bob) Palcic. They’re completely different coaches. But I still felt comfortable with them.”
Su’a-Filo certainly looked comfortable in spring ball, his first football practices in more than two years, sliding right back in at left tackle.
After 15 practices, including the spring game, the 6-4, 310-pound sophomore said he still had to work on his conditioning and “little annoying things I’m working on in terms of technique,” but he started to get his edge back.
“I feel a lot more in the football mood,” he said, “just like a football player again.”