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  DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Ryan Nece (left) and Marcus Reese may come from opposite sides of the state, but they’re on the same page on the field. They hope to help the Bruins overcome last season’s defensive inconsistencies.

By Hannah Gordon

Daily Bruin Reporter

You might confuse linebackers Ryan Nece and Marcus Reese because of their rhyming names, but spend any time with them on or off the field and you will never make that mistake again.

Nece a senior, should be a four-year starter. But coming off double shoulder surgery in the offseason, Nece will have to compete with Reese, a junior, for his starting position at weakside linebacker.

Doctors and trainers agree that Nece has recovered, but he will still have to prove himself. New Bruin defensive coordinator Phil Snow would like to utilize both men’s talents with Nece inside and Reese outside.

Nece seems confident he will not snap his 21-game starting streak.

“My expectations are extremely high, number one because it is my senior season, and number two because I am in the best condition I have ever been in,” he said.

  DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Linebackers Nece and Reese hope their improved play will allow the defensive squad to step out of the offense's shadow.

Both are more than capable linebackers, but they bring far different attributes to the team.

Reese is a faster and more aggressive defender who is versatile in his ability to play both inside and outside positions. He was an outside linebacker in high school, but when he came to UCLA the coaches moved him inside because he weighed 210 pounds. Reese has since beefed up to 227 and can now play either position.

“I wanted to play outside at UCLA but I fell in love with inside because you are able to make plays,” said Reese, who last season led the Bruins with four sacks.

Making plays is something Nece loves as well, having made 78 tackles despite playing injured last season. Nece’s style is different, however. He is very knowledgeable about football and uses that to make smart plays by reading the offense. Although Nece was unable to participate in spring practice due to the shoulder surgery, he spent a great deal of time in Snow’s office getting to know the new defensive coordinator and his plays.

“Ryan is a student of the game – the quarterback of the defense,” Bruin senior fullback Ed Ieremia-Stansbury said. “He’s a team leader always, on or off the field.”

Off the field, Nece and Reese are even more distinct.

“Our personalities are different but we get along,” Reese said “Ryan’s more talkative and good with everybody. I’m more quiet.”

While Reese can come off stoic and reserved, teammates claim that once among friends he is anything but.

“He’s just wild. He’s Bay Area at it’s best,” UCLA senior wide receiver Brian Poli-Dixon said. “He knows everything about the Bay. Say something bad about the Bay and he’s on you,”

Reese, who is from San Jose, is indeed representative of the best of the Bay, not for what Ieremia-Stansbury calls his “thuggish ruggish” style, but because he is unapologetically himself.

Nece, a San Bernadino native, is similarly comfortable with himself – with a distinctly Southern California nature.

“Ryan is outgoing and confident, fun to be around,” Snow said.

His teammates affectionately nicknamed Nece “Pretty Boy” for his matching clothes and smooth manners. Nece exudes a strikingly paradoxical mix of humility and confidence, reminiscent of his famous father, National Football League Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott.

“Ryan is a disciplined individual with morals – a man of integrity,” Bruin senior tight end Bryan Fletcher said.

While Nece and Reese are as different as the Bay Area and Southern California, they both earn the respect of their teammates through their athletic talent.

“I know we can both get the job done,” Nece said.

Each will just do it his own way.