With Noel Mazzone calling the plays, that Texas A&M offense may have a familiar look to UCLA on Saturday

It was an awkward call that Kevin Sumlin didn’t have to make.

College football coaches aren’t bound to ask for permission to interview assistants on other staffs like their NFL counterparts.

Sumlin did so anyway, reaching out to UCLA’s Jim Mora about offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone after last season. Mora decided he wasn’t going to stop Mazzone from leaving to join Sumlin at Texas A&M, if that was what he wanted to do.

Mazzone’s response, in a nutshell: See ya.

“I think that maybe after four years, Noel felt like he was getting a little antsy and wanted to try a new challenge,” Mora said this week as his Bruins prepared to play Mazzone’s Aggies in a season opener on Saturday in College Station, Texas.

Mazzone had formulated offenses that set UCLA single-season records for total yardage, scoring, passing and plays run. It was a whirlwind that helped the Bruins to back-to-back 10-win seasons and a Pac-12 Conference South Division title.

Westwood seemed like a possible journey’s end for the longtime assistant but became just another stopover once Sumlin called. The opportunity to coach alongside a former colleague and fellow offensive innovator was just too alluring.

“He is one of the first guys to be a tempo coach,” Mazzone told reporters earlier this year, “so to be able to come work for him was something I couldn’t pass up.”

Mazzone and Sumlin had worked together at Minnesota for two seasons in the 1990s, with Mazzone coaching quarterbacks and Sumlin wide receivers. The assistants both favored fast-paced offenses and continued to exchange ideas throughout subsequent coaching stops.

Texas A&M held another lure for Mazzone. He had long found College Station appealing after having spent five seasons as an assistant at Texas Christian early in his coaching career.

“I always thought in the back of my mind that would be a cool place to work some day,” Mazzone said of a location where game-day crowds that number 100,000-plus can surpass the population of the college town.

Of course, not everything about living in Texas is better.

“It’s a little bit farther to the beach from my house,” Mazzone quipped. “I was like a block and a half off the water [in Southern California]. The humidity’s a little different without the ocean breeze.”

One thing about Texas A&M that Mazzone said he didn’t realize until two weeks after he arrived on campus was that it would play his old team in its season opener. Oh well. Mazzone, 59, said facing former coworkers tends to happen, especially when you’ve made 14 coaching stops.

“A lot of times you get to line up across the field from your best friends,” Mazzone said, “so I’m excited about that.”

The talent Mazzone inherited in his new job also has him energized. Quarterback Trevor Knight is a graduate transfer from Oklahoma who has beaten Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Receiver Christian Kirk was an All-Southeastern Conference first-team selection last season as a freshman and as many as six running backs could carry the ball.

No one is expecting Mazzone to deviate much from his trademark spread offense, even against a familiar opponent. He’s known for using a relatively small assortment of plays triggered by the defense’s reactions to motions at the line of scrimmage. The more plays he can run, the better.

“If I could have 105 snaps,” Mazzone said, “I’ll take 105 snaps.”

If you see a play that works against the Bruins, expect it to be run again; Mazzone likes to keep trotting out his greatest hits. He also could insert a defensive player on offense in certain formations, as he did at UCLA with linebacker Myles Jack and defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes.

Bruins defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said he would watch footage of last season’s UCLA offense to prepare for what he might see Saturday against the Aggies. Bruins linebacker Kenny Young said he’s been able to predict what’s coming during film sessions based on his observations of Mazzone over the previous four years.

“I’ve been watching film and I said, ‘He’s going to run this play right here’ and sure enough, he runs it,” Young said, “so that’s part of the game, but he’s not dumb. Coach Mazzone is a pretty smart guy. He’s not going to say, ‘I’ve been there for a couple of years, I’m going to run this play that they’ve seen 1,000 times in practice.’ He’s going to have a little twist to it.”

Not necessarily, Mazzone said.

“Am I changing a lot?” Mazzone asked rhetorically. “No. At the end of the day, plays are plays and schemes are schemes. At the end of the day, kids have to make plays.”

Mora and Mazzone still text and talk regularly, though they don’t delve into the specifics of their respective teams. Topics include families and former players as well as football philosophies.

Occasionally, Mora said, he’ll tell his old pal he misses him, even if Mazzone did leave him behind by choice.

“Sometimes assistants like to move along,” Mora said. “So you just shake their hand and wish them the best.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch