UCLA Football Program Is A Long Simmering Dumpster Fire

The UCLA Bruins should be better than this. They should be much better than this. 

Before the end of September, UCLA has effectively been eliminated from major bowl game contention. They're not even guaranteed to reach a bowl game at all, considering an extremely difficult remaining regular schedule. The Bruins, despite bringing in top transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava, have been, to put it mildly, horrible. 

Ahead of their bye week, the Bruins got blown out at home by the New Mexico Lobos. Blown out. To the tune of over 300 rushing yards. And it's only going to get worse. UCLA travels to Chicago to take on Northwestern on Saturday. But their first home game since the New Mexico debacle, on October 4th, comes against a top 3 Penn State Nittany Lions team. 

A road game against Indiana is still on the schedule. They host Nebraska. They travel to Ohio State, host an impressive Washington team, and play their rival USC Trojans at the Coliseum across town. It could get ugly. 

But how did it get this bad?

Aug 30, 2025; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) following the loss against the Utah Utes during the second half at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

UCLA Failures A Long Time Coming

A new story at The Athletic went in detail on what happened with the UCLA program, and how it's gotten this bad. 

One former staffer told them that the administration and athletic department doesn't understand where they stand in the hierarchy of college football. "I don’t think they realize what they are," they said, "and that’s what kills them."

After head coach DeShaun Foster was fired, athletic director Martin Jarmond said "this is not what Bruin football is going to be." But outside a few outlier seasons, that's what it's been. For example, the Bruins last 10-win season came back in 2014. 

"Coach Foster was trying really hard to get everybody on the same page of what we needed to do but unfortunately, we just couldn’t get it right," on assistant coach said, "and the product on the field wasn’t what it should be."

Why isn't the product what it should be? Well, per the Athletic, the Bruins have never invested enough in the football program, whether in coaching, the athletic department, or, after the advent of name, image and likeness changes, with players. 

"You’re trying to sell the players on getting a great education and we can develop you as a player, but we didn’t have any money to pay them, and we were losing out on players," said a former position coach. 

The Bruins even signed Dante Moore, only to see the 5-star QB transfer to Oregon, where he's become a star. Kamari Ramsey also got away, signing with USC. Former staffers said there's little hope for the program if they can't hold on to those type of talents. 

Per the story, as recently as 2023, UCLA had just $400,000 worth of players on the field against the USC Trojans, when SC had 30x more in NIL money on the field. Then the Trojans stole D'Anton Lynn, their star defensive coordinator. As always, it comes down to the money. And UCLA doesn't have enough of it invested. 

"It’s 100 percent doable," one other staffer said about the Bruins building a strong program. "But it’s gonna take an overhaul to fix. … That’s where the challenge is for Martin and those guys over there — you gotta make sure that this hire has to be right."

Given their track record, there's little reason to expect it to be right.