UCLA football (3-8, 3-5 Big Ten) has been eliminated from bowl game contention, may lose its home stadium of over 40 years and might not have a head honcho or quarterback for next season. And it will take on crosstown rival No. 19 USC (8-3, 6-2) at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday in the final contest of a grueling and demoralizing 2025 campaign. Although winning the rivalry duel is always imperative, the Bruins have bigger questions on their plate. Daily Bruin Sports editor Connor Dullinger and assistant Sports editor Grant Walters break down the four biggest questions that remain with the Bruins’ football program.
Who’s next?
DeShaun Foster seems like a name of the past.
The former Bruin head honcho departed from the program over two months ago. Since his exit, interim head coach Tim Skipper has taken over the reins, amassing a 3-5 record and currently riding a four-game losing streak, in which the Bruins have been outscored by 129 points.
Skipper probably will not be UCLA’s next head honcho.
Athletic director Martin Jarmond needs to hit a home run on his next coaching hire, and Skipper is not the blast that will reach the bleachers.
So who will the next coach be?
It is unlikely that any Power Four coach – or even coordinator – is salivating to come take the Bruins’ helm. The athletics budget deficit is immense and steadily increasing. UCLA lacks a certainty over its home stadium and identity. And the personnel on the roster are miles below the competition in the Big Ten.
Reports say James Madison coach Bob Chesney – who has led the Dukes to a 10-1 record and a first-place standing in the Sun Belt Conference – could be the man for the job.
Chesney is no James Franklin, Tosh Lupoi, Will Stein or Kalani Sitake, but the reality is, UCLA may not even represent a top-10 destination for this offseason’s coaching carousel.
Few can replicate what Indiana coach Curt Cignetti did when he took the Hoosiers from the laughingstock of the Big Ten to national championship contenders.
Not everyone is Cignetti.
But he did go from James Madison to Indiana.
– Connor Dullinger
No. 9
Nico Iamaleava still has collegiate eligibility.
And after the fiasco that resulted from the redshirt sophomore’s transfer to Westwood, I find it very unlikely the signal-caller will go to his third school in four years.
But Iamaleava will probably not be wearing a blue and gold jersey next year – unless the Los Angeles Rams or Chargers draft him.
And I don’t blame him.
The coaches who recruited him back to the West Coast are gone. The offensive line prevented him from doing anything productive and left him susceptible to injury.
UCLA’s running back room couldn’t generate any production or efficiency, with Iamaleava leading the team in ground yards. And his receiving weapons – tight ends and wide receivers alike – struggled to help the team’s signal-caller.
Who will be the team’s next field general if Iamaleava is gone?
Luke Duncan?
The redshirt sophomore recorded his first collegiate start against No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 15 and finished the affair with 154 yards and one touchdown. Duncan has yet to produce a sample size large enough for most to form an opinion on him.
But the eye test and basic logic will tell you Duncan is not the answer.
Next year’s man under center will have to be someone else, whether it’s a transfer the next head coach brings in or someone else entirely.
If Duncan – or anyone else on the Bruins’ 2025 roster – is next year’s signal-caller, then you may as well wait to watch Bruin football until 2027.
– Connor Dullinger
Rose Bowl or SoFi?
I had always believed the Rose Bowl should be UCLA football’s permanent home.
That was until I read Kai Dizon’s column.
[Related: Dizon’s Disposition: UCLA football’s home is better suited to be SoFi Stadium, not Rose Bowl]
I realized the Bruins’ Rose Bowl chapter has concluded, regardless of the program’s deep-rooted history in the stadium.
There is no doubt UCLA needs an overhaul on multiple fronts, both from a coaching standpoint and an athletic management perspective.
But a change of scenery can do wonders for a program that wants to elevate its performance.
The Rose Bowl is half-empty every Saturday.
Teams thrive off the energy of their fans.
And one of the ways UCLA football can attract more fans is by bridging a connection to the current SoFi Stadium tenants – the LA Rams and Chargers.
UCLA students would also prefer to make the trek to SoFi rather than bus all the way out to Pasadena, a city nearly 30 miles from Westwood.
Change often creates benefits, even if there are initial growing pains.
But change is a necessity for programs that are suffering.
UCLA football checks that box.
– Grant Walters
Promising returners
There often isn’t a lot of optimism when a team is sitting at 3-8.
But UCLA’s secondary has been the team’s biggest strength throughout the 2025 campaign.
The Bruins hold opposing quarterbacks and receiving weapons to 191.1 air yards per contest, a mark that ranks in the upper half of the Big Ten.
Defensive backs junior Andre Jordan Jr. and redshirt sophomore Rodrick Pleasant lead the secondary and assume the two starting outside cornerback roles.
Jordan and Pleasant have combined for 15 passes defended, although each has yet to snag an interception this season.
The turnover production has come from junior defensive back Scooter Jackson, who boasts a team-leading two interceptions, corralling one against Maryland on Oct. 18 and another against Indiana on Oct. 25.
Redshirt sophomore defensive back Cole Martin, the son of UCLA secondary coach Demetrice Martin, rounds out the unit and has recorded one interception along with three passes defended.
Missed tackles have plagued all levels of the Bruin defense, including the squad’s secondary, and the Bruins have allowed 195.8 rushing yards as a result.
But UCLA’s defensive back room relies on its speed to dash around the field and contest pass attempts to opposing receivers, causing rival quarterbacks to hesitate on their reads.
Football teams often build their offensive and defensive units from the trenches.
But the Bruins may have their defensive foundation if the quartet of Jordan, Pleasant, Jackson and Martin stay in Westwood for the 2026 season.
– Grant Walters
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