UCLA Football 2025 Season Preview Part 1: Everything New is New Again
In part 1 of our season preview, we take a look at the reshuffled coaching staff along with a look at the new personnel on both sides of the ball.
We’re so back.
Year 2 of the DeShaun Foster era is upon us and, folks, this one should be interesting. The program underwent a lot of change this offseason, and every time I sat down to try and chronicle it all, something new happened. To wit:
The coaching staff saw a complete retooling on the offensive side, with Eric Bieniemy cast out and replaced by Tino Sunseri, who was previously served as the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator at Indiana. There are also a few new faces on defense, highlighted by the return of Mora-era mainstay Demetrice Martin in the secondary.
There are a lot of new transfers, with the biggest being the arrival of Nico Iamaleava from Tennessee. The story of his departure from Knoxville and ultimate arrival in Westwood still hasn’t been fully told, but the Bruins ended up as the beneficiary, getting a top-end quarterback for relatively cheap.
The NIL era went through several shakeups, with the House settlement being approved as an attempt to provide some order to things like collectives, only for subsequent lawsuits to return things to a state of chaos. UCLA reconfigured its NIL operations during the offseason and saw a bevy of recruiting wins during the summer tied to its ability to provide revenue sharing in upcoming seasons.
Even with all the new and positive things, the program keeps finding ways to shoot itself in the foot. Just recently, a public spat has formed between beat reporters and the football program regarding access to things like practice and players, with UCLA adopting one of the strictest media access policies in the nation. It would be one thing if this were Nick Saban’s Alabama at its peak, but with the Bruins coming off a losing season, this feels like a tremendous misplay when the name of the game is to build confidence and hope in the program.
As far as the Bruins go, they have a new home this season. Of course, they will still be playing home games at the Rose Bowl, but both UCLA football and basketball games will now be broadcast on KABC after years of airing on KLAC and KEIB when the Dodgers or Lakers were the team with priority.
It’s time to dive into the upcoming season, and as usual, we will divide the preview into two parts. The first part will take a closer look at all the changes this season, previewing the offense and defense, while part two will take a dive into the schedule and set some expectations for the coming year.
Buckle up.
Coaching Staff
DeShaun Foster is now in his second season in charge of the program, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by his offseason. Foster clearly understood that he could not afford to stand pat and do the same thing going into this season. So he completely overhauled the coaching and support staff. Gone are Eric Bieniemy and Julian Castro, two long-time NFL coaches who looked out of place in the college football landscape, replaced by Tino Sunseri and Andy Kwon. The rest of the offensive staff was overhauled as well, with only Jerry Neuheisel surviving the culling while moving to tight ends. Joining the staff on offense are A.J. Steward as running backs coach and Burt Toler III taking on the combined role of wide receivers coach, passing game coordinator, and recruiting coordinator. It’s an interesting mix of guys with a lot of focus on development coaches rather than recruiters. Neuheisal and Toler are the only known solid recruiters in the bunch, but Sunseri was known for being good at that aspect as well, and Kwon will likely be an upgrade over Castro in that regard.
Last year, we did a bit of a breakdown of incoming offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s track record and what to expect at UCLA, but that’s not possible with Tino Sunseri because this is his first opportunity as the primary playcaller. Sunseri served as co-OC at Indiana last year, but his role was that of the on-field OC who managed the players and communicated the game plan while co-OC Mike Shanahan handled the playcalling from the booth. Sunseri was heavily involved in pre-game planning, but there is going to be a question of how the offense is structured in his first year fully in charge. He has a strong pedigree, having coached under Steve Sarkisian while he was at Alabama and under Curt Cignetti at both James Madison and Indiana. But we just don’t know what his offense will look like now that he’s on his own. Going off of Indiana’s run-pass splits last year isn’t helpful either because they’re thrown off by how often Indiana was running the ball to try and salt away a game with a large lead, but during competitive portions of the game, the Hoosiers weren’t afraid to air it out. Given Sunseri’s background under Sarkisian and his career as a quarterback, I would assume UCLA will try to attack through the air, but given the talent at his disposal, it would not shock me if the Bruins focused on establishing the run.
On defense, the constant here remains Ikaika Malloe, returning for his second season as defensive coordinator. Malloe’s continued presence at UCLA should be considered a coup on the part of the program, as he was highly sought after by a host of programs following an impressive season by the UCLA defense. The Bruins lacked top-end talent at a variety of positions coming into the year, but showed off impressive development and schematic ability en route to a borderline-elite defensive season, highlighted by multiple Bruin defenders getting selected in the NFL Draft.
That said, Malloe did not sit idle this offseason either, and the assistant staff was completely changed out heading into this season. Some of the names should be familiar to UCLA fans, as Demetrice Martin and Scott White are both making a return to the coaching staff. Martin served as a secondary coach under Jim Mora from 2012-2017, and he returns to that spot with the additional role as passing game coordinator. Scott White, meanwhile, returned to UCLA last season as a defensive analyst after serving for years as the linebackers coach at San Jose State. White previously served as an analyst and linebackers coach at UCLA under Mora, and had direct influence over player development (Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, Myles Jack, Jayon Brown, and Kenny Young) and recruiting, being the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year in 2016.
Martin and White will likely carry the load regarding UCLA’s improved recruiting efforts, but Foster and Malloe also brought in some solid coaches for the other spots as well. Jethro Franklin left his alma mater, Fresno State, for a return stint in Westwood (he was a defensive line coach under Bob Toledo in 1999), while Gabe Lynn comes in after a stint at Colorado to coach the safeties. He’s a newer coach but was an all-Big 12 defensive back at Oklahoma during the 2010s.
Offense
Let’s not beat around the bush. Nico Iamaleava is the headliner here.
Iamaleava had an interesting 2024 season. On the one hand, it goes down as a solid first season for a young starting quarterback, as Nico had 19 touchdown passes to only five interceptions en route to leading Tennessee to the College Football Playoff. But on closer inspection, it is safe to say that Iamaleava was not asked to carry much of the load in getting the Volunteers as far as they went. Tennessee’s strengths were their rushing attack and defense, so Iamaleava was not asked to win the game through the air very often. In fact, the few times that opponents were able to effectively stack the box against Tennessee were the few games that the Volunteers lost. He struggled connecting on deep and intermediate passes, and there is a concern for how lost he looked at times in Josh Heupel’s offense, which is one of the best at making quarterbacks look good. Overall, there was cause for optimism, but also cause for concern.
The hope for Iamaleava is that, removed from the pressure cooker of being an SEC quarterback, he will be able to have more natural growth. It certainly helps that this season is as much about rebuilding his public image following an acrimonious divorce from Tennessee as it is anything else, but the physical tools are all still present for Nico. Practice reports and discussions of Iamaleava’s performances so far have stressed his arm talent and ability. Fr,m a pure talent standpoint, Iamaleava is one of the most talented quarterbacks UCLA has had in recent memory. The question will be whether the offense, in general, will be able to take advantage of that talent or not.
The good news is I think this is the most talented offensive group UCLA has trotted out in years.
Let’s start with the running backs, which has an exceptional tandem in Jaivian Thomas and Jalen Berger. Thomas transferred in from UC Berkeley this offseason after putting up an impressive season as the lead back when Jaydn Ott was injured (Ott subsequently transferred to Oklahoma, part of a mass exodus from UC Berkeley that just warms the heart). He possesses elite speed and vision, and I have to assume Tino Sunseri will be creative in getting him the ball and allowing him to create as often as possible. His batterymate Jalen Berger isn’t a slouch either, and with an offseason to get healthy and acclimated, he should be much improved on his form from last year. He’ll provide a more bruising alternative to Thomas, making for a great tandem. Beyond them, expect Anthony Woods and freshman Karson Cox to see action at various points.
Receiver is more of a question mark, but that’s more due to depth than anything. The top three receivers are all exceptional and should provide great targets for Iamaleava to throw to. I’ve been a Kwazi Gilmer booster since Day 1, and it was encouraging to hear that he’s built a great connection with Nico since he got on campus. Gilmer is a playmaker, someone you know will step up when the situation demands it, and that’s an important thing to have in your receiver room. Titus Mokiao-Atimalala is a veteran who consistently looks great in practice, and with some bigger names gone should have the opportunity to step up and be a major piece of the offense. Mikey Mathews, meanwhile, is another UC Berkeley rescue who was productive in the slot last year, and with Logan Loya gone, should become the security blanket for Nico.
The problem is the depth behind that trio, and it’s question marks all the way down. If he’s healthy and back in game shape, I would assume Rico Flores will step up as the first guy off the bench, but it’s a question of whether he even makes it back this year. Ezavier Staples and Carter Shaw have the experience of being in the program, but neither have made an impact in their limited appearances. Jaedon Wilson, the transfer from Arkansas, is intriguing as a speedster, but he did not impact much at his last stop so we’ll see. For UCLA to take a step up in the passing game, they need at least one if not multiple names in this group to step up and provide meaningful snaps, if only to keep the starting group fresh.
At tight end, this is pretty much the Hudson Habermehl show. He should be a weapon in the passing game, though his blocking is a bit suspect. Jack Pedersen will serve the role of blocking tight end, with the hope that he has improved his pass-catching ability. Beyond them, maybe Jake Renda sees the field, but he’ll have to show more than he did at Pitt last season.
The offensive line is where I’m perhaps the most bullish, for a few reasons. First: they can’t be worse than last year. There are actual Power Four-level bodies at each position, with actual playable scholarship depth to go with it. Just from a talent perspective, this group should be improved. Second: Juan Castillo and his outdated views of offensive line play and body types are gone. Castillo, an NFL-lifer, was a big believer in big bodies, and bulked up many of the offensive linemen past the point where they were effective. The problem with that is that college defenses are more built around speed than size, so UCLA continually struggled with the more agile defensive linemen they would see on a regular basis. Andy Kwon understands this difference, and UCLA’s offensive line has slimmed down as a result (but not too much, the big boys still need to be big).
On the flip side, this group is essentially all new, with only one returning starter in right tackle Garrett DiGiorgio. That means the chemistry inherent in all great lines needs to be built from the ground up. There will be some learning curves and mistakes, but hopefully this group can handle the changes.
DiGiorgio should provide some stability on the right side of the line. He spent a good chunk of last season as UCLA’s best lineman, though it is hard to say how much of that was due to the fact that the other options weren’t nearly as good. Next to him, Florida State transfer Julian Armella seems locked into the position and is a natural at guard, so that side seems fairly set. The center position was one of the battles heading into camp, and it looks like Oluwafunto Akinshilo has won out over the incumbent Sam Yoon. It’s an intriguing result, because Akinshilo hasn’t really played in three years but has the physical tools to be a major force, but it also means UCLA has a capable swing option in Yoon who can fill in at both center and guard in a pinch.
At left tackle, Courtland Ford, the former Southern Cal tackle, looks set to start, though keep an eye on Reuben Unije, who has been splitting reps with Ford more consistently as he returns from injury. Both players are solid options, though I would say Unije raises the ceiling a bit more unless coach Kwon can unlock Ford in a way he never was with the Trojans. Inside at left guard, Oklahoma transfer Eugene Brooks has seemingly locked down the position since the spring, which is impressive and a good sign for the long-term outlook of this group, as he’ll only be a redshirt freshman this season. One other name to watch is recent transfer Tai Marks, who just got to campus a few weeks ago after a last-minute transfer from Hawai’i. He has plenty of starting experience from Tulsa, and I would anticipate he ends up in a swing guard role.
Again, none of this is a guarantee of success. The interior group of Brooks-Akinshilo-Armella in particular is light on experience, but the talent is there and if they can unlock a few things, there should be improvement on the offensive line. And if the offensive line can improve, that opens up so much more for the offense in general.
Defense
Unlike the offense, I do expect the defense to take a step back this year, but that’s not their fault. The only reason I expect this is because the defense lost so much talent to graduation and the draft. Just consider the list of names gone from last year:
Jay Toia, an absolute force in the middle of the defensive line.
Oluwafemi Oladejo, who moved from linebacker to defensive end and did such a good job he became a Day 2 NFL Draft pick.
Bryan Addison, who turned into an excellent safety last season.
The best linebacker group UCLA has had in over a decade: Carson Schwesinger, Kain Medrano, and Ale Kaho.
That’s a lot, and doesn’t even include losing the rest of the starting secondary from last year. Just from an experience standpoint, this defense should take a step back.
That said, I don’t think this group is devoid of talent by any stretch. Take the defensive line, for instance. Keanu Williams was injured and ended up missing a good chunk of last season, but he’ll step into a bigger role alongside a returning Gary Smith, now fully back from his broken ankle. When you throw in Siale Taupaki here, you end up with a much deeper group than UCLA was trotting out last season, which should lead to an improvement up the middle for the Bruins.
That improvement will be necessary because UCLA still doesn’t have an answer at defensive end. Last year, the Bruins were able to shift Oladejo up to be a defensive end and created something approaching a pass rush, but with him gone to the NFL, the Bruins are back at square one with a bunch of pieces that have never produced at this level. There are some returning options here, like Jacob Busic and Devin Aupiu, but Busic has struggled to produce since coming over from Navy, and Aupiu will likely be splitting time on the interior. There are some P4 transfers as well who will get a shot, like Nico Davillier (Arkansas), Anthony Jones (Michigan State), and Kechaun Bennett (Michigan), who will get a shot, but none of them have produced at this level as well. There are some freshmen here as well, but they need time to develop and gain more strength, so if you see those guys consistently, that means the group above was not performing.
The linebacker group is going to be a downgrade, as you could expect, but there are some bright spots here. Isaiah Chisom is the headliner here after transferring into Westwood following a productive season at Oregon State. We’ll also see larger roles for JonJon Vaughns (now fully locked in on football after splitting the past few years between that and baseball) and Jalen Woods, who are both smart football players, though they lack some of the athleticism that Kain Medrano had. And don’t be surprised if you see a lot of Donavyn Pellot, who coaches have been raving about this offseason.
In the secondary, there are a lot of unknowns. Key Lawrence, the transfer from Ole Miss, should be the replacement for Bryan Addison, and Lawrence has the pedigree to make that a solid transition. Starting next to him should be Croix Stewart, who played well last year in a backup role. Another body to watch at safety is Scooter Jackson, who transferred in from Utah Tech and may need some time to adjust to moving up a level. At nickel, UCLA will likely rotate between a returning Cole Martin and Byron Threats (UCF).
Cornerback brought in a whole raft of new bodies, including Roderick Pleasant (Oregon), Andre Jordan (Oregon State), Robert Stafford (Miami), Aaron Williams (Louisville), and Jamier Johnson (Indiana). All of these guys, with the exception of Jordan, lack starting experience but have a lot of athleticism and talent. Throw in a returning Kanye Clark, who sat most of last year with an ankle injury, and this could be an upgraded position compared to what the Bruins were trotting out last year.
Special Teams
Mateen Bhaghani was a major bright spot for the team last year, and I think he’ll have a decent shot at competing for the Lou Groza Award if he can get a little more consistent. There’s another open competition for the punter spot, but I would guess at Will Karoll getting the first crack at the job just due to experience.
In Part II, we’ll break down the schedule and set out some expectations for this upcoming season.
Go Bruins!
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Nice preview Dimitri and good summary of all the personnel changes. A few thoughts:
• At the risk of saying “this time it’s different,” I really do think the offensive upside alone will give us a two, maybe three game swing. An RPO/perimeter game we didn’t have last year will move the ball, hide some potential weaknesses on the O-line and give our defense more juice to perform during games. I’m not gonna say we’re CFP bound, but 8/9 games may not be out of reach.
• I think you had Julian Armella on the brain but it’s Juan, not Julian Castillo. Based on what I’m seeing it looks like our line will still be pretty beefy this year, but likely stronger and more downhill.
• The spat with the media has been annoying to hear about on BRO and from other columnists. Bottom line is CDF is taking advantage of the element of surprise in Week 1 against a team where a win sets the tone for the season. I’m fine with the secrecy in Week 1; anything after that is on CDF not being smart about playing nice with his coverage. But at the point I just want to get to kickoff instead of hearing about the slights to journalists, real or otherwise.
Damn I was waiting for this. Excellent content. Thank you.