Blog Article

Bob Chesney Is a Great Coach. UCLA’s Leadership Might Destroy Him Anyway

Mark Haines on December 13, 2025

UCLA made a strong coaching hire inside a broken institutional structure.

Bob Chesney brings an elite program-building résumé to Westwood. He’s 131-51 overall (.720) across four levels of college football. He rebuilt every program he touched. And at James Madison, he went 21-5 in two years, won the Sun Belt, earned the program’s first bowl victory ever, and landed a CFP berth as the #12 seed.

The question isn’t whether Chesney can coach. It’s whether UCLA’s leadership can stop sabotaging its own program long enough for him to build something.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Here’s what Chesney accomplished at the FBS level in just two seasons:

The year-over-year progression tells the real story.

2024: 9-4, SRS 2.32, Boca Raton Bowl win
2025: 12-1, SRS 11.43, Sun Belt champion, CFP #12 seed

The SRS jump from 2.32 to 11.43 in one year? That’s program building, not inherited talent coasting.

Here’s The Concern

Zero games against ranked FBS opponents.

Schedule strength of -6.45 in 2024 and -4.03 in 2025. At UCLA in the Big Ten, he walks into a conference with Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Michigan, and USC on the schedule. That’s a different universe than the Sun Belt.

His profile is “elite builder against inferior competition, untested against elite competition.” His UCLA tenure will answer that open question.

The Institutional Reality

UCLA’s leadership has earned distrust, not the benefit of the doubt.

This isn’t speculation. It’s documented. The LA Times’ Ben Bolch (in his 10th season covering UCLA football) wrote in October 2025 that athletic director Martin Jarmond approached him mid-game during a blowout win at Michigan State to take credit for the team’s turnaround. Then Jarmond tried to retroactively claim his comments were “off the record” after making them in public, in front of other reporters.

Bolch’s assessment: “He’ll take credit for the cleanup, even if he helped create the spill.”

The evidence falls into four categories.

1. The Foster Sequence

This is textbook AD malpractice.

Jarmond failed to fire Chip Kelly when it was clear to even casual fans that the move was overdue. His stated reason? “Continuity and stability” for a program entering the Big Ten. Then Kelly left for Ohio State in February 2024, and Jarmond appeared surprised, even though Kelly’s job shopping had been widely reported.

What followed was worse.

The timeline:

Kelly’s departure forced a search after the coaching carousel had stopped
Jarmond self-imposed a needless 96-hour deadline
Pivoted to DeShaun Foster, a beloved RB coach who wasn’t on anyone’s list for an OC job, much less a head coaching position
Foster was fired after just 15 games and an 0-3 start
UCLA ate a $6-8M buyout

Then came the narrative shift.

On the day he dismissed Foster, Jarmond changed his story on the Kelly situation. His new line: “Many stakeholders and factors” go into a coaching change. He also acknowledged regrets about putting Foster in a situation “for which he was clearly not qualified.”

Read that again: the AD admitted he set his own head coach up to fail.

2. The Selective Appearance Pattern

Jarmond shows up for wins. He disappears for losses.

Per Bolch’s reporting, Jarmond doesn’t make a habit of attending postgame media sessions in high-profile sports unless it’s a big win or milestone victory. The pattern:

Nebraska win (2024): Jarmond was there, smiling as Foster proclaimed “he hired the right coach”
Penn State upset: Jarmond showed up in the locker room to hand Skipper the game ball
Michigan State blowout: Jarmond approached reporters mid-game to claim credit for the turnaround
UNLV loss: Nowhere to be found when Foster faced tough questions
New Mexico loss: Nowhere to be found
Athletics Hall of Fame dinner: Skipped it. Announced at the event that he had a “prior commitment.”

No leadership. Only credit-seeking.

3. The Rose Bowl Litigation

UCLA is being sued by its own landlord.

The City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company are taking UCLA to court for allegedly exploring a move to SoFi Stadium while under contract through 2044. The amended complaints claim UCLA “coordinated” with SoFi and Kroenke to breach lease obligations. They claim UCLA’s failure to commit to the Rose Bowl for 2026 has already caused harm.

When your own landlord and host city are suing you for breach of trust, “alignment” is just a press conference word.

4. The Departure Pattern

If a coach has leverage and alternatives, UCLA is usually what he tries to leave. Not where he’s dying to go.

Chip Kelly took a pay cut and a demotion to call plays for Ohio State rather than stay in Westwood.
DeShaun Foster was used as a cheap bridge hire and scapegoated once predictable problems materialized.
Jim Mora chose Colorado State over any return to UCLA, despite being the last coach to win 10 games there.

When coaches with options consistently run from your program, that’s structural. Not coincidental.

So, Why Did Chesney Take The Job?

Because the upside is enormous and the downside is manageable.

Strip away the press conference gloss and the logic looks like this: It’s his first crack at a true power-brand job in a Big Ten/SEC world where those chairs are finite. He’s 48, not 38. UCLA beat out at least one plausible Big Ten landing spot to get him, which tells you they outbid and out-promised others in ways that materially change his career arc.

The contract:

Five years, $33.75 million
$6.75M annually through 2030
Buyout starts around $2.5M before 2029, then drops

Here’s the real calculus:

If he wins, he’s a star who either retires at UCLA or parlays it into almost anything. If he fails, he still cashes the deal and remains hirable because people will blame UCLA’s dysfunction as much as him.

From his seat, that’s a rational gamble.

Bottom Line

Bob Chesney is a good coach in a structurally compromised place.

What he can control: Scheme. Culture. Development. Recruiting effort.

What he can’t control: Whether NIL infrastructure materializes. How the AD behaves when adversity hits. Rose Bowl lease politics. Whether the same leadership that mishandled Kelly and Foster suddenly becomes competent.

UCLA made a strong coaching hire.

But until Jarmond and Frenk demonstrate sustained follow-through rather than press conference promises, skepticism isn’t cynicism. It’s due diligence. As Ben Bolch wrote, Jarmond will take credit for the cleanup, even if he helped create the spill.

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Week 7 – Coaches Hot Seat Rankings

Mark Haines on October 6, 2025

We’re officially past the halfway point of the 2025 college football season, and the bodies are starting to pile up.

This is when the excuses run out. “We’re young” doesn’t work anymore. “We’re installing a new system” isn’t cutting it. “We just need more time” sounds like desperation. October is when college football separates the pretenders from the contenders—and more importantly, it’s when athletic directors start having quiet conversations with search firms about who might be available in December.

Some coaches entered the season on the hot seat and managed to cool things down. Others have made their situations exponentially worse. And a few—well, a few are coaching for their jobs every single Saturday, whether they want to admit it or not.

Here are the 10 coaches sitting on the hottest seats in college football right now, ranked from “you’re probably gone” to “start packing”:

1. Trent Dilfer, UAB (American)

Here’s the thing about Trent Dilfer: nobody cares that you won a Super Bowl twenty-something years ago when you’re 3-4 and sitting at the bottom of the American Athletic Conference. Dilfer came in talking a big game about “building champions” and “culture,” but UAB looks worse now than it did before he arrived. The Blazers were a scrappy, competitive program under Bill Clark. Now? They’re getting boat-raced by teams they used to beat. When you replace a beloved coach and immediately tank the program, the seat doesn’t just get hot—it becomes a five-alarm fire.

2. Billy Napier, Florida (SEC)

Billy Napier beat Texas, and some want to pretend like that changes everything. It doesn’t. Know what beating Texas gets you at Florida? Another week. Maybe two. One upset doesn’t erase two and a half years of organizational failure. Napier is still 15-18 overall. He’s still the coach who turned one of college football’s blue bloods into a mediocre SEC also-ran. The Gators are still paying him $7+ million to compete for bowl eligibility while Georgia and Alabama compete for national championships. That’s unacceptable. The Texas win was impressive—sure—but Florida fans have seen this movie before. A big win that makes everyone feel good, followed by three inexplicable losses that remind you why the seat was hot in the first place. Napier didn’t save his job. He just delayed the inevitable conversation about when, not if, Florida moves on.

3. Mike Norvell, Florida State (ACC)

Three wins over Florida, Kent State, and an FCS team have created an illusion of recovery. The national media moved on. The hot seat conversations shifted elsewhere. Mike Norvell seems to have escaped scrutiny.

But here’s what nobody’s talking about:

Florida State hasn’t won an ACC game since November 2023. That’s a 15-game conference losing streak spanning two full seasons. The Seminoles are 0-2 in ACC play right now. The streak is alive and getting longer.

Think about that timeline:

2023: 13-1, ACC Champions
2024: 2-10 overall, 1-7 in conference
2025: 3-2 overall, 0-2 in conference

This isn’t a one-year blip. This is a two-year organizational collapse at one of college football’s blue bloods. Norvell went from undefeated to unwatchable in less than 365 days, and the worst part? There’s no evidence that things are getting better. The wins are smoke and mirrors. The losses in conference play are the reality. And if FSU can’t figure out how to win an ACC game soon, Norvell won’t be around to see Year 4.

4. Jeff Choate, Nevada (Mountain West)

Jeff Choate is discovering that what works at Montana State may not necessarily translate to the FBS level. Nevada is 2-5, and worse, they’re not even competitive in games they should win. Choate’s “tough, physical football” approach sounds great in theory, but when you’re getting pushed around by mid-tier Mountain West teams, it’s clear something isn’t working. The Wolf Pack faithful are patient people, but patience runs out when you’re staring down a 3-9 or 4-8 season. Choate needs to show he can adapt—and fast—or he’ll be heading back to the FCS.

5. Joe Moorhead, Akron (MAC)

Joe Moorhead’s track record says he should be better than this. He’s coordinated elite offenses. He won at Fordham. But Mississippi State? Mississippi State fans still haven’t forgiven him for tanking their program. And now at Akron, he’s showing flashes of the same problem: his teams look good on paper but can’t finish. The Zips are 2-6, and here’s the frustrating part—they’re winning the stat sheet in games they lose. Yards? Check. First downs? Check. Time of possession? Check. But stats don’t win games. Scoring touchdowns and field goals wins games. And Akron can’t score when it matters. They move the ball between the 20s and then stall out in the red zone. That’s coaching. That’s execution. That’s on Moorhead. A couple of wins this season is technically an improvement over the dumpster fire Akron has been, but when you’re celebrating 2-6 as progress, your seat is scorching hot.

6. Butch Jones, Arkansas State (Sun Belt)

Butch Jones is proof that just because you failed upward once doesn’t mean you’ll get a second chance. Jones was a disaster at Tennessee, and now he’s a disaster at Arkansas State. The Red Wolves are underperforming in a Sun Belt Conference that’s supposed to be wide open, and Jones’s “championship culture” shtick is no longer resonating. Players aren’t buying in, fans aren’t showing up, and the program feels like it’s treading water. Arkansas State didn’t hire Butch Jones to be mediocre—they hired him because they thought he’d learned from his Tennessee mistakes. Turns out, he didn’t.

7. James Franklin, Penn State (Big Ten)

James Franklin just lost to UCLA. UCLA. A UCLA team so bad that they fired their offensive coordinator mid-season. A UCLA team that handed play-calling duties to Jerry Neuheisel—yes, Rick Neuheisel’s son—who proceeded to carve up Penn State’s defense like he was running the 2001 Miami Hurricanes offense. And Franklin? Franklin made zero adjustments. He stood on the sideline at the Rose Bowl, watching Jerry’s revamped offense shred his team while CBS cameras cut to Rick Neuheisel in the studio, celebrating his son’s victory. This wasn’t just a loss. This was the biggest upset of the season. This was a program-defining embarrassment. Penn State fans are done with “good enough.” They’re done with 10-win seasons that end with inexplicable losses to teams they should beat by 20. Franklin recruits at an elite level. He has NFL talent all over the roster. But when it matters—when his team needs him to make an adjustment, outsmart a first-time play-caller, show up in a big moment—he disappears. That’s why his seat is nuclear hot. Losing to UCLA in 2025 isn’t just bad; it’s unacceptable.

9. Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee (C-USA)

Derek Mason is a defensive coach in an era where offense wins championships, and it shows. Middle Tennessee is 2-6, and while the defense occasionally flashes, the offense is unwatchable. Mason’s problem is that he’s building a program like it’s 2005, not 2025. In today’s college football, you need to score 35+ points to win games, and the Blue Raiders can barely crack 20. Mason’s seat is hot because MTSU fans are asking a fair question: What exactly are we getting better at? If the answer is “nothing,” then it’s time to move on.

10. Scotty Walden, UTEP (C-USA)

Scotty Walden is the new kid on the block, and he’s already in trouble. UTEP hired him because of his success at Austin Peay, but the jump from FCS to FBS is massive—and Walden is drowning. The Miners are 1-7, and it’s not even close. They’re getting blown out on a weekly basis, and there’s no sign of improvement. The issue isn’t just that UTEP is losing—it’s that they look completely unprepared. Walden’s seat is hot because if you can’t show any progress in Year 1, people start wondering if you’re the right guy. And at UTEP, where expectations are low, that’s saying something.

Where does your coach stand? Check out the complete 136 FBS Coaches Hot Seat Rankings.

The Bottom Line:

These 10 coaches are in survival mode. Some will make it to bowl season. Some won’t make it to Thanksgiving. And a few might shock everyone and save their jobs with a November run that makes athletic directors rethink everything.

But here’s the reality: once you’re on a hot seat list, you’re never really off it. You’re just buying time until the next loss reignites the conversation.

Want to know who else we’re watching? Our newsletter subscribers get an exclusive breakdown of 4 under-the-radar coaches who aren’t on this list yet—but probably should be. These are the names nobody’s talking about right now, but will be by season’s end.

Subscribe here to get the full hot seat analysis delivered straight to your inbox every week.

Because in college football, the only thing hotter than the playoff race is the coaching carousel—and we’re tracking every name, every rumor, and every AD who’s about to make a very expensive decision.

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Martin Jarmond Set DeShaun Foster Up To Fail. Now UCLA’s Athletic Director Should Be The One Looking For A New Job.

Mark Haines on September 15, 2025

Martin Jarmond fired DeShaun Foster after 15 games, but the real problem sits one floor above the football offices.

UCLA’s athletic director created the perfect storm that destroyed Foster’s tenure before it began. The hasty hiring process, inadequate resources, and administrative dysfunction all trace back to one person: the man who pulled the trigger on Foster’s dismissal.

Here’s why Jarmond should be updating his resume.

The Timeline Tells The Real Story

Foster never had a fair chance at UCLA because Jarmond bungled the coaching transition from the very beginning.

In November 2023, Chip Kelly was openly shopping for coordinator jobs elsewhere. Instead of making a clean break, Jarmond let the situation drag on for nearly six weeks. Kelly finally left on February 2, 2024, just weeks before spring camp.

The damage was already done:

Recruiting class decimated
Transfer portal window missed
Staff continuity destroyed
Spring preparation compromised

Foster was told he wouldn’t be considered for the head coaching job if Kelly left. He took the running backs job with the Las Vegas Raiders. When Kelly bolted two weeks later, UCLA had no viable candidates willing to leave their current positions so close to spring practice.

Jarmond made calls to other coaches, but no one was going to abandon their team weeks before training camp.

The UCLA players rallied around Foster, and Jarmond gave him the job with little time to prepare. It was a desperation move masquerading as a feel-good story.

Foster Inherited An Impossible Situation

The numbers don’t lie about what Foster walked into at UCLA.

Financial constraints:

Reduced Big Ten revenue sharing
Limited NIL resources compared to Big Ten peers
Budget restrictions on staff expansion
Facility upgrades delayed or cancelled

Roster challenges:

Late start on transfer portal acquisitions
Minimal time to evaluate existing players
Spring practice shortened by hiring timeline
No established recruiting relationships

Administrative support:

No clear vision for Big Ten transition
Conflicting directives from university leadership
Unclear reporting structure with new chancellor

Foster went 5-10 in 15 games, but considering the circumstances, the surprise is that UCLA won five games at all.

The Zoom Call Revealed Everything

More than 100 former UCLA players held a Zoom call with Jarmond after Foster’s firing, and the conversation exposed the real problems in Westwood.

Former players told Jarmond directly:

He needs to listen more than he talks
There’s a disconnect between athletics and program traditions
Foster was active in recruiting local high schools
Previous coaches ignored alumni outreach entirely
The athletic department lacks a central point of contact for former players

“Martin was told he needs to listen more than he does,” one participant revealed.

The Zoom call wasn’t about defending Foster.

It was about confronting Jarmond’s broader failures as an athletic director. Former players demanded accountability from the person directly responsible for UCLA’s decline.

Chancellor Frenk Sees The Problem

The power struggle between Jarmond and Chancellor Julio Frenk reveals who really understands UCLA’s situation.

Frenk told the LA Times he intends to be “very involved in the athletic department and the football program, recognizing that success in a marquee sport like football can be financially advantageous for the school as a whole.”

This contrasts sharply with former Chancellor Gene Block, who was “notoriously removed from athletics.”

Frenk’s involvement signals recognition that Block’s hands-off approach failed. The new chancellor understands what Block and Jarmond missed: football success drives university-wide benefits.

Multiple sources confirm the coaching search committee will report directly to Frenk, not Jarmond.

When your boss creates a workaround to bypass your authority, it’s usually a sign your days are numbered.

Bill Plaschke Said The Quiet Part Out Loud

LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke published a scathing column arguing Jarmond should not be allowed to hire the next coach.

Plaschke blamed Jarmond for the “wreckage” of UCLA football, specifically calling out:

Mishandling Chip Kelly’s departure
The rushed Foster hiring process
Lack of adequate support for Foster
Creating systemic problems beyond coaching

When the city’s paper of record publishes a column calling for an athletic director’s removal from a coaching search, it reflects widespread institutional failure.

Plaschke captured what many UCLA stakeholders believe: the problem isn’t coaching, it’s leadership.

The Kelly Contract Extension Debacle

Jarmond’s pattern of poor decision-making extends beyond the Foster situation.

In December 2021, Kelly’s contract was subject to renewal clauses. His tenure had been unsuccessful, but Jarmond offered him a contract extension without a definitive decision deadline.

Kelly dragged out the process for months:

His representatives floated Oregon Ducks interest
Several qualified potential coaches took jobs elsewhere
UCLA missed multiple hiring cycles
Uncertainty damaged recruiting and staff retention

Good athletic directors create timelines and stick to them.

Jarmond allowed coaches to control processes that should have clear administrative deadlines. The Kelly extension saga revealed an athletic director unwilling or unable to make difficult decisions when necessary.

The Attendance Scandal

The LA Times recently reported that UCLA has been “blatantly and artificially boosting attendance numbers at games at the Rose Bowl.”

Reporter Ben Bolch obtained data from actual ticket scan machines and compared them to UCLA’s attendance announcements. The difference was usually several thousand, consistently inflated by the university.

This isn’t just bad optics.

It’s institutional dishonesty that reflects broader problems with Jarmond’s leadership. When athletic departments resort to fabricating attendance figures, it signals deeper issues with accountability and transparency.

UCLA Needs New Leadership

Foster’s firing was the inevitable result of Jarmond’s administrative failures, not coaching incompetence.

The evidence is overwhelming:

Poor timing on coaching transitions
Inadequate resource allocation
Disconnect from alumni and program traditions
Inflated attendance reporting
Loss of confidence from university leadership

Foster deserved better support. UCLA deserved better planning.

Both paid the price for organizational dysfunction that starts at the top of the athletic department.

The next coaching search faces identical systemic problems that doomed Foster unless UCLA addresses the real issue: the continued employment of Martin Jarmond as athletic director.

UCLA can fire coaches every 15 games, or they can fire the person who hires the wrong coaches for the wrong reasons at the wrong time.

The choice seems obvious to everyone except the person making the decisions.

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UCLA’s 2025 Transformation: How Nico Iamaleava Changes Everything in Westwood

Mark Haines on May 15, 2025

UCLA just went all-in on the transfer portal — and it might propel them from Big Ten afterthought to conference dark horse overnight.

After a bumpy 5-7 inaugural season in the Big Ten, head coach DeShaun Foster isn’t settling for gradual improvement. Instead, he’s orchestrating a total program rebuild through the most aggressive quarterback upgrade and coaching overhaul we’ve seen in college football’s new era.

25 million eyes are watching the Nico Iamaleava experiment

Where will you be when college football history gets made?

Tennessee’s loss became UCLA’s stunning gain when former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava announced his transfer to Westwood in April 2025. The move instantly transformed the Bruins’ offensive ceiling and national relevance. The Southern California native returns home after leading Tennessee to a 10-3 record and College Football Playoff appearance last season.

What makes this transfer so fascinating?

Iamaleava brings elite credentials: 2,616 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions in 2024
His dual-threat abilities (358 rushing yards, 3 TDs) perfectly match modern offensive systems
The transfer saga became college football’s biggest soap opera, with reported NIL disputes at Tennessee
UCLA’s expected starter, Joey Aguilar (Appalachian State transfer), immediately left after Iamaleava’s commitment

When Foster called Iamaleava “the No. 1 player in the portal” at his April press conference, he wasn’t exaggerating. The coach acknowledged the hometown connection made the courtship easier: “If it wasn’t a local kid, it would’ve been a little bit more difficult,” Foster said. “But being able to see him play in high school and evaluating that film at Tennessee wasn’t hard to do. A lot of the kids on the team know him and have played with him.”

This isn’t just a quarterback upgrade — it’s a program-defining swing that could accelerate UCLA’s Big Ten trajectory by years.

The offensive wizard you’ve never heard of (yet)

While everyone’s talking about Iamaleava, don’t sleep on UCLA’s other transformative addition.

Tino Sunseri might be the most critical coordinator hire in college football this season. The 36-year-old quarterback guru joins UCLA after engineering Indiana’s offensive explosion (41.3 PPG, 2nd nationally) that fueled the Hoosiers’ shocking College Football Playoff appearance.

What makes Sunseri the perfect architect for UCLA’s offensive rebuild?

His QB development track record is impeccable (turned Kurtis Rourke into one of Big Ten’s best at Indiana)
He learned under college football royalty (Nick Saban at Alabama, Jimbo Fisher at Florida State)
His innovative system emphasizes tempo, pre-snap motion, and quarterback-friendly concepts
UCLA desperately needs his expertise after ranking 126th nationally in scoring (18.4 PPG)

Foster’s praise for Sunseri wasn’t just typical coaching speak: “Tino Sunseri is a natural leader of young men and a rising star in coaching. He puts his quarterbacks in positions to succeed, and it shows when you look at their production. Players will feed off his passion for development.”

The Iamaleava-Sunseri pairing has Hollywood-level intrigue. If they click immediately, UCLA could become the Big Ten’s most fascinating offense.

The transfer portal isn’t just changing UCLA’s quarterback room — it’s rebuilding their entire identity.

No program in America embraced college football’s free agency revolution more completely than UCLA this offseason.

The numbers are staggering: 29 incoming transfers and 34 outgoing transfers by mid-May 2025. That’s not roster tweaking; it’s a complete teardown and rebuild.

The transfer portal transformation includes:

Losing productive RB T.J. Harden to SMU, but adding Jaivian Thomas (Cal) and Anthony Woods (Idaho)
Reinforcing the receiver corps with Mikey Matthews to complement promising returner Kwazi Gilmer
Rebuilding an entire defense that lost all 11 starters, including standout LB Carson Schwesinger
Adding 20 new defensive players to work under returning coordinator Ikaika Malloe

This isn’t just changing players; it’s changing UCLA’s competitive DNA. Foster is betting that rapid, wholesale change through the portal will produce faster results than gradual development.

The question isn’t whether UCLA has talent. It’s whether a team with so many new faces can build chemistry quickly enough to maximize that talent.

A schedule with just enough runway for takeoff

UCLA’s second Big Ten schedule provides a sensible launch sequence for its rebuilt program.

The schedule begins with three appealing non-conference matchups:

Utah at home (Aug. 30) — Former Pac-12 rival now in the Big 12
At UNLV (Sept. 6) — Winnable road test at Allegiant Stadium
New Mexico at home (Sept. 13) — Opportunity to build confidence
BYE WEEK — Perfect timing before conference play

Then, the Big Ten gauntlet alternates home and away games (a massive improvement over 2024’s travel nightmare, which saw UCLA log over 22,000 miles).

The Winnable Games:

Northwestern (away, Sept. 27)
Maryland (home, Oct. 18)
Nebraska (home, Nov. 8)
Indiana (away, Oct. 25)

The Measuring Stick Games:

Penn State (home, Oct. 4)
Michigan State (away, Oct. 11)
Washington (home, Nov. 22)

The Major Challenges:

Ohio State (away, Nov. 15)
USC (away, Nov. 29)

This schedule has the perfect structure for a rebuilding team: early confidence-builders, midseason tests, and high-profile showcase opportunities late. If UCLA manages a 2-1 non-conference start and splits its winnable conference games, bowl eligibility becomes realistic.

Foster’s coaching future will be defined in the next 12 Saturdays

Year Two is when coaching narratives get solidified.

For DeShaun Foster, 2025 isn’t just another season — it’s potentially career-defining. After a 5-7 debut that showed both promise (winning 3 of last 6) and problems (losing first 5 conference games), Foster responded with one of college football’s boldest offseason overhauls.

What makes Foster’s second season so pivotal?

He’s betting his coaching future on the transfer portal model working immediately.
The financial stakes in the Big Ten raise expectations exponentially
His Bruins background (UCLA legend as a player) amplifies both the support and scrutiny
Bowl eligibility is now the minimum standard for fan satisfaction

Foster understands the ticking clock, telling reporters early in the offseason: “We’re going to be able to reload… That’s the nature of the business” — words interpreted by many as acknowledging his seat temperature.

Coaches who succeed in Year Two often build lasting programs, while those who don’t often find themselves updating résumés.

Bowl game or bust? Experts say it’s a coin flip.

Vegas and betting markets have UCLA sitting precisely on the bowl eligibility bubble.

The consensus over/under line for UCLA’s 2025 win total: 5.5 games.

What that means in plain English: experts believe UCLA is equally likely to win 5 games and miss a bowl as they are to win 6+ and qualify. The Bruins are the ultimate “prove it” team entering 2025.

The four factors that will determine which side of the bowl line UCLA lands on:

Quarterback Impact: Can Iamaleava reproduce his Tennessee production in a new system?
Staff Chemistry: Will a nearly complete coaching turnover create cohesion or confusion?
Schedule Navigation: Can UCLA handle the winnable games (Northwestern, Maryland, Nebraska)?
Defensive Rebuild: Is it possible to lose 11 starters and maintain defensive competence?

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli perfectly captured the prevailing sentiment: UCLA has “a real shot at six wins and a bowl berth if they take care of business in winnable games.”

Foster’s aggressive offseason approach has given UCLA legitimate bowl aspirations. Now they need to convert potential into production.

The Bruins are running college football’s most fascinating experiment

UCLA is testing a revolutionary question: can you shortcut a rebuild through the transfer portal?

Traditional program building takes years of recruiting, developing, and establishing a culture. Foster is attempting to compress that timeline dramatically through immediate talent infusion.

If UCLA reaches a bowl game in 2025, it will validate a new model for rapid program transformation. If it falls short, it will demonstrate the limitations of the portal-centric approach.

The 2025 Bruins represent the clearest test case yet of college football’s new roster-building paradigm. By acquiring an elite quarterback (Iamaleava), innovative coordinator (Sunseri), and dozens of transfers, UCLA has positioned itself as the sport’s most interesting experiment.

In 12 months, we’ll know if it was brilliance or folly.

What we’re about to witness in Westwood isn’t just another season of Bruins football — it’s a glimpse into the future of college football program building.

And I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.

The Next Billion Dollar Game

College football isn’t just a sport anymore—it’s a high-stakes market where information asymmetry separates winners from losers. While the average fan sees only what happens between the sidelines, real insiders trade on the hidden dynamics reshaping programs from the inside out.

Our team has embedded with the power brokers who run this game. From the coaching carousel to NIL deals to transfer portal strategies, we’ve mapped the entire ecosystem with the kind of obsessive detail that would make a hedge fund analyst blush.

Why subscribe? Because in markets this inefficient, information creates alpha. Our subscribers knew which coaches were dead men walking months before the mainstream media caught on. They understood which programs were quietly transforming their recruiting apparatuses while competitors slept.

The smart money is already positioning for 2025. Are you?

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BACK TO THE BLOG ARCHIVE

Blog Article

Bob Chesney Is a Great Coach. UCLA’s Leadership Might Destroy Him Anyway

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Here’s The Concern

The Institutional Reality

So, Why Did Chesney Take The Job?

Bottom Line

Blog Article

Week 7 – Coaches Hot Seat Rankings

1. Trent Dilfer, UAB (American)

2. Billy Napier, Florida (SEC)

3. Mike Norvell, Florida State (ACC)

4. Jeff Choate, Nevada (Mountain West)

5. Joe Moorhead, Akron (MAC)

6. Butch Jones, Arkansas State (Sun Belt)

7. James Franklin, Penn State (Big Ten)

9. Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee (C-USA)

10. Scotty Walden, UTEP (C-USA)

The Bottom Line:

Blog Article

Martin Jarmond Set DeShaun Foster Up To Fail. Now UCLA’s Athletic Director Should Be The One Looking For A New Job.

The Timeline Tells The Real Story

Foster Inherited An Impossible Situation

The Zoom Call Revealed Everything

Chancellor Frenk Sees The Problem

Bill Plaschke Said The Quiet Part Out Loud

The Kelly Contract Extension Debacle

The Attendance Scandal

UCLA Needs New Leadership

Blog Article

UCLA’s 2025 Transformation: How Nico Iamaleava Changes Everything in Westwood

25 million eyes are watching the Nico Iamaleava experiment

The offensive wizard you’ve never heard of (yet)

The transfer portal isn’t just changing UCLA’s quarterback room — it’s rebuilding their entire identity.

A schedule with just enough runway for takeoff

Foster’s coaching future will be defined in the next 12 Saturdays

Bowl game or bust? Experts say it’s a coin flip.

The Bruins are running college football’s most fascinating experiment

The Next Billion Dollar Game

Blog Article

What We’re Watching Saturday

Pre Game / Kickoff Shows

Early Games

LSU at South Carolina

Boston College at Missouri

Afternoon Games

Texas A&M at Florida

Late Games

Colorado at Colorado State

Indiana at UCLA

Full Schedule

Blog Article

Comcast’s Big Ten Blackout: A Major Fumble on the Goal Line

B1G Ten Network Access Issues