It was a moment applauded and appreciated by high school football fans and coaches throughout California.
Matt Logan, respected and admired for his vision, creativity and consistency as head coach at Corona Centennial for 29 years, achieved historic victory No. 300 on Thursday night when his team delivered a 62-20 win over Eastvale Roosevelt.
He becomes the 15th football coach in state history to reach 300 wins, according to CalHiSports.com. Jim Benkert at Simi Valley is the only other active coach in the exclusive club that is topped by Hall of Famer Bob Ladouceur with 399 wins at Concord De La Salle.
Corona Centennial football coach Matt Logan closing in on 300 victories in his career.
(Craig Weston)
The school tried to get as many of his former players to come to the game to celebrate, with 18 graduating classes represented. Afterward, Logan received lots of hugs and a special trophy from athletic director Tony Barile. There was a large sign unfurled with “300 wins” prominent, along with special T-shirts and hats made for the occasion. His teams have won 10 Southern Section titles. The Huskies (5-1) are hoping to earn an 11th when the playoffs begin next month.
“Something I’ll remember forever,” Logan said.
One of the humorous moments was Logan trying to recognize and remember some of his former players from as far back as 1995.
“I actually recognized most of them, especially from the ones from when I first started,” he said.
Logan, 58, started out as a defensive coordinator at Centennial for two years before taking over as head coach. To show his versatility, he became known for his program’s warp speed, no-huddle offense through the years. His team in 2015 remains the only team other than St. John Bosco and Mater Dei to win a Division 1 championship.
“I love this city. I grew up in this city,” Logan said of his loyalty to the community.
Two Centennial running backs, Malaki Davis and Zander Lewis, led the Huskies on Thursday night, each rushing for more than 100 yards. Davis had four touchdowns.
Next week is a showdown league game against unbeaten Vista Murrieta.
Junior quarterback Nathaniel Cadet, who has a 4.5 grade-point average, is so passionate about football at Marshall High that the coaches sometimes have to order him to go home or they won’t be able to leave school.
“He’s one of those kids we have to beg to leave,” first-year head coach Jose Razo said. “I can’t name anyone who works harder. The kid has a drive I’ve never seen.”
Cadet tutors players on academics and football. His contributions have been key in Marshall going 6-0 entering its Northern League opener against host Eagle Rock on Friday. Cadet has passed for 691 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Razo has his own interesting story. He’s a 2007 Marshall graduate who spent 17 years as an assistant coach under three head coaches before getting the job this season. The Barristers have wins over Glendale, Sylmar, Contreras, Belmont, L.A. Jordan and Jefferson.
Eagle Rock will present the toughest challenge yet with its outstanding quarterback Liam Pasten and coach Andy Moran, who used to coach at Marshall and is the Barristers’ all-time winningest coach. Razo played for Moran, who has a 12-0 record against his former school.
Cadet gets to be in the spotlight to show off his strong arm. “Sometimes our guys can’t catch it because he throws so hard,” Razo said.
Before the varsity game, two of the league’s top flag football teams will play at 5 p.m.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
In the spring of 2020, Doug Caines was burned out and finished coaching football.
“The COVID season probably broke me,” he said.
He had been head coach at Dos Pueblos High since 2018. He had been head coach at Santa Barbara from 2012-14. He remained at Dos Pueblos as a media arts teacher and focused on his own kids.
Then, in 2023, he was approached about becoming the girls’ flag football coach in the first season of the sport. It changed his life.
“Honestly, I’ve never had this much fun coaching football,” he said. “Man is it fun. The girls are just coachable and want to play and most are other athletes first.”
Dos Pueblos flag football receiver Brooklyn Hedricks, left, and quarterback Kacey Hurley.
(Michael Owen Baker/For The Times)
That feeling of fun, players wanting to learn and parents watching to enjoy the game instead of worrying about college recruiters best describes the third season of flag football. Everyone realizes this purity probably won’t last for long. Players are already getting offered flag football scholarships to colleges. High schools have started to seek out players.
Yet for now, the participants are enjoying just having the chance to play a sport that used to be reserved for boys.
“Before freshman year, I had never played and never heard of it,” said star Dos Pueblos receiver/defensive back Brooklyn Hendricks, whose father, George, is head baseball coach and also an assistant flag coach.
Dos Pueblos head coach Doug Caines, center, talks with his players during halftime.
(Michael Owen Baker/For The Times)
She was a travel ball player for years in softball. Her parents spent lots of time and money taking her to games around the country. Guess what has happened in her junior year of high school?
“Softball was my best sport, but flag football honestly is my best,” she said. “To get a scholarship offer is crazy.”
Dos Pueblos is 18-2 and part of a strong group of teams from Ventura County and the Santa Barbara area ready to challenge the powerful teams in Orange County. Dos Pueblos’ took 18-1 Orange Lutheran to overtime before losing.
“That was the most intense game I’ve played in,” Hendricks said. “It was such a battle back and forth. It was so much fun.”
Besides Hendricks, who has more than 30 interceptions in her flag football career, quarterback Kacey Hurley has been a key contributor. Last season Hurley was the center snapping the ball to the quarterback. Now she’s the one firing spirals, with 49 touchdown passes so far.
The regular season ends on Oct. 15. The playoffs are Oct. 21, 25, 28 and Nov. 1 with the championship games on Nov. 8.
Caines has been revitalized and rejuvenated.
“It’s been magical,” he said. “The first year was so fun. No expectations. Everything was new — the first game, the first touchdown, the first interception. We’ve been able to keep that going.”
Based on Caines’ coaching experience, a real trend in the coming years could be veteran 11-man football coaches switching to flag football to get back to the days of players learning from scratch and appreciating every moment at practice and games.
Meanwhile, the players will keep having strange dances before and after games, applying eyeblack like it’s makeup and, most of all, having fun playing a sport that isn’t their main one but could be one day.
“This team has great chemistry,” Hendricks said. “There’s never any drama. We have a good set of coaches, We focus on having more fun. We love a win. That’s great. But it’s more of a family.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. If all goes as expected, Matt Logan of Corona Centennial will earn career victory No. 300 on Thursday night, becoming the 15th coach in state history to achieve that mark, according to CalHiSports.com records.
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Corona Centennial coach Matt Logan is in his 29th season.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
It’s going to be party time in Corona on Thursday night when Centennial hosts Eastvale Roosevelt. Centennial will be a heavy favorite to deliver win No. 300 for coach Matt Logan, who has made his program one of Southern California’s most consistent and perhaps the top public school football program in his 29th season.
Centennial is the last team to win the Southern Section title in 2015 other than St. John Bosco and Mater Dei. His teams have won 10 Southern Section titles and a state title in 2018. His influence has been immense.
Twenty-two former Centennial players have reached the NFL, including five on current rosters. More than 250 players have reached the college ranks. He became a trendsetter with his quick tempo, no-huddle offense that required officials to be in good shape because of the speed in which the Huskies would snap the ball after the whistle had been blown. He became the coach not afraid to play anyone, scheduling home and away games with Mater Dei, playing Florida’s IMG Academy and playing three Trinity League opponents this season.
Through the years, any time there was an opening at a top private school, Logan’s name got mentioned as a candidate. But the Norco High graduate was never going to leave the community he grew up in.
“I don’t think our school district and our area would be recognized without him,” said Anthony Catalano, a former quarterback and current assistant coach. “It changed the outlook of our community and kept a lot of people home. It set the standard for what our expectations are.”
One moment that is always most memorable comes at the end of the final game or final practice. The whole team lines up to salute every senior. Logan gives a hug to each senior offering words of appreciation and encouragement. That embrace to a teenager preparing to become an adult makes them Matt Logan fans for life.
Quarterback Taylor Lee of Oxnard Pacifica had four touchdown passes in 42-14 win over Hamilton.
(Craig Weston)
The Trinity League begins football action this week. Get ready for a five-week grind that ends on Halloween, with St. John Bosco hosting Mater Dei. On Friday, St. John Bosco is at JSerra, Mater Dei is playing Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College and Santa Margarita is playing Servite at Santa Ana Stadium.
All six teams remain in contention for the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. The key will be how many teams are chosen for Division 1. Corona Centennial, Mission Viejo and Sierra Canyon are certain selections. If the Southern Section only goes with eight teams, then one Trinity League team won’t make it. Last season there were 10 teams selected. Los Alamitos is 7-0 and a contender going into its three league games against Edison, San Clemente and Mission Viejo. The rankings are done by hsratings.com.
Monrovia has lost sophomore quarterback Jesse Saucedo for the rest of the season after a knee injury.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame unveiled 6-foot-8 basketball star Tyran Stokes at receiver. Here’s the report.
Los Alamitos earned a long-deserved break after improving to 7-0 with a win over Calabasas. The surprising Griffins don’t play again until their league opener on Oct. 16. They can become a Division 1 playoff team by beating Edison, San Clemente and Mission Viejo over their final three games. Quarterback Colin Creason was 17 of 19 passing for 296 yards and three touchdowns against Calabasas. Talented tight end Beckham Hogland had seven catches for 140 yards.
Taylor Lee of Oxnard Pacifica has 19 touchdowns in his last three games after a 42-14 win over Hamilton. Here’s the report.
The City Section is closing in on booking L.A. Southwest College to host its Open Division championship game on Nov. 29. Birmingham would host championship games on Nov. 28.
Last week, L.A. Jordan (0-6) forfeited its game to Fremont because of lack of healthy players and first-year coach James Boyd is out. Boyd was a former Jordan standout. Leonard McConico was named interim coach. Also Dymally has officially canceled its season.
Carson had a breakthrough nonleague win over St. Pius X-St. Matthias. Sophomore defensive end Kingston Sula had four sacks.
Palisades receiver Go Moriya makes a sliding catch in the second half of Friday night’s 35-28 intersectional win.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Palisades improved to 5-0 by rallying to beat Mary Star 35-28. Here’s the report.
Birmingham begins West Valley League play this week against El Camino Real and has a 49-game winning streak against City Section opponents.
Crenshaw hosts Dorsey on Friday night in a big Coliseum League game that will decide the main challenger to King/Drew.
Marshall is 6-0 after a 42-18 win over Jefferson. Junior quarterback Nathaniel Cadet has been a key player for the Barristers. Marshall will find out where it stands in a Northern League opener against Eagle Rock on Friday night.
Elyjah Staples is a star junior defensive end for Marquez and also straight-A student.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
It’s a tradition for the Marquez High football team to raise a black Gladiators flag up the stadium pole after each victory.
Imagine how often that flag could be raised each time Elyjah Staples, the school’s star outside linebacker, earned an A on his report card? That’s the only grade he’s gotten in three years of classes, no matter taking Chemistry, Algebra 2 or advance placement U.S. History.
It’s the game of the year in high school flag football.
On Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. at Orange Lutheran, the unbeaten Lancers (18-0) take on unbeaten JSerra (19-0) in a game that should attract a large crowd and produce a memorable matchup.
Orange Lutheran and quarterback Makena Cook are the defending Division 1 flag football champions. JSerra, bolstered by a group of talented freshmen, have been surging and preparing for this showdown. Freshman quarterback Katie Meier and freshman receiver Ava Irwin get to test themselves on a big stage.
LIONS POSTGAME: Junior G.G. Szczuka produced five catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns, while freshman quarterback Kate Meier threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score, as the JSerra Girls Flag Football team improved to 19-0 on the season with a 34-19 victory over… pic.twitter.com/QKUaOyreon
Venice continues to be a City Section title contender in girls volleyball, handing Palisades its first defeat in Western League play, 25-23, 22-25, 12-25, 25-21, 15-9.
Mira Costa came through with a win over rival Redondo Union to go to 4-0 in the Bay League and 14-7 overall.
Marymount hosts Sierra Canyon on Monday night in the first of two Mission League matches.
San Clemente athletic trainer Amber Anaya helped save a soccer assistant coach who went into cardiac arrest.
(San Clemente HS)
For those high schools in California that still don’t have an athletic trainer, what happened at San Clemente High was another reason why they are so valuable for the safety reasons. And also proven was the requirement that coaches be certified in CPR every two years.
Calabasas senior Elie Samouhi took out his electric guitar and played the national anthem before the Calabasas-Los Alamitos football game last week. What a performance. You can hear it here.
Basketball
Fall basketball is picking up steam more than a month away from the official start of the season.
Former St. John Bosco guard Brandon McCoy made his fall debut for Sierra Canyon, which has a number of transfer students that still need to be cleared by the school and Southern Section.
In fact, most of the Mission League is loaded with transfers, and if they’re eligible, it will be quite a league season ahead.
Freshman Nico Mecilli should be a contributor for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame basketball.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame might start a little slow with several players on the football team, including standout Tyran Stokes, but that will only give the newcomers the opportunity to play, such as 6-foot-5 Bishop Gorman transfer Ilan Nikolov and 6-5 freshman Nico Mecilli.
Three of the big risers have been 6-7 junior Kevin Keshishyan of Los Altos, 6-9 junior Nick Welch Jr. of Rolling Hills Prep and senior guard Josiah Johnson of Mayfair.
In girls basketball, Etiwanda and Ontario Christian are gearing up to be the top teams again, but watch for big improvement from Troy, where future Hall of Fame coach Kevin Kiernan has returned after being at Mater Dei and not coaching last season. Oak Park could be on the rise with several transfer students.
Transfer warning
Southern Section commissioner Mike West (left) addressed the Southern Section Council on Thursday.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
I’ve been trying to find a way to educate parents, fans, coaches and players about the ongoing crackdown of Southern Section transfer rules, and commissioner Mike West made a brief presentation at the Southern Section Council meeting to provide an update.
In the latest development, five Long Beach Poly football players and one volleyball player have been declared ineligible for two years for violating CIF bylaw 202, which involves providing false information. Also Victor Valley lost four football players to two-year punishments. Pacific in San Bernardino lost two football players for one year.
Notes . . .
Chris Huber is the new girls lacrosse coach at Newbury Park. . . .
Tressa Beatty of Bonita has committed to Azusa Pacific for women’s basketball. . . .
Softball standout Mireya Gonzalez of La Mirada has committed to Connecticut. . . .
Emilia Krstevski, a 6-4 center at Sierra Canyon, has committed to play women’s basketball at Oregon. . . .
Rio Hondo Prep and Brentwood have moved their football game to SoFi Stadium on Oct. 16 at 4:30 p.m. . . .
Outfielder James Tronstein of Harvard-Westlake has committed to Vanderbilt. . . .
Junior outfielder/pitcher Carson Richter of Newbury Park has committed to Michigan. . . .
Junior Ivy Burnham of St. Anthony has committed to Stanford softball. . . .
South Hills softball standout Charli Moreno has committed to Washington. . . .
Junior pitcher Andrew Carlson from Trinity Classical Academy has committed to Texas Christian. . . .
Junior pitcher Tate Belfanti of Cypress has committed to Texas Christian. . . .
Pitcher Owen Shannon of Mater Dei has committed to Pittsburgh. . . .
Adam Goldstein, who has been an assistant baseball coach at Agoura, has emerged as the leading candidate for the vacant head coach position. . . .
Former standout offensive line Mark Schroller from Mission Viejo has medically retired from football at UCLA. . . .
Quarterback Wyatt Brown of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame takes off on a touchdown run against Culver City.
(Craig Weston)
Quarterback Wyatt Brown of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame has committed to West Virginia. . . .
Linebacker Glenn Baranoski of Newport Harbor has committed to San Diego.
From the archives: Peyton Woodyard
Peyton Woodyard during his St. John Bosco days in 2022.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Freshman safety Peyton Woodyard, a St. John Bosco grad, is making an impact at Oregon.
It’s no surprise, since Woodyard was a key contributor for St. John Bosco over three seasons.
From the San Diego Union Tribune, a story on Torrey Pines having the best girls golf team in the nation.
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I’m so passionate about covering high school sports that I’ve spent 49 years doing it. But some are taking it too seriously. It’s not college, it’s not pros. No matter how angry you get, you can’t change the mission it will always be about _ to prepare teenagers for adulthood.
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Every morning, Darnell Miller walks his 10-year-old brother, Fredrick, to elementary school, then walks another 20 minutes to Santee High in downtown Los Angeles. Before football practice, when the bell rings in the afternoon, he sometimes jogs to pick up his brother, then walks him home or takes him to practice.
As an example of his talent, the 6-foot, 170-pound Miller made such a positive impression in a 43-7 loss to University that the opposing coach, Bryan Robinson, said, “He’s the No. 1 running back in the City Section.”
Miller rushed for 209 yards in the defeat. He also plays basketball, runs track and has a 4.6 second 40-yard time.
He used to play youth football at age 6 and was so scared of being tackled that he kept running away from defenders when he had the ball.
He moved from Memphis to Los Angeles at the end of 2018. He didn’t play football his freshman year at Santee. He played point guard on varsity basketball. The football coaches noticed him.
“The coaches made me come out,” Miller said. “They kept asking me and I said I’d give it a try. Now I love it.”
He was a receiver last season until switching to running back at midseason after an injury to a teammate. He also plays defensive back.
“He’s a natural at running back,” coach John Petty said.
Santee High running back Darnell Miller, right, takes his 10-year-old brother, Fredrick, to elementary school each morning.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Raised by a single mother, Miller relishes his role watching over his fifth-grade brother who sometimes joins him on the football bus to road games. The two are so quiet and shy that it might take a third person to get them to speak up. Playing football has helped Miller become more vocal but his performances are speaking for him.
Miller has a warning. “I feel I can still get better,” he said.
Let’s review some midseason excellence with some player-of-the year candidates:
Quarterback Luke Fahey, Mission Viejo. Having guided the Diablos to wins over Santa Margarita, Folsom and San Diego Lincoln, Fahey has shown accuracy and great judgment. He has completed 74% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and one interception.
Taylor Lee, Oxnard Pacifica. The junior quarterback has gone on a touchdown throwing barrage with 19 in his last three games for unbeaten Pacifica. Tougher competition begins in the Marmonte League.
Madden Williams, St. John Bosco. The senior receiver is living up to expectations in playing his best in big games. He has 13 receptions for 331 yards and four touchdowns entering Trinity League play.
Jaden Walk-Green, Corona Centennial: A junior safety who started the season unknown, he has made an impact with his athleticism. He starts in center field for the baseball and is versatile on the football field, batting down balls, making tackles and serving as the Huskies’ kicker.
Mark Bowman, Mater Dei: He’s a senior tight end showing everyone why he might be the best in the country. The Monarchs haven’t throw many passes to him because they have so many top receivers, but he had two touchdown catches last week against Bishop Gorman and contributes on almost every play with his blocking.
Isaiah Arriaza, Damien. The Spartans are 5-0 behind their senior quarterback. Arriaza has passed for 1,491 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Rocco Tompkins, JSerra. The linebacker and running back is only 5-10, but what a first five games he’s had. He leads the Southern Section in tackling. “He’s a tackling machine,” coach Victor Santa Cruz said.
Madden Riordan, Sierra Canyon. On perhaps the best defense in the Southland, you don’t mess with Riordan, a defensive back who has two interceptions and 16 solo tackles. He had 10 interceptions last season.
Khary Wilder, Gardena Serra: The defensive lineman has contributed six sacks and 17 solo tackles while coming ready to cause havoc every game.
Max Meier, Loyola: The defensive lineman has seven sacks and helped out on 40 tackles while showing Stanford has stolen a rising talent.
Caden Jones, Crean Lutheran. The junior quarterback and star point guard has completed 76% of his passes for 1,432 yards and 10 touchdowns with zero interceptions for the 5-0 Saints.
The Lakers kicked off their summer break by signing their star player to a contract extension in a flashy news conference featuring Balkan walk-up music and a photo gallery display of Luka Doncic’s best Lakers moments. The team returned Thursday by announcing their continued commitment to their coach.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka announced head coach JJ Redick had signed a contract extension at a news conference with the coach as the Lakers begin training camp next Tuesday.
Redick signed a four-year, $32-million contract last year as a first-time head coach and led the Lakers to a 50-32 regular-season record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of playoffs. The terms of the new deal were not announced.
“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”
Redick’s extension was one of the finishing touches on what Pelinka called “an intentional and productive offseason.” The Lakers touted major additions of center Deandre Ayton and perimeter players Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia who were each hand-selected for their fits around Doncic and LeBron James.
James opted into the final year of his contract, and Doncic signed a three-year extension on the first day the Lakers could offer in August.
After a blockbuster midseason trade brought the former Dallas Maverick to L.A. in February, Doncic and James will enter their first full season together with questions about how the Lakers can best balance the 40-year-old James and his 26-year-old fellow star.
Redick, who said he had two productive in-person meetings with James this offseason, will oversee the league’s most-watched transfer of power.
Redick recognized that joining the Lakers brings consistent pressure. Then he was also transitioning from broadcasting to coaching while moving cities, settling his children into new schools and adjusting to a seismic midseason trade. Redick’s first year came with little time to reflect or process.
After the Lakers were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs, Redick paused to consider his new career. He ruminated for weeks on how to define his philosophy as a coach and his methodology. He searched for answers in meetings with Rams coach Sean McVay, former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Brady’s former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Through their conversations, he came away with a simple strategy to achieve success.
“We’re going to ask guys to be in championship shape, have championship communication and championship habits,” Redick said. “That’s a daily commitment to that.”
James, who will start an unprecedented 23rd NBA season next week, has always been committed to those pillars, Redick said. Doncic has followed suit.
The Slovenian superstar’s rebuilt and slimmed down body was the talk of the NBA summer after major magazine profiles in Men’s Health and the Wall Street Journal. The offseason work paid off in EuroBasket, where Doncic averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists in Slovenia’s run to the quarterfinals. He was named to the tournament’s five-man All-Star team.
But after traveling to Poland to not only watch Doncic play but to observe Slovenian team practices, Pelinka came away just as impressed by Doncic’s off-court habits as his on-court game.
“How he not only led by example, but he was very demonstrative in the practice in terms of his expectations of the team, how they played, their togetherness,” Pelinka said. “Just seeing that continued evolution and growth with him as not only a leader by example but a leader with his voice really stood out to me.”
Redick noted Doncic’s improved movement and defense during the European competition, and the coach expects to see the same version of the star guard stateside.
“I expect the best version of Luka,” Redick said, “and it’s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.”
UCLA’s five-member search committee for its next football coach that was revealed Thursday features heavy hitters from various corners of the professional sports world, including two who helped engineer a quick turnaround with the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
Commanders general manager Adam Peters and adviser Bob Myers — who will be joined on the committee by sports executive Casey Wasserman, former NFL star linebacker Eric Kendricks and UCLA executive senior associate athletics director Erin Adkins — were part of the team that hired Washington coach Dan Quinn, who took the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game in his first season.
They will hope to have similar success in selecting the successor to Bruins coach DeShaun Foster, who was fired earlier this month after his team started the season with three consecutive losses. Every member of the committee will be driven to find a winner given they either graduated from UCLA or work for the school’s athletic department.
“I want to thank the members of the search committee who have, out of their love for UCLA, agreed to contribute their time and expertise to this process,” Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, who will head the committee, said in a statement. “We will identify, recruit and invest in a leader who has the vision, the confidence, the attitude, and the proven ability to return UCLA football to national prominence, and we will provide the resources to compete and win at the highest level. That’s our commitment to our alumni, fans and supporters.”
One prominent figure with strong UCLA ties missing from the committee was Troy Aikman, the former Bruins quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer who was part of the committee that in 2017 landed Chip Kelly. That hiring of the hottest coaching candidate on the market was considered a coup, even if Kelly’s results in the six seasons that followed were largely disappointing.
The only holdover from the committee that hired Kelly is Wasserman, a UCLA megadonor who is also the founder and chief executive of the eponymous sports and media talent agency.
After Kelly left the Bruins in February 2024 to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Jarmond used an internal search committee consisting of athletic department employees — including Adkins, who heads the department’s name, image and likeness strategy and initiatives — to select Foster in less than 72 hours.
UCLA will have considerably more time to select its next coach given that most hires are made in December.
Myers, a reserve forward on the Bruins’ last national championship basketball team in 1995, hired Steve Kerr in his role as general manager of the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have won four NBA titles under Kerr, who was also selected the NBA’s coach of the year during the 2015-16 season.
After leaving the Warriors in 2023, Myers has worked as an ESPN basketball analyst and was appointed to the board of the University of California regents. Myers also assisted Peters, a former defensive end for UCLA’s football team, in the coaching search that landed Quinn.
Before he joined the Commanders, Peters enjoyed a successful career as vice president of player personnel and assistant general manager with the San Francisco 49ers, helping the team appear in four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls over his seven seasons with the franchise.
The youngest member of the committee is Kendricks, the former Butkus Award-winning linebacker with the Bruins who is currently a free agent after 10 NFL seasons that included a Pro Bowl appearance in 2019.
UCLA said it would have no additional comment on the search or candidates until a hire is announced.
For those high schools in California that still don’t have an athletic trainer, what happened last week at San Clemente High was another reason why they are so valuable for the safety reasons. And also proven was the requirement that coaches be certified in CPR every two years.
As a soccer class was ending last Thursday, an assistant coach fell to the ground. Head coach Chris Murray thought he tripped. Then he looked into his eyes, which appeared dilated, and saw that his face was purple. While a football coach nearby was calling 911, Murray began chest compressions.
Athletic trainer Amber Anaya received a text in her office that said, “Emergency.” She got into her golf cart that contained her automated external defibrilator (AED) machine and raced to the field within two minutes. She determined the coach was in cardiac arrest.
While Anaya hooked up her AED machine to the coach, Murray continued chest compressions. The AED machine evaluated the patient and recommended one shock. This went on for some seven minutes until paramedics arrived. Another shock was given after the paramedics took over.
The coach was transported to a hospital and survived. He would receive a pacemaker. It was a happy ending thanks to people who knew what to do in case of an emergency.
Murray said what he did was based on instincts and adrenaline. As soon as the ambulance left, he said he collapsed to his knee exhausted.
“His ribs are sore but not broken,” Murray said, “so I guess I did good.”
All the preparation in case of an emergency was put to good use by the coach trained in CPR and the athletic trainer who knew how to use an AED machine.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
With his players in need of a refreshing change that would still allow them to compete, UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper took the Bruins to a bowling alley last week on one of their days off from practicing.
“I also wanted to get out of the [football practice] building, to be honest, even for me and the coaches’ sake,” Skipper said Monday. “We’ve been locked in working and grinding and all that stuff, so we needed to get away and just kind of take a deep breath and compete in a different way.”
While it was the sort of team bonding exercise usually carried out in the offseason or during training camp, throwing a few strikes together could be the thing to help spare players from walking out on the rest of the season after an 0-3 start that led to the dismissal of their coach.
A week into the 30-day transfer portal window that opened for players, Skipper said no one had left the team. Additional incentive to stay could come Saturday.
A victory over Northwestern (1-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) in UCLA’s conference opener at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Ill., could be doubly important for a team that needs a confidence boost — and reason for players with an available redshirt season to keep playing after the four-game cutoff for preserving eligibility.
“I think the discussions might come up a little bit more after the game,” Skipper said of redshirting. “But, to me, it’s always good to win for everything, just morale and every single area that you’re in. You deal with that as it comes, but right now the guys have been attacking and everybody seems like they want to play and are eager to do that.”
Skipper said coaches have commenced a deep dive into the roster to search for players who could provide additional help after the team struggled so mightily in its first three games. As the Bruins shift from what Skipper labeled a mini-training camp last week into game mode, they will see if those new discoveries can handle the opportunity to make a bigger contribution.
UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper is trying to keep his players motivated amid the Bruins’ 0-3 start.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Nobody appears to be giving up given the energy and personal pride Skipper has seen from his players.
“Everybody has a number out there, but you also have a last name on the back of your jersey,” Skipper said. “So, that last name needs to matter and you need to represent it in a positive way, and that’s what this is all going to come down to. I don’t care what we’re doing, whether we’re bowling or playing football, whatever — compete to win.”
A senior defensive analyst with the Orange who is expected to serve in a similar capacity at UCLA after the Bruins persuaded him to make a cross-country move early in the season, Coyle has been a longtime mentor to his new boss.
Coyle, 69, was Fresno State’s defensive coordinator when Skipper was a star middle linebacker for the Bulldogs from 1997 to 2000. The duo also worked together last season at Fresno State when Skipper was the interim head coach.
Now Coyle will boost a UCLA staff that needs help after the departure of defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe last week in what was termed a mutual parting of ways.
“He is kind of like ‘The Godfather’ to me for football,” Skipper said of Coyle. “Did a lot of teaching me the game. It’s where I originally first started learning how to play sound, good defense. So to have the opportunity to get him here is major.”
Without offering specifics, Skipper said the UCLA defensive staff had simulated the way it would call games as part of a new collaborative approach.
From Ben Bolch: One UCLA football legend sat across from the other, lamenting how far their beloved program had fallen.
On one side was Rick Neuheisel, a onetime Rose Bowl most valuable player and Bruins head coach, wondering aloud whether his alma mater had put itself in position to pick a strong successor to the recently dismissed DeShaun Foster.
“Is there confidence in the current athletic director when there’s been swing-and-misses,” Neuheisel asked, “or do you need to go find somebody else?”
On the other side of the CBS Sports studio roundtable was Randy Cross, a former All-America offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl champion so angry about the state of the Bruins that his voice rose as he spoke.
“UCLA is clueless, they’re rudderless, they’re leaderless and it’s been decades since they had anybody there that had a freaking clue as to, A, what they want to do and, two, how they’re going to do it,” Cross said. “It sounds simple — there isn’t a better school in America to go to than UCLA — but that athletic department is a joke led by the football team.”
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UCLA UNLOCKED
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UCLA POLL
Almost every week in UCLA Unlocked, there is a poll for readers to give their opinion on UCLA athletics. This week’s poll:
Who would you rather have as UCLA’s next football coach?
An exciting lower-level coach such as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall?
A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?
An existing Power Four coach such as Arizona’s Jedd Fisch?
Times of Troy is our weekly newsletter featuring all things Trojans athletics. Ryan Kartje, who covers USC football and men’s basketball for The Times, is your host. To sign up to get this newsletter delivered every Monday to your inbox, click here.
DODGERS
From Dylan Hernández: There’s desperate, and there’s desperate to where you’re looking for Roki Sasaki to be the answer to your team’s late-inning problems.
The same Roki Sasaki who hasn’t pitched in a major league game in more than four months because of shoulder problems.
The same Roki Sasaki who posted a 4.72 earned-run average in eight starts.
The same Roki Sasaki who last week in the minors pitched as a reliever for the first time.
The Dodgers’ exploration of Sasaki as a late-inning option is a reflection of the 23-year-old rookie’s upside, but this isn’t a commentary of Sasaki as much as it is of the roster.
Dodgers Dugout is our award-winning Dodgers newsletter. Current news, historical items, polls, top 10 lists, you name it, if it’s about the Dodgers it is covered here. Houston Mitchell is your host. You can sign up by clicking here.
CHARGERS
From Anthony De Leon: On a play-action pass, Chargers running back Najee Harris crumpled to the turf before the fake handoff could fully develop, immediately grabbing his left ankle and tossing aside his helmet in pain.
Needing assistance, trainers helped Harris to the sideline, as he was unable to put any weight on his leg, before he was carted to the locker room in the second quarter of a 23-20 win over the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Harris, who spent the lead-up to his first season in L.A. recovering from an offseason eye injury in a fireworks accident, was expected to be a key piece of a one-two punch with rookie Omarion Hampton.
Now, he will be sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon, coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday.
“It’s unfortunate that that occurred … a rough start. He was playing good. I mean, he’s really good,” Harbaugh said. “We got good football players … guys will step into roles and, you know, be at their best when their best is needed most.”
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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1926 — Gene Tunney beats Jack Dempsey with a 10-round decision to retain the world heavyweight title.
1952 — Rocky Marciano knocks out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round to retain the world heavyweight title.
1979 — The Houston Oilers overcome a 24-0 deficit to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 30-27 in overtime.
1983 — Gerry Coetzee knocks out Michael Dokes in the 10th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Richfield, Ohio.
1992 — Manon Rheaume becomes the first woman to play in one of the four major pro sports leagues when she takes the ice in the first period for the NHL expansion Tampa Bay Lightning in an exhibition game. The 20-year-old goalie faces nine shots and allows two goals in St. Louis’ 6-4 victory.
2000 — Ben Matthews ties an NCAA record with five interceptions as Bethel beat Gustavus 14-13. Matthews ties the all-division record shared by eight players.
2007 — For the first time in NFL history, two players have 200-plus yards receiving in the same game — whether they were opponents or teammates — in Philadelphia’s 56-21 rout of Detroit. Philadelphia’s Kevin Curtis has 11 receptions for 221 yards and Detroit’s Roy Williams catches 9 passes for 204. Detroit’s Jon Kitna sets a franchise record with 446 yards passing.
2012 — The Tennessee Titans become the first team in NFL history to score five touchdowns of at least 60 yards in a game in their 44-41 overtime win over Detroit. The scorers are Tommie Campbell with a 65-yard punt-return; Jared Cook’s 61-yard reception from Jake Locker; Darius Reynaud’s 105-yard kick-return; Nate Washington’s 71-yard reception from Locker; and Alterraun Verner’s 72-yard fumble-return. The Lions also become the first team in NFL history to score two touchdowns in the final 18 seconds of regulation to either take the lead or force overtime.
2012 — Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles rushes for 233 yards, including a 91-yard TD run in the Chiefs’ 27-24 overtime win over New Orleans. Ryan Succop kicks six field goals, one to force overtime in the final seconds and a 31-yarder in overtime for the Chiefs.
2017 — The St. John’s-St. Thomas rivalry game obliterates the NCAA Division III attendance record with a crowd of 37,355. The Tommies use a stingy defense to hang on for a 20-17 win over the Johnnies at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins. The previous mark was set on Oct. 8, 2016, with 17,535 fans watching Wisconsin-Oshkosh play at Wisconsin-Whitewater.
2017 — Juwan Johnson catches a seven-yard TD pass as time expires and fourth-ranked Penn State rallies to stun Iowa 21-19 in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Saquon Barkley has 211 yards rushing and 94 yards receiving for the Nittany Lions, who outgain Iowa 579-273 but nearly blew the game. With the Hawkeyes leading 19-15, Penn State goes 80 yards on 12 plays to close out the game, and Trace McSorley finds Johnson in a crowded end zone on fourth down.
2018 — Tiger Woods caps off one of the most remarkable comebacks in golf history. Woods ends his comeback season with a dominant victory at the Tour Championship. He taps in for par and a 1-over 71 for a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel. It’s the 80th victory of his PGA Tour career and his first in more than five years.
2018 — Drew Brees sets the NFL record for career completions while passing for 396 yards and three touchdowns and running for two scores to lift New Orleans past Atlanta 43-37 in overtime. Brees breaks the record of 6,300 career completions set by Brett Favre.
2022 — Tennis great Roger Federer plays his final professional match during Laver Cup in London; teams with friend and rival Rafael Nadal but loses to Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1908 — In a crucial game with the Chicago Cubs, Fred Merkle of the New York Giants failed to touch second base as the apparent winning run crossed home plate. This resulted in a great dispute and the game was eventually declared a tie and played over on Oct. 8 when the Cubs and Giants ended the season in a tie.
1939 — Brooklyn’s Cookie Lavagetto went 6-for-6 to lead the Dodgers’ 27-hit attack in a 22-4 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies. Lovagetto had four singles, a double and a triple and scored four runs. He was the only Dodger without an RBI. Dixie Walker, Gene Moore and Johnny Hudson each drive in three runs.
1952 — The Brooklyn Dodgers clinched the NL title, the first time since 1948 that the pennant wasn’t decided in the season’s final game.
1957 — Hank Aaron’s 11th-inning homer gave the Milwaukee Braves a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and the NL pennant. It was the first time since 1950 that a New York team hadn’t finished first.
1979 — Lou Brock stole base No. 938, breaking Billy Hamilton’s record, as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Mets 7-4 in 10 innings.
1983 — Steve Carlton of Philadelphia recorded his 300th career victory with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
1984 — The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees 4-1, making Sparky Anderson the first manager to win more than 100 games in a season in each league.
1986 — Rookie left-hander Jim Deshaies set a major league record by striking out eight batters to start the game and finished with a two-hitter and 10 strikeouts to lead the Houston Astros past of the Dodgers 4-0.
1987 — Albert Hall of the Atlanta Braves hit for the cycle in 5-4 win over the Houston Astros.
1988 — Jose Canseco became the first major leaguer to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in one season as the Oakland Athletics beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-8 in 14 innings.
1992 — Bip Roberts tied the NL record with his 10th consecutive hit, then grounded out against Pedro Astacio to end his streak in the Cincinnati Reds’ game against the Dodgers.
1998 — Houston’s Craig Biggio became the second player this century to have 50 steals and 50 doubles in a season, joining Hall of Famer Tris Speaker.
2001 — Sammy Sosa became the first player to hit three home runs in a game three times in a season, but Moises Alou’s two-run shot rallied Houston to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
2008 — The New York Yankees’ streak of postseason appearances ended. Boston beat Cleveland 5-4, minutes before the Yankees’ win. The Red Sox victory clinched at least the AL wild card and eliminated New York, which had made 13 straight postseason appearances.
2013 — Alex Rios of Texas hit for the cycle in a 12-0 rout of Houston. Rios finished off the cycle with a triple to right-center field in the sixth inning.
2016 — David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the first inning to set the RBIs record for a player in his final season, and the AL East-leading Boston beat Tampa Bay 2-1 for its ninth straight victory. Ortiz’s 37th homer came off Chris Archer and raised his RBIs total to 124, one more than Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1920. The 40-year-old’s 540th homer, his 300th on the road, struck an overhanging catwalk above the right-field seats.
2022 — Albert Pujols, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season no matter what happened, becomes the fourth player to reach the 700-home run mark, after Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. He does so by going deep twice, first off Andrew Heaney in the third inning and then off Phil Bickford in the fourth for No. 700. The Cardinals win handily, 11-0, over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
One UCLA football legend sat across from the other, lamenting how far their beloved program had fallen.
On one side was Rick Neuheisel, a onetime Rose Bowl most valuable player and Bruins head coach, wondering aloud whether his alma mater had put itself in position to pick a strong successor to the recently dismissed DeShaun Foster.
“Is there confidence in the current athletic director when there’s been swing-and-misses,” Neuheisel asked, “or do you need to go find somebody else?”
On the other side of the CBS Sports studio roundtable was Randy Cross, a former All-America offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl champion so angry about the state of the Bruins that his voice rose as he spoke.
“UCLA is clueless, they’re rudderless, they’re leaderless and it’s been decades since they had anybody there that had a freaking clue as to, A, what they want to do and, two, how they’re going to do it,” Cross said. “It sounds simple — there isn’t a better school in America to go to than UCLA — but that athletic department is a joke led by the football team.”
Theirs weren’t the only critical voices.
National college football writers and other pundits tweeted about the athletic department’s massive deficit, meager NIL resources and failed leadership. An online petition that called for athletic director Martin Jarmond’s resignation or removal generated more than 750 signatures as of Sunday evening.
Some of the fire has been friendly. Roughly 100 former UCLA football players met with Jarmond via Zoom to vent their frustrations about a variety of topics, including the need to get back to the days when football was a top priority at the school.
As UCLA commences a hiring process that will likely last until at least November, one of its biggest hurdles might be a perception problem. Its athletic department has been labeled as impoverished and directionless, with Jarmond squarely in the crosshairs of most detractors.
UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Many have questioned whether Jarmond should be involved in selecting Foster’s replacement after so badly whiffing on his hiring. A former position coach who had never run an offense or a defense, much less a team, Foster compiled a 5-10 record that included back-to-back losses to Mountain West Conference opponents before his dismissal three games into his second season.
“The puzzle doesn’t fit together,” said one veteran agent who works in the NIL space, speaking on condition of anonymity so that he could share his thoughts on the situation candidly. “It’s like, the bad AD hires the coach and they get rid of the coach but they still have the bad AD.”
UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk affirmed Jarmond’s standing in what amounted to a vote of confidence, saying in a statement provided to The Times last week that the athletic director would “oversee the process of hiring a new head coach who will elevate UCLA football to national prominence.”
In announcing a search committee that would assist him in making that hire, Jarmond said he was convening a group of accomplished sports and business executives and UCLA greats that would be revealed once finalized.
The agent who spoke with The Times said having a committee of respected names with UCLA ties such as football legend Troy Aikman, sports executive Casey Wasserman and former Golden State Warriors general manager and Washington Commanders consultant Bob Myers could elevate the Bruins’ prospects of finding a top-level coach.
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“The more heavyweights involved, definitely more people might come to the table who wouldn’t otherwise come to the table and then they can try to convince them,” the agent said. “But then you have a lot of chefs in the kitchen picking, and they can’t get it wrong this time.”
The candidates will presumably have more questions than how much they would be getting paid. What does UCLA define as football success — eight-win seasons or reaching the College Football Playoff? What resources will they commit? How firm is Jarmond’s footing inside his department? How will the school bolster its NIL program to be competitive with top counterparts around the country?
Discussions about the school’s complex finances could take up a good chunk of any meeting.
The widely circulated figure of UCLA’s athletic department running a combined $219.55-million deficit over the last six fiscal years doesn’t fully reveal the financial situation. That tab has been covered in full by the university, bringing the balance to zero, thanks in part to $30 million in direct institutional support in the most recent fiscal year.
The university’s forgiving stance has been taken, in part, because a significant chunk of athletic department revenue is diverted to several other business units on campus, including the recreation department, parking, housing, food and Associated Students UCLA, which benefits from long-held trademark and licensing agreements.
That hasn’t stopped the Bruins from making significant investments in football, mostly thanks to an infusion of cash from their Big Ten media rights deal. The team spent $2.9 million to install new grass and artificial turf practice fields while also renovating the weight room inside its relatively new practice facility. A locker room renovation is in the works.
This summer, UCLA paid to hold its 18-day training camp in Costa Mesa. The team has also spent untold millions on food, travel, biometrics and mental health services while also upgrading the infrastructure of its football staff, including general manager and assistant general manager positions and expanded coaching, analytics and recruiting departments.
UCLA committed the maximum $20.5 million for revenue sharing with its athletes, earmarking an estimated $15 million or so for football players. The team also poured millions into NIL deals consummated before the House settlement so that players could benefit prior to the NCAA’s clearinghouse, NIL Go, going into effect July 1.
But how sustainable is that kind of spending?
In May, the UCLA Academic Senate’s executive board sent a letter to Frenk and Darnell Hunt, the executive vice chancellor and provost, outlining “profound concern” related to the athletic department deficit at a time of anticipated budget cuts for academic departments.
“We have been told that financial sacrifices are necessary to ensure that there is a UCLA in the future,” the letter stated. “How can austerity of this magnitude be imposed on the core academic mission while athletics spending goes unchecked?”
Fans attend the UCLA season opener against Utah at the Rose Bowl on Aug. 30.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
The letter went on to note that Jarmond received a contract extension paying him more than $1.5 million annually despite never operating his department with less than a $20-million annual deficit. It also detailed several ways in which the athletic department’s roughly $80-million deficit for the most recent fiscal year (not counting the $30-million lifeline from the university) could be used to support academics, including covering nearly all in-state tuition for every doctoral student.
“All of these potential uses would directly support the academic mission in austere times,” the letter said. “Yet the money is instead being directed to bail out a non-academic department that consistently demonstrates poor fiscal management.”
The senate ended its letter by requesting, among other things, immediate assurance that campus would no longer subsidize the athletic department in any form, including providing or authorizing loans. What was Frenk’s response?
Megan M. McEvoy, the academic senate chair for the 2025-26 school year who is also a UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, told The Times that the academic senate did not receive a reply and its concerns are ongoing.
But any pressure to save will undoubtedly be offset by calls to spend.
During a discussion of the coaching openings at UCLA and Virginia Tech on ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday, reporter Pete Thamel noted that the Hokies were adding $50 million to their athletic department budget to display their commitment to winning at the highest level.
Host Rece Davis wryly added that of the two schools, Virginia Tech was the one that knew what needed to be done.
The agent who spoke with The Times said that UCLA’s best move might be to hire a coach from a lower-level conference who could bring a good chunk of his roster with him like Curt Cignetti did as part of his transition from James Madison to Indiana. In his first season with the Hoosiers, Cignetti won 11 games and took his team to the College Football Playoff.
“If you bring in a guy from Tulane, where those players don’t make as much [in NIL] as what UCLA has to pay,” the agent said, “you can just get it all done in a one-stop shop, so that’s a very interesting dynamic. I don’t think an A-lister [at a bigger school] can really build it as fast as the B-plus guy because the B-plus guy can bring players from his school right now.”
That’s assuming, of course, that the B-plus guy takes UCLA’s call.
That was among the first things Tim Skipper said this week, the interim UCLA football coach’s opening remarks part introduction, part pep rally, part ritualistic cleansing.
The Bruins needed drastic change after an 0-3 start led to the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster, and Skipper provided a promising start. He was engaging, energetic and about as insightful as one could possibly be only four days into the job.
It was a refreshing departure from a predecessor who displayed little of the enthusiasm that he preached.
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In perhaps the most encouraging early sign, Skipper disclosed that there had been no immediate player defections, though that could change given that everyone on the roster has 30 days to enter the transfer portal. Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe’s mutually agreed-upon departure was certainly a blow, but the team is finalizing the addition of veteran assistant Kevin Coyle — a former longtime college and NFL defensive coordinator — to help coach the defense for the rest of the season.
The strain of the previous week was apparent in the words of offensive tackle Garrett DiGiorgio, who spoke glowingly of both Foster and Malloe while discussing the players’ role in the struggles that led to the coaching change.
“I think he could tell that we all felt that way,” DiGiorgio said, referring to the team’s brief farewell meeting with Foster, “like we knew we had responsibility as a team and we knew that it wasn’t all on him.”
Skipper acknowledged the need to change the style of play for a team that has been badly outperformed on both sides of the ball. He said the Bruins must play harder, faster and more physical, with coaches helping to make that possible by simplifying schemes so that players could perform without having to do so much thinking.
The new man in charge has considerable experience making the best of a bad situation. Skipper guided Fresno State to a victory over New Mexico State in the 2023 New Mexico Bowl while filling in for sidelined coach Jeff Tedford, and then helped the Bulldogs reach the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl last season after Tedford had to step down because of ongoing health problems.
But Skipper has never stared down a schedule such as the one he faces, with games against Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana just part of a punishing Big Ten slate that starts with a road game against Northwestern on Saturday.
A win over the Wildcats could do far more than reengage fans; it could also prevent a rash of players from using their available redshirt and sitting out the rest of the season. Sticking around to play out the season at 0-4 might feel far less enticing than preserving additional eligibility. Players will need to decide soon because they cannot play in five games and redshirt.
For all his admirable traits, the 47-year-old Skipper is probably not a serious candidate to land the permanent job unless the Bruins go unbeaten the rest of the way. But he’s already shown a willingness to embrace these difficult circumstances, a strong showing undoubtedly putting him in the running for a head coaching job somewhere.
“There’s still nine games left,” Skipper said. “You know, there’s a lot to be motivated about.”
Recruiting fallout
Six high school players backed out of their nonbinding verbal commitments to UCLA in the wake of Foster’s dismissal, including four-star offensive tackle Johnnie Jones.
That left 16 players committed to the Bruins as part of a 2026 high school class that dropped to No. 52 nationally in the 247Sports.com rankings.
What will be the recruiting approach of a staff that might need to seek new jobs as soon as the season ends?
“We have a whole recruiting staff and this is where they’re going to make their money,” Skipper said. “So, they’re in communication with those guys, and they know this is a great place to be. It’s a tradition-rich university, so we’re just gonna keep on sending the message. But ultimately, when everybody turns on the TV and our style of play looks the way that everybody wants it to look, they’ll want to be here.”
In the good news department, teams can restock rosters quickly because of the transfer portal and the tendency of coaches to bring a good chunk of their old team with them to their new destinations. The elimination of the spring transfer portal window will place increased significance on the 10-day window that starts Jan. 2, 2026.
Heard on campus
On the same day that UCLA fired Foster, a group of about 100 former Bruins players representing multiple eras met with athletic director Martin Jarmond via Zoom.
The point of the meeting wasn’t to weigh in on the coaching change or to make suggestions for Foster’s replacement — it was to vent.
According to two people on the call who spoke with The Times on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private, the players talked about getting back to the days when football mattered at the school.
There was also sentiment expressed about feeling shut off from the program, largely as a result of practices established under former coach Chip Kelly. One former player said it was difficult to get a field pass for games and asked how can players give back to a program that makes it hard to be around? The same player noted that at USC, it’s easy for alumni to go back and feel like part of the program.
Another former player who said he was around the program almost daily last season said he would suggest transfer prospects who wanted to come home to Southern California and could be impact players but received no follow-through. Some of those players went on to start at Alabama, Utah and USC.
Jarmond told the former players he appreciated the feedback and provided his email address. Former player James Washington, who helped organize the meeting, said there would be future meetings to keep the discussion going.
Among those on the Zoom — first reported by the website Last Word on College Football — were Cade McNown, Troy Aikman, Donnie Edwards, Dennis Keyes, Bruce Davis II, Datone Jones, Audie Attar, Matt Stevens, Joe Cowan and Ben Olson.
Olympic sport spotlight: Men’s soccer
Maybe UCLA football can follow the model of this team.
After a winless start to the season, the Bruins men’s soccer team defeated Northwestern in its Big Ten opener and is now 2-0 in conference play after a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin on Friday.
Forward Sergi Solans Ormo, who scored the only goal during UCLA’s 1-0 triumph over Northwestern, gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a shot into the bottom right of the goal in the second half against Wisconsin. Forward Francis Bonsu added an insurance goal about eight minutes later.
Once saddled with an 0-3-2 record, UCLA (2-3-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) has some significant momentum going into another conference game on the road Friday against Indiana.
Opinion time
Who would you rather have as UCLA’s next football coach?
An exciting lower-level coach such as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall?
A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?
An existing Power Four coach such as Arizona’s Jedd Fisch?
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters not to “make too much” of the sideline spat between him and star tight end Travis Kelce during the second quarter of the team’s 22-9 win over the New York Giants on “Sunday Night Football.”
NBC’s cameras caught the two men yelling at each other, with Reid at one point appearing to intentionally give Kelce’s shoulder a hard bump with his own shoulder. The Chiefs were up 6-0 at the time, but the offense had just failed to capitalize on a Giants turnover.
Going into halftime, as the confrontation with Kelce played on viewers’ screens, NBC’s Melissa Stark asked Reid what his message was to the team after seeing “a lot of frustration and emotion from your key players, star players on the sideline.”
“That’s OK, we need some juice,” said Reid, whose team had entered the game 0-2. “So that’s good.”
During his postgame news conference, Reid was asked what he had been trying to get across to Kelce during the exchange.
“I love Travis’ passion, and so I’m OK with that. We didn’t have enough of it,” Reid said. “That second quarter wasn’t where we needed to be. So within reason, you know, he knows — he knows when to back off the pedal, and knows when to push it too. So that’s part I love about him, the guy’s all in. Just sometimes I have to be the policeman.”
Reid added: “Listen, he’s an emotional guy. He’s Irish.”
Asked if the exchange was him telling Kelce to back off a bit, Reid answered: “Don’t make too much of it. He’s a passionate guy, and I love that part. So I’ve been through a lot of things with him, so that’s all part of it. I love that he loves to play the game. That’s what I love. And it’s an emotional game. So I’ll take it.”
Kelce wasn’t made available to speak to reporters after the game.
It’s not the first time the two men made contact during a sideline dispute. Early in the second quarter of Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 12, 2024, Kelce was seen yelling in his coach’s face, grabbing his arm and bumping into him, which appeared to cause Reid to stumble a bit.
After the Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime win in that game, Reid brushed off the incident, telling CBS that Kelce had hugged him and apologized after the incident.
“There’s nobody that I get better than I get him,” said Reid, who was 65 at the time. “He’s a competitive kid and he loves to play.”
“It’s definitely unacceptable,” he said, “and I immediately wished I could take it back.”
On the same podcast, Kelce said: “Unfortunately, sometimes my passion comes out where it looks like it’s negativity, but I’m grateful that [Reid] knows that it’s all because I wanna win this thing with him more than anything.”
The Chiefs hadn’t started 0-2 since 2014, which was Kelce’s first year as a starter and Reid’s second as the team’s coach. The team has since played in five Super Bowls and won three.
This season is off to a slow start also for Kelce, a 10-time Pro Bowl selection. He has 10 catches in 17 targets for 134 yards and one touchdown. During the Chiefs’ 20-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, a pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes bounced out of Kelce’s arms at the goal line and resulted in a game-changing interception by the Eagles’ Patrick Mukuba.
Also during the Philadelphia game, Kelce appeared to point to his crotch as part of a crude gesture aimed toward the opposing sideline after making a 23-yard reception. He was later fined $14,491 by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Cardiff say they have begun a review process to find Sherratt’s long-term successor.
The region’s interim managing director, Jamie Muir, said: “The fact he has been approached by Wales is testament to the progress we have made as a club with him at the helm as head coach.
“We are confident with the staff that remain in place and are fully focussed on kicking off the new season on Saturday night in positive fashion.”
Former Osprey’s coach Tandy took over his role as Wales head coach on 1 September and has already added Danny Wilson to his management team with responsibility for the line-out and contact areas.
Sherratt returned to Cardiff for a second stint as Backs and Attack Coach in 2021 and spent the past two seasons as head coach.
“I am proud that we have been able to put the club back on solid foundations, have implemented a playing style that resonates with the history and city, and enjoyed so many memorable moments at the Arms Park,” added Sherratt.
“The timing is not ideal, however I am confident that the club is in good hands with some excellent coaches and staff behind the scenes.”
Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly told reporters Thursday that he does not game plan with team minority owner and Fox NFL broadcaster Tom Brady — at least not “on a weekly basis” — despite a report during “Monday Night Football” this week that suggested otherwise.
During the first quarter of the Chargers-Raiders game at Allegiant Stadium, ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported from the sideline that “Chip Kelly told us that he talks to Brady two to three times a week. They go through film. They go through the game plan.”
After the game, Raiders coach Pete Carroll called the report “not accurate” and said that while he and Kelly speak with Brady “regularly,” those conversations are “about life and football and whatever.”
Kelly was asked about the ESPN report during media availability Thursday. His response echoed Carroll’s.
“I’ve spent a lot of time just talking football with [Brady], but it’s not on a — we don’t talk about game plans,” the former UCLA coach said. “We spent a lot of time over the summer, a couple Zooms … and we would just talk ball, you know, ‘What did you like against this?’ So really, when I use Tom, and I just use him as a resource of, ‘Hey, you know, when you faced a Mike Zimmer-type defense, what did you like protection-wise and play-wise?’
“But on a weekly basis, he’s not game planning with us or talking to us.”
Kelly later added: “In terms of weekly game plans, like, that’s not a collaboration that we do. I mean, he’s also a busy guy, so I haven’t even thought of using him to do that, and I don’t think you can, so — you know, our staff does all that.
“But he’s been a guy that I could talk football with, just shooting it about, ‘Hey, have you ever faced a two-trap defense?’ and, ‘With the inverted, Tampa two that everybody’s running now, what was your best thoughts about that?,’ things like that. But we don’t talk game plan at all or any of that stuff in terms of on a weekly basis.”
The Times reached out to ESPN for comments from Schrager or the network on the matter. A network representative declined to comment.
During Schrager’s report, “Monday Night Football” showed a live shot of Brady sitting in the Raiders coaches’ booth and wearing a headset. Kelly told reporters Thursday that he thinks Brady did the same thing during the Raiders’ preseason game last month against the San Francisco 49ers, also at Allegiant Stadium.
“But he doesn’t talk to the coaches when he’s up there,” Kelly said. “I think he just — he’s watching football.”
NFL chief spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement Tuesday that Brady was doing nothing wrong.
“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game,” McCarthy said. “Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner.”
Brady faces a number of NFL-imposed restrictions on what he’s allowed to do as a broadcaster given his dual status as a team minority owner. Last season, Brady’s first in both roles, he was prohibited from attending the weekly production meetings during which the Fox crew meets with coaches and players ahead of that week’s game.
“Tom continues to be prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings,” McCarthy said in his statement. “He may attend production meetings remotely but may not attend in person at the team facility or hotel. He may also conduct an interview off site with a player like he did last year a couple times, including for the Super Bowl.
“Of course, as with any production meeting with broadcast teams, it’s up to the club, coach or players to determine what they say in those sessions.”
Those three words are repeated again and again by parents trying to teach their young sons and daughters good manners, whether it’s at the dinner table, the amusement park or the ice cream shop.
So why do parents suddenly forget or ignore their words of wisdom when their kids become teenagers, find themselves in sports competitions, lose out on a starting job or don’t receive the attention they think they deserve and decide to flee rather than “wait your turn.”
At least the Lee family stuck to old-time parenting. Taylor Lee was a huge talent at quarterback after enrolling at Oxnard Pacifica as a freshman. He got to play a little when needed as a freshman and sophomore, but he wasn’t the starter. He stayed and waited his turn and what a reward he’s received.
In the last two games, the junior has thrown 15 touchdown passes for 4-0 Pacifica. He’s passed for 1,356 yards and 22 touchdowns with no interceptions this season. He’s picking up scholarship offers. He’s become an example for his coach, Mike Moon, though who knows how many will learn the lesson.
“For all these kids who transfer around and with not a ton of success, maybe the old-school way of grinding and waiting for your time is best,” he said.
Yes, patience is hard. Passing up an opportunity offered elsewhere is hard. Accepting the decision of a coach is hard. Listening to third parties with agendas speak glowingly of your talent is hard.
As many stories as there are of successful player movements, there’s many others of those who remember the wisdom, of “wait your turn.”
Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo.
(Craig Weston)
The No. 1 quarterback in Southern California, Ohio State-bound Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo, accepted sharing time for two seasons, trading off every other series with his teammate. He and his parents were patient and supportive. This season, on his own, he’s led the Diablos to an unbeaten record and keeps adding to his reputation as a great quarterback with great character.
The environment has changed with the introduction of the college transfer portal. No one is saying there’s anything wrong with switching schools while looking for an opportunity when someone’s path is blocked, but there’s also the old-fashioned way of staying and competing, waiting your turn, trying to get better and being ready when opportunity beckons.
It’s the quarterback position, in particular, where athletes and their parents are unwilling to be backups. Only one person gets to start. But the failure to recognize there’s other positions to try (tight end, receiver, defense?) is also a forgotten alternative.
The responsible thing is to never try to take away a dream from a passionate, committed teenager. Let them keep grinding if that’s what they want to do. But sometimes someone has to be the adult in the room, just like when they were four or five and rushing ahead in the line for an ice cream cone and mom or dad says, “Wait your turn.”
The Fresno State football players wanted to be heard after so much frustration, so much uncertainty.
A season that had started with their coach leaving the job because of health problems, only to deteriorate further with four losses in six games during a maddening midseason stretch, was now back firmly on the upswing.
Their temporary coach having steadied them through every challenge, including his own uncertain future, those players yearned to preserve what might have been the best part of a burdensome season.
“We want Skip!” the players chanted in the locker room last November after a victory over Colorado State that made them eligible for a bowl game. “We want Skip!”
Tim Skipper, the interim coach who was practically a Fresno State lifer after having starred as a speck of a linebacker for the Bulldogs before going on to coach for them in various capacities, was making the best of what he had to work with once more.
It wasn’t the first or last time he would be needed in that capacity. The Bulldogs had tapped him to serve as the acting coach for a bowl game the previous season after coach Jeff Tedford’s first bout of health issues, and now UCLA is turning to Skipper to lead its team after the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster on Sunday after the Bruins’ 0-3 start.
It’s an especially difficult spot given Skipper’s ties to his longtime friend, who hired him before this season as a special assistant to the head coach and once called himself “an honorary Skipper.” Skipper’s father, Jim, was Foster’s running backs coach with the Carolina Panthers. Skipper’s brother, Kelly, had been Foster’s running backs coach at UCLA.
“You know, DeShaun is kind of like family,” Jim Skipper said. “Tim’s got his work cut out, he knows that. But he’s up for the challenge. He’s been an underdog his whole life.”
This might be Tim Skipper’s greatest test, far greater than the six consecutive plays inside the three-yard line that the middle linebacker helped Fresno State stymie Ohio State during a goal-line stand in 2000. Among the biggest difficulties facing Skipper are rallying team morale and keeping the roster intact after a winless start that led to the firing of the coach who brought these players into the program. There’s also an offense and a defense that rank among the worst in the country and a persistent penalty problem.
“I know from the outside, people may look and say, the talent’s not changing, this imposing schedule isn’t changing, how can anyone expect different results?” said Paul Loeffler, Fresno State’s radio play-by-play announcer. “But I would say he’s a guy who can foster belief in young men because he believes. He’s relentlessly positive and it’s not fake positivity.
“There’s a gravitas there that I think the players would buy into and as hard as it’s going to be for him because of how close he and DeShaun have been for a long time, I think the way he attacks this opportunity will probably be colored by his experience last year.”
It was easy for Fresno State to turn to Skipper in July 2024 given his performance in guiding the Bulldogs to a 37-10 victory over New Mexico State in the New Mexico Bowl at the end of the previous season. The bowl triumph was welcome relief from a three-game losing streak and worries about Tedford after the coach stepped aside to address health issues.
After the game, Skipper dedicated the victory to his boss.
“He did a wonderful job getting our team prepared and ready for the bowl,” said Terry Tumey, the former UCLA nose guard who appointed Skipper as interim coach in December 2023 when Tumey was Fresno State’s athletic director. “This is a much larger stage, of course, but it’s not a foreign proposition for him to be in an interim situation and kind of taking over and kind of keeping things at bay as the administration figures out its next direction.”
Less than a year ago, Skipper made Fresno State seriously consider giving him the Bulldogs’ permanent job. The team got off to a 5-2 start before second-half slipups against Hawaii and Air Force were followed by a loss to UCLA in which the Bulldogs managed just a field goal after halftime.
Four days later, Fresno State athletic director Garrett Klassy hired USC linebackers coach Matt Entz as the Bulldogs’ new coach. Skipper eventually found a landing spot on Foster’s staff.
“He’s just somebody that’s very knowledgeable and he knows me,” Foster said in July. “So it’s just somebody that I know I can trust, and I’m just excited to be able to add somebody with that type of knowledge to our team.”
Given a new, unexpected opportunity as Foster’s replacement, Skipper, 47, might use any lingering disappointment from his last interim stop as motivation.
“Knowing Tim,” Tumey said, “he’s going to want to prove that he has what it takes to be a head coach, whether it’s this opportunity or somewhere else, and so he has something to prove too. I think our entire program at UCLA, we all have something to prove.”
Skipper’s lengthy coaching career has included stops at Western New Mexico, Sacramento State, Colorado State, Florida, Nevada Las Vegas and Central Michigan in addition to multiple stints at Fresno State. He’s mostly coached on defense but has spent four seasons as a running backs coach.
Scheduled to meet with the UCLA media for the first time on Wednesday morning, Skipper is known for a magnetic personality that allows him to quickly build trust among players. He’s already instituted one meaningful change in allowing photos and videos to be taken at practices after his predecessor had barred that custom.
“He’s so genuine, he’s so engaging, he’s got a million-dollar smile and he’s just present,” Loeffler said, “so I think he’s got a gift in terms of connecting.”
But he’s no softie. Pat Hill, the legendary former Fresno State coach known for backing up his “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” mantra with victories over major-conference opponents, said his onetime star defender who still ranks as the second-leading tackler in school history will rise to his latest challenge.
“When he walks into a room, take away the stature — he’s a small guy, he’s 5 feet 8 — but he commands the room and he will get the respect of the team immediately,” Hill said. “I guarantee the team will play with more emotion and they will play harder now.
“I don’t know what the wins and losses will be with the people they have, I really don’t know enough about it, but from a standpoint of leadership and getting a message to the team, he’ll be outstanding.”
Tumey said the expectations going into UCLA’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Sept. 27 should be for Skipper to stabilize the program, make sure the Bruins are competitive in conference play and support his players.
But what if UCLA starts unexpectedly rolling off one victory after another?
“Hey, stranger things have happened,” Tumey said. “I was a part of that 0-3-1 football team that ended up going to the Rose Bowl [in 1986]. So you never know.”
Yet the phrase “conflict of interest” has come up quite a bit on social media — go ahead, search it on X (formerly Twitter) — regarding the optics of an NFL broadcaster hanging out with Raiders coaches and apparently communicating with others in the organization through a headset,
The NFL said Tuesday, however, that Brady doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong.
“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game. Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner,” NFL chief spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in a statement emailed to The Times. “All personnel sitting in the booth must abide by policies that prohibit the use of electronic devices other than league-issued equipment such as a Microsoft Surface Tablet for the Sideline Viewing System.”
Also during the Raiders’ 20-9 loss to the Chargers, ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported that Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly told him that Brady speaks with Kelly multiple times a week to discuss game plans and break down film. Asked about the report after the game, Raiders coach Pete Carroll said it is “not accurate.”
“We have conversations — I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom — regularly,” Carroll said. “We have a tremendous asset and we all get along well and we respect each other. And so we just talk about life and football and whatever. … He has great insight and so we’re lucky to have him as an owner.”
During the 2024 season, Brady’s first as both a broadcaster and a team owner, he was not allowed to attend the weekly production meetings during which the Fox crew meets with coaches and players ahead of that week’s game. That restriction was lifted going into this season.
While McCarthy did not specifically answer a question from The Times about Kelly’s reported comment about his talks with Brady, it would appear that the NFL is confident that the restrictions it has in place would prevent Brady from acquiring any information any non-owner wouldn’t be able to gather.
“Tom continues to be prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings,” McCarthy said in his statement. “He may attend production meetings remotely but may not attend in person at the team facility or hotel. He may also conduct an interview off site with a player like he did last year a couple times, including for the Super Bowl. Of course, as with any production meeting with broadcast teams, it’s up to the club, coach or players to determine what they say in those sessions.”
Several common themes emerge. These guys are sharp. Passionate. Dynamic. They can command a room. They have won as the guy in charge, after having done so as a coordinator. They have that “it” factor. They know why they win and can pinpoint reasons for falling short.
These are the qualities UCLA must seek in its next football coach after dismissing DeShaun Foster on Sunday. Foster was a nice guy and a great Bruin who loved the program, but he did not have the personality or the wherewithal to get the job done at even a modest level.
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Put aside, for a moment, any qualms about athletic director Martin Jarmond making the next hire after so badly botching the last one. Unless chancellor Julio Frenk intervenes and fires Jarmond or installs a football general manager à la Andrew Luck at Stanford or Ron Rivera at California, all that matters is Jarmond and his search committee getting this move right.
Jarmond, who said he wanted someone who yearns to take the Bruins to the College Football Playoff, should create a checklist of the aforementioned traits. Those who don’t check every box — we’ll make one exception, for promising coordinators — shouldn’t be considered.
That will eliminate many candidates who could probably win six to eight games a year while sustaining the sort of blah existence the program endured under coach Chip Kelly. A lot of them are current head coaches on preliminary candidate lists being widely circulated. And they’re all decent coaches and probably great people … and not good enough to elevate this program to where it needs to go.
Also, let’s make one thing abundantly clear: Being a former Bruin should have no bearing on one’s candidacy.
Several of the most successful coaches in UCLA football and men’s basketball history — John Wooden,Red Sanders and Ben Howland — had no previous ties to the school. The list of failed coaches with UCLA ties would require multiple pages.
Here at The Bolch Group, we think the list of candidates should fall into four broad categories:
Head coaches on the rise: Those who fit into this mold include Tulane’s Jon Sumrall (going a combined 35-9 at Troy and Tulane is no small feat) and Boise State’s Spencer Danielson (took the Broncos to the Fiesta Bowl in Year 2) plus an untold amount of promising candidates at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
Coordinators who deserve a promotion: Defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann (Georgia) and offensive coordinators Will Stein (Oregon), Brian Hartline (Ohio State) and Ben Arbuckle (Oklahoma) could be the next big thing. Don’t you want to be the one who identified great talent before anyone else?
The wildcards: Pat Fitzgerald, who compiled three 10-win seasons at the coaching graveyard known as Northwestern, is back on the market after being essentially exonerated in the school’s hazing scandal. As someone who covered Fitzgerald for the Daily Northwestern when the linebacker helped the Wildcats reach the Rose Bowl in 1996, I can safely say this guy is a winner with integrity. UCLA might be scared off by the optics, but it shouldn’t be.
Big names who might emerge: Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, who should have been hired by Jarmond after a 2021 season in which DeBoer’s Fresno State Bulldogs toppled the Bruins at the Rose Bowl, could be back on the market if things further deteriorate in Tuscaloosa. Marcus Freeman would be another candidate who should be quickly snatched up if Notre Dame can’t rebound from its 0-2 start.
What’s most important is the person and the potential.
Go ahead, listen to them. Watch them speak.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava (9) has struggled to lead the Bruins’ offense so far this season.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
This is sort of like being placed on academic probation three weeks into the quarter and now you’ll be reporting to a substitute teacher.
Quarterbacks: C. At this rate, Nico Iamaleava will either be in the NFL next season … or playing for another college team. Might he hit the transfer portal before the Bruins’ next game?
Running backs: D. Who’s handling the rotation here? Jalen Berger is obviously not the answer in short-yardage situations.
Receivers: C. Rico Flores Jr. and Carter Shaw can’t return from injuries soon enough.
Offensive line: D. Talk about being a double threat, these guys get pushed around and commit penalties.
Defensive line: D. Providing close to zero resistance in the run game after New Mexico rushed for 298 yards and could have had considerably more with better playcalling.
Linebackers: C. These guys continue to be productive in cleanup duty but aren’t making many meaningful plays.
Defensive backs: D. Whether in press coverage or playing way off the line of scrimmage, the results are the same.
Special teams: A. Bids are being solicited for the Mateen Bhaghani statue outside the Rose Bowl.
Coaching: F. Foster clearly wasn’t the only issue here. Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe also deserve some questioning. Does anyone know what they’re doing?
Olympic sports spotlight: Women’s soccer
It’s hard to keep a good team down.
After opening the season with two losses in its first three games, the UCLA women’s soccer team has reeled off four consecutive victories, including a 2-0 triumph over Oregon on Saturday in its Big Ten opener.
The fourth-ranked Bruins (5-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) are rising quickly after their 2-0 victory over top-ranked Stanford on Sept. 7 showed they are once again one of the nation’s top teams. UCLA’s defense has led the way in the season’s early going, with five shutouts in seven games. Goalkeepers Daphne Nakfoor and Mariangela Medina combined for the shutout against the Ducks.
UCLA will open conference road play against Michigan State on Thursday and Michigan on Sunday.
Remember when?
This one hurt deeply.
As a Northwestern alumnus, it looked like I would be able to savor the Wildcats’ first bowl victory since 1949 when they intercepted three Drew Olson passes in the first quarter and raced to a 22-0 lead over UCLA in the 2005 Sun Bowl.
Then the Bruins did what they had done all season — they came back.
Having already wiped out a pair of 21-point deficits, UCLA decided a school-record comeback was in order. Olson went on to throw three touchdown passes and backup running backs Chris Markey and Kahlil Bell capably filled in for an injured Maurice Drew by combining for 286 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Perhaps the most stunning part of the comeback was its speed. When Olson completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Everett with 29 seconds left in the second quarter, the Bruins seized a 29-22 lead. They would never trail again.
Brandon Breazell added some late-game hilarity when he returned one onside kick 42 yards for a touchdown, only to later grab another onside kick and return it 45 yards for a touchdown, capping UCLA’s wild 50-38 triumph.
Interestingly, I was the UCLA sidebar reporter that season alongside the late, great Lonnie White, who was the Bruins beat writer. I had attended every previous road game, but the sports editors left me off the travel roster, like a sixth-string quarterback, for the game involving my alma mater. Not that I’m bitter or anything, two decades later.
Fortunately, I’m planning to be there for UCLA’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Sept. 26 at the Wildcats’ temporary lakeside stadium. It will be the first time the teams have met since the Sun Bowl.
Opinion time
Who will end up as UCLA’s next football coach?
A known commodity such as Michigan State’s Jonathan Smith
A former Bruin such as Florida State defensive coordinator Tony White
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Two years ago, reaching the first major crossroads of his UCLA athletic director career, Martin Jarmond drove the Bruins into a ditch.
He should have fired the unhappy and unsuccessful Chip Kelly at the end of the 2023 regular season. He did not. He instead praised Kelly for building a “strong and phenomenal culture.”
Three months later Kelly fired himself with an escape that seemingly everyone but Jarmond saw coming.
Soon thereafter, upon reaching the second major crossroads of his athletic director career, Jarmond drove the program into an even deeper ditch.
Requiring less than 72 hours to replace Kelly, Jarmond did so by hiring a head coach who was preeminently unqualified to be a head coach, a former running back who had never led a team at any level, a reticent former Bruin who had never even called a play.
It took barely a season for that mistake to be formally acknowledged, and now that DeShaun Foster was fired Sunday after winning just five of 15 games, the real issue becomes obvious.
Martin Jarmond has steered this football program into a steaming wreckage, failing to properly manage the most important asset of any modern-day athletic director, turning the Bruins’ largest and most lucrative national presence into a sputtering embarrassment, and you have to wonder.
Now that he has buried them, is Martin Jarmond the right person to dig them out?
It’s difficult to imagine the budget conscious UCLA administrators would spend about $8 million to fire a guy who just last winter was given a five-year contract extension. Then again, they just spent $6.43 million to can Foster less than two years after they hired him.
But something has to happen. Hire a football general manager and let them pick the new coach while Jarmond moves to the background. Or simply pay Jarmond, let him walk, and start from scratch like you should have done two years ago at the end of the Chip Kelly era.
Whatever happens, considering the huge stakes involved, how can Bruins chancellor Julio Frenk allow Jarmond to hire the next football coach?
Jarmond has whiffed on situations involving the last two coaches and you’re going to let him come to the plate again? Risking a third consecutive strikeout? It’s an outcome so humiliating that baseball even has a name for it, terming three strikeouts in one game as earning that player a “silver sombrero.”
Can UCLA really afford to let their athletic director wear that?
Certainly, Jarmond has done some great things with other sports since arriving at UCLA as a relatively untested and unknown administrator five years ago. Last season, when including the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Bruin teams won more conference championships than any other Big Ten school.
UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond has done well in many areas, but football is not one of them.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A men’s water polo national title. The only school with both baseball and softball teams in the College World Series. Women’s basketball in the Final Four. The list goes on.
Jarmond has done well in many areas. But in today’s collegiate sports environment, a Power Five athletic director basically has one job and one job only.
Don’t fumble football.
Football is the cash cow. Football is the monthly rent. Football drives campus revenue. Football creates national reputation. So many people are ridiculing UCLA football this fall that many have forgotten the Bruins greatness in other sports, and in the name of John Wooden, that’s unacceptable.
Football is just too important to be led by someone who would get embarrassed by consecutive coaches, someone who would allow Chip Kelly to leave before firing him, someone who would then hire DeShaun Foster without qualifications, someone who just doesn’t seem to be in touch with the most vital part of his job.
Jarmond had a chance to take full responsibility for both coaching misfires during a Sunday afternoon conference call with reporters.
He did not.
He basically said that the decision to keep Kelly involved higher authorities and the choice of Foster was due to unusual circumstances.
Regrettably, nowhere in the two explanations were the words, “I just blew it.”
About keeping Kelly when he should have been dumped: “What I’ll remind you is these decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. There are many stakeholders and factors that go into where and when and how to make a coaching change. That said, ultimately, I’m the athletic director. I’m the steward of this program, and the buck stops with me. But I want to reiterate: These kinds of decisions at this level are not made by one person, they’re made by the stakeholders and factors and circumstances that surround that.”
Disagree. When it comes to handling a football coach, no stakeholder’s voice should be stronger than that of the athletic director, or you need a new athletic director.
About hurriedly hiring Foster, he said: “I made the best decision with the circumstances and resources that I had to work with… I’m very confident in my ability to hire coaches that win championships … this search is going to be very different than the last one … when it was after football signing day, and we had to make a change and get that done quickly.”
Absolutely, the hiring of Foster was conducted in a tight timeline. But to make such a giant decision and not even take a week? That bordered on athletic director malpractice. And eventually, we all saw the result.
Actually, few saw the result. One of the reasons Foster was fired so quickly was that the Rose Bowl had become an empty shell of more broken Bruin dreams.
OK, so the good news is that UCLA now has an entire season to find a bright young coach — where is the Sean McVay of college football? He has to be out there! — and they will have the first shot at many good candidates.
The bad news is that Jarmond was talking Sunday about assembling a search committee full of a bunch of so-called experts and former Bruins. That never works. Too many voices drown each other out and you end up with a compromise candidate.
The hire needs to be made by a strong athletic director willing to make a bold hire for which they accept full responsibility and hold themselves completely accountable.
More bad news. Until further notice, that athletic director is Martin Jarmond.
