It appears UCLA does care, at least a little, about its football program.
The Bruins opened the coaching carousel by making the first move this season in firing head coach DeShaun Foster on Sunday, ending a tenure that barely got off the ground in Westwood and was marked with far more missteps than wins. The former star tailback and assistant coach with the program never seemed ready for a head coaching job, much less one at a program transitioning into the Big Ten.
Foster will end an abbreviated tenure with a 5–10 overall record and a quick hook after an 0–3 start to the current campaign. There were some signs of life during a late-season run in 2024 conference play and excitement surrounding the arrival of star quarterback Nico Iamaleava. However, any momentum Foster had going into Year 2 was quickly dispelled by losing to a pair of Mountain West teams and getting blown out by Utah at the Rose Bowl in the opener.
The issue UCLA faces is that it is a much better job in theory than in practice, with only fleeting success in the three decades since Terry Donahue’s retirement. NIL resources and donor support are lacking compared to its Big Ten peers. The Bruins are the sixth-biggest team in their market, even if they were winning and competing for championships. This is also not a program known for paying big money for a coaching staff, which is complicated by being in such an expensive place like Los Angeles.
It still is an attractive enough gig, as one of the handful of jobs in a Power 2 league and one with easy access to players both locally and those looking for something different compared to your typical college town. The campus is among the best in the country and there’s better alignment at most levels of the administration than there has been in recent years.
So, who could the Bruins target to be their next head coach? Here are 10 candidates.
Deion Sanders, Colorado head coach
UCLA should make Sanders say no before even starting their coaching search. It doesn’t really matter what he would want in terms of control or money, they should make him say no first. There are still some question marks about some of his on-field coaching decisions, but Coach Prime’s star power and charisma would inject some much-needed life into the program in ways that no other person could. He would work well with a quarterback like Iamaleava. Sanders in L.A. would allow UCLA to get players it probably would not normally get.
Jonathan Smith, Michigan State head coach
If Smith had waited just a few weeks before jumping from Oregon State to Michigan State two years ago, he probably already would have been the UCLA head coach. He’s a Pasadena, Calif., native who has won at every level up and down the West Coast and naturally knows the Big Ten well. It makes too much sense for both the Spartans and the Bruins for Smith to return home even if it’s a lateral move at best as a coach.
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota head coach
Fleck has been in the mix for similar jobs in the past and would be the kind of coach and program-seller that UCLA could use. He’s won at an impressive clip at two different places that aren’t easy to win at (including a top 10 ranking at Minnesota and a BCS bowl at Western Michigan) and would be the type of energetic salesman that could break through in a market like L.A.
Jeff Monken, Army head coach
If UCLA wants to go against the grain in the Big Ten while still trying to shore up the foundations of the program, Monken is an easy choice. He’s not married to running the triple option, but could make the Bruins a tough out on everybody’s schedule each Saturday with the way he builds his teams. He captured a conference title in his first season in a league last year and has won a lot of games with an Army team that has zero NIL and an even more difficult path to getting players in the door than UCLA.
Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State head coach
There was a point several years ago when Mendenhall was at BYU that he came close to becoming the UCLA head coach before remaining in Provo, Utah. He’s a master at reviving programs from the dregs of a league and taking them to new heights and can point to the work he did at Virginia as a key selling point for skeptical Bruins. It will be tough for him to have two one-year stops in a row as a head coach, but he’d make an exception to get back into a job like this.
Dan Mullen, UNLV head coach
If you can’t beat him, hire him? Mullen is off to a 3–0 start in Las Vegas with a win over UCLA and remains one of the better play-calling head coaches on the offensive side of the ball. His tenures at Mississippi State (where he went 69–46) and Florida (34–15) look even better in retrospect given what some of his successors have done. The fact that you can separate player acquisition and coaching makes this a less risky hire than it probably was when he was still at ESPN.
Ryan Silverfield, Memphis head coach
Far from the flashiest of head coaches, Silverfield has quietly kept Memphis as a regular contender in the American and would be an excellent candidate for any number of jobs this cycle given the way he goes about his business. He’s got NFL experience, spent a season out west at Arizona State and would massively raise the floor in Westwood.
Tony White, Florida State defensive coordinator
Would UCLA go with another alum who doesn’t have head coaching experience? White will probably garner at least an interview this year for his excellent work turning around defenses the past few years. He’s able to be picky about his next stop, but it might be hard to pass up the chance to return to L.A. if it comes with some assurances about resources being put into the program.
D’Anton Lynn, USC defensive coordinator
Lynn probably should have been the pick over Foster once Chip Kelly departed two years ago, but he remained across town and has elevated the Trojans defense from awful to solid in short order. He knows the conference and local landscape and seems destined to be a head coach sooner rather than later.
Will Stein, Oregon offensive coordinator
Stein might be the hottest coordinator name this season with the way he’s continually kept the Ducks rolling despite numerous personnel changes since his arrival in Eugene, Ore. He’ll be picky when it comes to any head coaching openings he’s interested in. He’s a young coach who gets how to build a modern program in college football that UCLA could benefit from having in charge.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ten Candidates for UCLA Football Coaching Search.
