The 2025 UCLA Bruins football team held their final practice of the spring season last Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and while there is renewed hope for the future, there are still unanswered questions for the Bruins football team.
Coming off a disappointing 5-7 season in 2024, the Bruins need to make improvements on the offensive side of the ball and need to find replacements for four defensive starters lost in the 2025 NFL draft. The returning starters on the offensive line for UCLA are Garrett DiGiorgio at right tackle and Sam Yoon at center. There is still work to be done there to determine which five players will start on the offensive line.
The questions could be answered with the talent added through the transfer portal, starting with quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who is transferring in from Tennessee. In the 2023 California football recruiting class, Iamaleava was the No. 1 ranked player in the state and No. 2 in the nation.
The addition of Iamaleava brings a lot of hope for the future, but he is finishing up classes at Tennessee and will not be available to work with the team until this summer. Iamaleava led Tennessee to the college football playoffs in 2024, throwing for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions in a run-heavy offense.
The pairing of Iamaleava with new offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri should bring some flexibility and explosiveness to the offense. Sunseri was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Indiana Hoosiers in 2024. Indiana was second in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 41.3 points per game and Indiana was one of the 12 teams that made the college football playoffs in 2024.
Indiana had a balanced offense in 2024, and they ran a lot of pre-snap motion, which worked well for the Hoosiers. Sunseri has a reputation for adjusting his offensive schemes to his talent, something that did not seem to happen enough last season for the Bruins. Head coach DeShaun Foster is optimistic, heading into his second season.
“I think we are in a pretty good place,” Foster said. “Every team in America has probably had a lot of moving pieces because now we have the portal, so everybody can reload. It is just basically what college football is, and I think we just did a good job of finding a way to get these guys to jell and come together.”
The 2023 California football recruiting class for UCLA was not that impressive, but along with Iamaleava, the Bruins have added seven of the top 60 players from that class through the transfer portal. Players are returning home to California to play for UCLA. Cornerback Roderick Pleasant, the No. 9 ranked player in California in 2023, transferred this spring to the Bruins from Oregon. Cornerback Aaron Williams, the No. 18 ranked player in that class, transferred from Louisville.
Wide receiver Mikey Matthews, who played at Utah in 2023, and with the Cal Bears in 2024, was the No. 40 ranked player in 2023 California class. Matthews looked good on Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Running back Karson Cox, the No. 1 ranked running back in California in the 2025 football recruiting class, showed a quick burst out of the backfield on Saturday and should make an impact on offense this season.
The Bruins have had six players selected in the past two NFL drafts from the defensive side of the ball. In the 2025 NFL draft, linebacker Carson Schwesinger and linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo were both selected in the second round. Linebacker Kain Medrano was selected in the sixth round and defensive tackle Jay Toia in the seventh round. Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe has done an excellent job of developing talent on the defense.
The addition of linebacker Isaiah Chisum from Oregon State and defensive tackle Ashton Sanders from Oklahoma should help Malloe, along with Pleasant and Williams. Chisum and Sanders were both top 60 recruits in the 2023 California recruiting class.
The Bruins will open the season at home against the Utah Utes on Saturday, August 30, at the Rose Bowl. They will need to use training camp in August to help Iamaleava familiarize himself with the offense and become comfortable with his receivers. The talent is there, but it is just a question of the offense coming together in time for the opener against Utah.