UCLA football hit a low point earlier this week when offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri left the program, which came not long after head coach DeShaun Foster was fired. The Bruins and Sunseri mutually parted ways after an 0-4 start left the team searching for answers, but Saturday saw a shocking turnaround with a 42-37 victory over Penn State. Jerry Neuheisel took over calling the plays with Sunseri out, and the results were immediate.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava saw the latest coaching change as a time to be a leader. When a reporter asked him about what he told his teammates after Sunseri's departure, the quarterback seemed to have a straight answer: “I was preaching to the guys that, ‘If y'all don't want to be here man, leave man.'”
The UCLA quarterback is clear that he does not want people who are not all in on fixing the program. His no-nonsense approach makes sense as the program desperately needed someone to guide the locker room.
He continued: “I was basically telling the guys that, you know, whoever still believes that we're still in this and that we still got games ahead of us that we can go win. And, you know, that's where we're at, man. Let's roll.”
I asked Nico Iamaleava about what he told his team this week after Tino Sunseri’s departure:
“I was preaching to the guys that, ‘If y’all don’t want to be here man, leave man.”
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— Ira Gorawara (@IraGorawara) October 4, 2025
The Bruins' offense had been one of the worst in college football heading into Saturday's Penn State showdown, averaging just 14.2 points per game and ranking 132nd out of 134 major college teams. The team had also managed only 321.2 yards per game, placing them 117th nationally.
Sunseri was the second coordinator to leave UCLA following head coach DeShaun Foster's dismissal earlier this month. Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe also left in a mutual parting.
Neuheisel was the tight ends coach before taking over play-calling duties for the Bruins. The program also brought back former UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone as an analyst to help fix the broken offense.
Iamaleava's message proved to be exactly what the team needed against Penn State. The Bruins racked up 42 points and 446 yards of offense, including a whopping 280 on the ground.
