The college football coaching carousel never stops. Even after most of the openings filled, one move leads to another. UCLA football is the latest program with a vacancy with head coach Chip Kelly departing the university. Kelly is expected to become Ohio State football's next offensive coordinator, via Bruce Feldman of
There is some familiarity between Kelly and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, but it's a shocking move nonetheless. It is also a terrible look for UCLA football.
National signing day has come and gone and so has the opportunity to pluck players from the transfer portal. UCLA is about to switch conferences and their own head coach said that being the offensive coordinator of one Big Ten school is more worth his time than being the head coach of another. Ouch.
It is late in the process, but that doesn't mean that UCLA can't find the right hire. There are plenty of outstanding candidates available. Two names in particular stick out as head coaches the Bruins can pursue.
DeShaun Foster
This move is complicated a bit by the fact that DeShaun Foster recently accepted a position with the Las Vegas Raiders as their running backs coach. But, as Bill O'Brien just taught everyone, just because a coach accepts one position doesn't mean they can't leave it if another one opens.
Foster has spent the last seven seasons as the running backs coach at UCLA. He's been doing a good job at it because the Bruins have been developing running backs and shipping them into the NFL. Joshua Kelley, Brittain Brown, and Zach Charbonnet have all gotten drafted out of UCLA since Foster took over as the running back coach in 2017, with Kelley and Charbonnet having prominent roles on their respective teams.
UCLA is also home for Foster. Not only has he coached there since 2017, but he played there as well. He's familiar with the players on UCLA's current roster as well as the players they have recruited to join their program. There is reportedly a groundswell among current UCLA players asking for Foster to become their next head coach.
This is a bad situation UCLA finds itself in. Hiring Foster not only would present some damage control but also brings in someone who deeply cares about the program and knows everyone involved. He's been a pretty good running back coach too. The Bruins should do what it takes to bring back from the Raiders and make him their next head coach.
Ryan Grubb
If UCLA wants to make a splash hire at this stage of the game, hiring Ryan Grubb would constitute as one. Grubb has been the offensive coordinator alongside Kalen DeBoer at the University of Washington for the last two seasons.
He held that position at Fresno State in the two seasons before joining the Huskies' program. He is joining DeBoer at the University of Alabama in the same capacity and will bring his high-flying offense with him to Tuscaloosa.
UCLA should try to reroute him to Westwood instead. Washington ranked tied for 12th in yards per game on offense (462.1) and 13th in points per game (36) in 2023. A year prior, they finished second (515.8) and seventh (39.2) in the nation in those metrics. Grubb can bring a prolific offense to UCLA. He is going to get a head coaching job at some point. UCLA should try to make that happen sooner than later.
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