It seems like it was just yesterday that the college football season ended as Michigan topped Washington in the national title game in Houston. When the game ended, the worst time of the year began for college football fans: the dreaded offseason. Nearly eight months without college football. It feels like it just started, but we have somehow already made it to May. The weather is getting warmer, and we are getting closer to football season. Spring football just concluded for UCLA football, and Bruins fans can't wait for the 2024 season to roll around.
Spring football is one of the best times of the college football offseason as a sense of hope comes to every fan base around the country. It's exciting to see your team in action in the first time, even though it's just a scrimmage. You started to see the roster taking shape and projected depth charts start trickling out. Spring football is the first sign of the season, and now that it's over, college football fans are really in the home stretch. The cold winter months are tough to survive without football, but the excitement that comes with spring football makes everything easier. There is still a ways to go before the new season, but it is coming.
This next season of college football is going to be an exciting one, and there are a ton of reasons to be looking forward to it. There are a lot of changes coming to the game like rule changes, coaching changes, conference changes and playoff changes. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the new season will be the new conferences. The Pac-12 is gone, and the Big Ten and SEC are going to be loaded. They both seem to be on the verge of forming super conferences.
The SEC will be welcoming Texas and Oklahoma to the conference next year, and the Big Ten is getting a good crop of Pac-12 teams as USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are all joining the conference. Both the Big Ten and the SEC are going to be absolutely loaded next year, and it seems like more schools will potentially join the conferences in the future.
Next season, the College Football Playoff will look different as well as it is expanding to 12 teams. There will also be first round games on college campuses. More teams will have a chance to make the CFP, and there will be more games. It's going to be fun.
UCLA football has a new head coach for 2024
One team that has a big offseason ahead them is UCLA football. The Bruins lost head coach Chip Kelly in the offseason as he left to be the new offensive coordinator at Ohio State. UCLA now has DeShaun Foster, and he certainly has his work cut out for him.
UCLA football struggled last season, and things will likely be a lot more difficult for them this upcoming season in the Big Ten with a new head coach. The new Big Ten is going to be loaded, and the schedule is not easy for the Bruins. They have a lot of work to do to get ready for the 2024 season if they want to be able to compete in this talented conference.
The good news for Foster is that he done some work in the transfer portal and he does also have some starters from last year coming back in key positions. His situation isn't great, but it could be worse. This UCLA team has brought in some talent from the transfer portal, but they have also lost some. The Bruins split is dead even currently as they have lost 17 players to the portal and they have also gained 17. They didn't lose much in terms of significant production from last season in the spring transfer portal window, but here is the departure that hurts the most.
Kyle Ford, WR
Kyle Ford has had an interesting college football career so far as he spent the first three seasons of it with the USC football team. Ford transferred over to UCLA football for the 2023 season, but he decided to enter the transfer portal again this offseason. Where is he headed? Back to USC.
This isn't that bad of a loss for UCLA, but it still does hurt and Kyle Ford was a solid contributor on offense last season. He finished the year with 22 receptions for 236 yards and one touchdown. His previous two seasons with the Trojans were a little bit better, and after head coach Chip Kelly left, it's not that surprising to see Ford make the move back to USC.
USC will also likely have the more explosive offense between the two schools next season, so Kyle Ford likely has a better chance of excelling with the Trojans. It will be interesting to see what kind of season he has as it will be his fifth year of college football.
At the end of the day, DeShaun Foster did a pretty good job of keeping his roster intact. Usually when a head coach leaves, there are more transfer portal departures than additions, but not for the Bruins this offseason. That's a good start to the offseason for Foster.
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