Assistant coaches boost Bruins talent via friendly rivalry

UCLA's recruiting class, ranked No. 22 nationally, on pace to be its best since 2018.

- BY BEN BOLCH

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ AP COACH DeShaun Foster enters the season with a strong recruiting class.

Demetrice Martin built an early, practically insurmountable lead.

Landing six defensive backs by Christmas, the UCLA secondary coach added two more before the spring transfer portal window closed, making this race appear to be a runaway.

Before long, a formidable challenger emerged. Closing fast in the battle to become the Bruins’ top recruiter on an almost entirely new coaching staff was Andy Kwon.

Having helped snag four transfers — a few of whom committed before his hiring — the offensive line coach went on to secure verbal commitments from two four-star high school prospects from Florida, the kind of highly coveted out-of-region talent that UCLA had seen go elsewhere in recent years.

The heated duel to see who could secure the best players, which included every new assistant and holdovers Ikaika Malloe and Jerry Neuheisel, was a welcome surprise to coach DeShaun Foster.

"To be honest with you, I didn’t know they were going to compete about the recruiting the way that they’re doing," Foster said recently of his new assistants. "I knew that they like to recruit, but they're competing.”

So who's atop the leaderboard?

“Meat came out of the blocks hot for a little bit,” Foster said, referringto Martin’s nickname, “and then Andy came in, so I'm gonna think right now it’s Andy, and then coach Meat.”

TURTELTAUB UCLA Athletics e DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR Ikaika Malloe helped the Bruins defensive line coach import four transfers.

Along the way, the assistants understood that crossing the finish line first meant they would be helping everybody win.