Tyler Manoa No Longer With UCLA Football, Enters Transfer Portal

The defensive lineman-turned-left tackle left the team last week, coach Chip Kelly told reporters before practice Wednesday.

The Bruins have lost one of their longest-tenured players up front.

Left tackle Tyler Manoa has left UCLA football and will be entering the transfer portal, coach Chip Kelly told the media ahead of the team's Wednesday morning's practice. The fifth-year senior was a defensive lineman before this past spring, when he became the latest Bruin to move to the offensive line, but his career in Westwood came to a close last week.

"Tyler Manoa is no longer with the program," Kelly said. "Said he wants to go put his name in the portal and transfer and see if he can play somewhere next year."

When asked if Manoa's decision revolved around wanting to get more playing time, Kelly told reporters to talk to the lineman about it.

Manoa appeared in each of UCLA's first four games, but did not earn a start. By playing in fewer than five games, Manoa will likely be able to designate this season as a redshirt year when he seeks out additional eligibility from the NCAA.

From 2018 to 2021, Manoa played in 41 of the Bruins 43 games. He racked up 53 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, four passes defended and a forced fumble in his career on the defensive side of the ball.

UCLA lost both of its starting offensive tackles last offseason, with Sean Rhyan and Alec Anderson both leaving for the NFL. To replace them, Kelly and his staff added Raqiwon O'Neal from Rutgers and promoted redshirt freshman Garrett DiGiorgio to a starting spot. Oregon transfer Jaylan Jeffers came in from Oregon to serve as one of the backup tackles, while Manoa changed positions to back up O'Neal at left tackle.

Bruno Fina will step up and take Manoa's spot in the depth chart, Kelly said.

"We're fine," Kelly said Wednesday. "Bruno Fina and Jaylan Jeffers are doing a great job at tackle behind Raiqwon and Garrett, so we're solid there."

Offensive tackle seemed like an area of little depth in the offseason before O'Neal and Jeffers arrived, but Manoa's old position is the one that is suffering more this fall.

With Martin Andrus Jr. suffering a season-ending injury and Duke transfer Gary Smith III missing the past few games, the interior defensive line group has been without two of its top-four contributors the last couple of weeks. When Jay Toia went down with an injury of his own against Colorado – from which he returned against Washington the week after – UCLA was limited to only a handful of scholarship players at the position.

Harvard transfer Jacob Sykes and redshirt junior Jacob Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi were the top players remaining in the middle. Sykes has played just five games with the Bruins and is in his last season of eligibility, while Havili-Kaufusi first came to UCLA as a fullback before moving to linebacker and eventually defensive line.

Former walk-on redshirt junior Dovid Magna earned a scholarship in August. Quintin Somerville arrived as a four-star recruit in 2021, but has yet to play a game in blue and gold.

With such a glaring lack of depth on the interior defensive line, many had wondered if Manoa would rejoin his old position group at some point this fall. Manoa won't be playing offensive line or defensive line for the Bruins this season, though, and he has one year of eligibility remaining should another school pick him up this coming offseason.

The defensive line-to-offensive line pipeline in Westwood had gone smoothly since Kelly took over, with Boss Tagaloa becoming one of the top centers in the Pac-12 and Atonio Mafi currently standing as one of the highest-graded guards in the country. Manoa's transition ended up being much shorter-lived, and it remains to be seen if he will stick with offensive line at his next destination.

Manoa is the first UCLA player to enter the portal this season. The program lost 21 student-athletes to the portal last offseason.

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