UCLA Football News: Subpar Recruitment Efforts Lead to Modest Grade for UCLA

The Bruins will work with what they got

The UCLA Bruins are one of the most renowned and prestigious universities in the world. Their academics and athletic department are second to none, and over the years, they have shown it both in the classroom and field. 

However, their football program hasn't been up to par with what is expected at UCLA. In large part, it has to do with recruiting. For the class of 2023, your Bruins ranked 55th in the country and came out with 15 total commits. That's not the position you want to be in to compete with the sports elites. 

To make things worse, their 2024 class isn't impressive either on the grand scale of things as they are ranked 61st in the country with nine commits to their name. Because of these numbers, national recruiting director from Rivals Adam Gorney gave UCLA a 'B-' in his mid-summer report card for Pac-12 schools. 

Recruiting is going to go a particular way under coach

Chip Kelly

and his staff: They’re going to be patient, they’re going to target a select group of players and not cluster bomb offers around the country. In the end,

UCLA

has landed some prime-time players as Kelly builds the program back up, but it’s unlikely to blow away the recruiting rankings.The same can be said so far this recruiting cycle as the Bruins have just nine commitments and they’re ranked No. 61 nationally, led by four-star defensive back Khristian

 Dunbar-Hawkins

and four-star RB

Cameron Jones in

 the class so far.

(via Rivals)

Throughout Chip Kelly's time at UCLA, he's never had a resoundingly great recruiting class. The highest the UCLA recruiting class has been under Kelly was 19th, which was back in his first season in 2018. After that, they have yet to crack the top 30. 

Recruiting isn't Kelly's strong suit, but it must get better if he wants to compete in the Big 10 starting next season. So far, things aren't looking bright, but we'll see if things change once UCLA is no longer in the pac-12. 

If UCLA is fine with being in the middle of the pack for years to come, then so be it.