UCLA Football: DeShaun Foster Weighs In on Defensive Losses From Offseason

Can UCLA's defense succeed after loss of star players?

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Following the 2023 football season, UCLA's offseason saw the departure of defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn and players Kamari Ramsey, John Humphrey, Laiatau Latu, Gabriel Murphy, Grayson Murphy, Darius Muasau, and Carl Jones Jr. Lynn, Ramsey, and Humphrey left for USC while Latu, Muasau, Jones, and the Murphy brothers are in the NFL.

These former Bruins formed much of the core of the UCLA defense that was a top-10 unit in college football last season. The Bruins were 10th in total yards allowed per game, second in rushing yards allowed per game, fifth in sacks, and 14th in scoring defense. These players combined for 32 sacks while stifling opposing offenses to scoring just 18.1 points per game.

Lynn drove this success from his players, taking a UCLA defense that ranked outside of the top 70 in college football in 2022 to one of the best units in the country. Now, he will create the defensive game plans for the Bruins' biggest rivals, while former defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe has been promoted to UCLA's defensive coordinator.

UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster knows that the Bruins cannot replace all the talent they lost, but plans to utilize a team effort to maintain a stout defense this season.

"it's going to be a collective thing," Foster said at Big Ten Media Day. "We had some very good individual players, and they played good as a defense, but we can't just replace those individual players. The defense did a really good job in spring, they played hard."

The good news for the Bruins is they were able to retain one of their defensive leaders in Jay Toia. Toia, who compiled 28 total tackles and one sack in 2023, entered the transfer portal in April but quickly decided to remain a Bruin thanks to Foster and Malloe.

"We brought Jay Toia back, that was a huge gift for us," Foster added. "He was giving us h*ll all spring. Our linemen are pretty excited because they're not going to see too many guys like Toia. It's tough, but we're looking forward to it."

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