UCLA Football: Bruins Facing Tough Outlook In 2024

Why UCLA is facing a tall task heading into their first season in the Big 10.

Ethan Garbers' off-the-bench heroics in the Bruins' 35-22 'LA Bowl' win over Boise State was a solid finish to a season filled with ups and downs. It gave the Bruins their first bowl game win in the Chip Kelly era, putting UCLA football at a 35-34 record in Coach Kelly's 6 years. In an era of coaches being fired if they don't produce immediate results, Kelly's tenure at UCLA is an outlier. However, with the recent moves being made by cross-town rival USC (like poaching UCLA defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn), the recent lack of action by the Bruins sticks out like a sore thumb. 

The Bruins are facing an underwhelming recruiting haul in their 2024 class. There's still time to add 2024 recruits, but with the vast majority of the best this year’s senior class has to offer already signed to other programs, only so much can be done at this point. 

There are bright spots when looking ahead to UCLA's 2024 season, like sophomore wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant (nearly 600 receiving yards in 2023) and a slew of talent returning on defense. But at this point, it seems like the Bruins need something to really go their way in the transfer portal, for the second year in a row. 

J. Michael Sturdivant / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

College football is in a new era, a portal era, so there is not much historical precedent. But to having rely so heavily on the transfer portal as the Bruins did last year is not characteristic of the programs that win national championships. One of their best defensive players from this season, safety Kamari Ramsey, is transferring to USC. It's the good and bad of this new era because you can get guys like running back Carson Steele. But you can lose players that the recruiting staff worked so hard to get in the first place, like former five-star quarterback recruit Dante Moore, who transferred to Oregon. 

The top three Bruin pass rushers from the 2023 season will likely all be declaring for the 2024 NFL draft. Many suspect that defensive end and projected first-round draft pick Laiatu Latu will declare for the draft over the coming weeks. Grayson and Gabriel Murphy also just announced they both will enter the draft. 

It's not like the players in the Bruin's 2024 recruiting class aren't good. But check out how the Bruin's numbers compare to those of their future conference foes. 

UCLA	Michigan	Ohio State	Penn State	Iowa
10 signed commits	27 signed commits	20 signed commits	25 signed commits	21 signed commits

The Bruins have managed to land wide receiver Rico Flores from Notre Dame in the portal, along with Oregon cornerback Bryan Addison. But they have a lot of work to do to make up for the production they're losing. 

Consistency and tenure as a head coach will be in Chip Kelly's favor. Heading into year seven, Kelly has had more than enough time to build the culture and program he envisioned. If the culture he built is strong, the change in personal won't hurt as much. The return of an energized Ethan Garbers as the Bruin's QB1 in 2024 should help as well. Unless, the Bruins nab up a transfer...