UCLA Bruins Football: Phil Steele 2025 Forecast

The UCLA Bruins were thrown into chaos ahead of the 2024 season, losing head coach Chip Kelly late in the coaching carousel. That forced an internal hire, with the Bruins promoting DeShaun Foster to be their next head coach. After a difficult transition, UCLA is now hoping to take off in 2025.

Ahead of the 2025 college football season, Phil Steele released his preview magazine. In it, he shared his forecast for the UCLA season. That included diving deep into the roster on both sides of the ball.

Steele broke down UCLA and everything there is to know about the Bruins in his magazine. That includes a deep dive into both the offense and the defense. So, with that in mind, here’s what Steele has to say about the Bruins:

Offense

A season removed from finishing 126th nationally in scoring offense, averaging just 18.4 points per game, DeShaun Foster decided to make some changes. Addressing the quarterback position was vital to that effort. That saw UCLA dip into the Transfer Portal multiple times, though most notably for Nico Iamaleava, who is going to start for the Bruins.

“The offense averaged 14.5 ppg the first 6 games the first time since 1963,” Steele wrote. “The first time since 1963 they did not top 20 pts in a game the first 6! They had 22.3 ppg the last six. New OC Tino Sunseri gets the addition of QB Nico Iamaleava and a bigger stronger O-line.”

Defense

The defensive side of the ball was much more solid for UCLA in 2024. Under defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, the Bruins were 68th nationally in scoring defense, giving up 25.3 points per game. There’s some roster turnover to manage there, but that side of the ball is more proven overall.

“My computer called for them to allow 29.2 ppg, but Malloe outperformed its expectations, allowing just 25.3 (miss by 3.9). He is back for a second year. They lose #2, #2, #6 and #7 DC’s,” Steele wrote. “And only have two starters back from last year’s team, but HC Foster likes the transfer additions.”

Forecast

UCLA is looking to get back to a bowl game after not going in 2024. Much of that success, ultimately, is going to fall on Nico Iamaleava. Assuming the offense gets going under him, then the Bruins are positioned to be much better than last season. There’s still challenges to overcome, like a difficult Big Ten schedule, but UCLA appears to be trending in the right direction.

“This year, Foster – as opposed to taking over later – has a full offseason, and his team clearly showed improvement in the 2H of the year. They have an improved OL and bring in QB Iamaleava, so they will be stronger on offense. They were one play away from a bowl bid last year under tough circumstances and look to continue the improvement they showed during the second half of last year.”