Nico Iamaleava reveals how he has handled firing of DeShaun Foster

Just three weeks into the college football season, two power-four coaches were given their walking papers. After 0-3 starts for both Virginia Tech and UCLA, Brent Pry and DeShaun Foster were let go from their respective jobs.

Pry lasted three seasons and three games with the Hokies, where he led them to a 16-24 record. Foster wasn’t given near that amount of time, as he was let go after just one full season and three games. As head coach at UCLA, Foster led the Bruins to a 5-10 record.

During Wednesday’s media availability, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava discussed the firing of his head coach. Iamaleava transferred from Tennessee this offseason and has struggled mightily, as the Bruins are 0-3 with losses coming by an average of 21.6 points per game.

“Man I’ve been good man,” Iamaleava said. “I think coach (Tim) Skipper coming in and relaying the message to us about what we have to do for coach Foster has been great. The whole team has really heard the message.”

Skipper, who was special assistant to the head coach, took over for Foster following his firing. This marks the second consecutive season that Skipper took over an interim head coaching role, as he did the exact same thing at Fresno State last season.

Matt Rhule did not agree with UCLA’s decision to fire Foster

Iamaleava was lauded as one of the top players in the Transfer Portal when he entered this spring, but has certainly not played that way. Through three games, Nico has completed 63.9% of his passes for 608 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. UCLA is at the bottom of the Big Ten and things look to be getting worse before they get better, as the Bruins will play No. 3 Penn State, No. 11 Indiana and No. 1 Ohio State in the next few weeks.

“I’m sad about that,” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said about Foster’s firing on the ‘House Rhules‘ podcast. “You know DeShaun was a player at UCLA when I was a young graduate assistant. I stayed in touch with him over the years just here and there and I was so happy for him when he got that job. Martin Jarmond, the Athletic Director there, is a good friend of mine. You know, I was a GA at UCLA like I said and I finished my Master’s Degree at Buffalo but I love, love UCLA.”

“I remember texting him after the game like ‘I’m not gonna let it happen again, but proud of you for what you did.’ He got his team ready to play. Just disappointed that he only got a year and three games. In this new era, to me, we can make emotional impulsive decisions like ‘hey, this is not working for the fans.’ But do we have all the things we need to be successful? Is our NIL right? Is our roster right?”

“I know he’s a good man and he’s a family man. Obviously, I hate that. It’s one thing when you’ve had enough time and it hasn’t worked out, but it’s just a short amount of time.”