Tim Skipper addresses UCLA parting ways with defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe

UCLA announced Wednesday that it will be parting ways with defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe effective immediately. The news comes after the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster this weekend.

Interim coach Tim Skipper addressed the move on Wednesday when speaking to reporters. It was his first order of business.

“Coach Malloe and the university have agreed to mutually part ways,” Skipper said. “I want to personally thank him for all he’s done, especially with me, having conversations and things like that and everything he’s done for this university. Just want to make sure I personally do that and get that handled. Great man right there.”

UCLA will have a “collaborative effort” in calling plays defensively. It’s unclear if anyone will receive a defensive coordinator tag going forward.

For now, that’s not really Skipper’s focus. He explained how he’s dealing with the transition.

“So in my mind right now we are in training camp,” Skipper said. “And then next week we’ll be getting ready for the first game. That’s how I’m seeing things right now. So we are working through stuff right now in training camp, in my mind, and then as we get into next week we’ll figure out exactly how we’re going to do this thing.”

UCLA has a lot to figure out. The defense has been bad through the first three weeks of the season.

Through three games, the team ranks 118th nationally in total defense, giving up 431.0 yards per game. The unit also ranks 122nd nationally in scoring defense, yielding 36.0 points per game. Both figures rank near the bottom of the country.

But Malloe is the only staff member at UCLA outside of Foster that has been let go for now, Skipper said. For the rest, it’s about finding a way to put a more competitive product on the field.

“He’s the only staff member to have any announcement to talk about or anything like that right now, yes sir,” Skipper told reporters.