UCLA coaching search: Pete Thamel floats multiple sitting Power Four coaches to replace DeShaun Foster

DeShaun Foster was fired by UCLA over the weekend. He had the Bruins out to an 0-3 start, and the school decided it was time for a change.

He was in the middle of his second season. Over the course of that time, Foster had amassed a 5-10 record after going 5-7 in 2024. The Bruins started 1-5 but rallied down the stretch, which gave them some hope for the future. However, it wasn’t meant to be for the coach in Los Angeles.

Now, ESPN’s Pete Thamel is taking a look at who could replace Foster at UCLA. He named some interesting sitting Power Four coaches that might be interested in the Bruins when the time comes.

“So what I know about UCLA is they’re going to hire an opposite, and they’re going to hire a proven coach,” Thamel stated, via the College GameDay podcast. “Now, obviously, they’re going to have to financially do that. The name that came up last time in the search, and went some distance, but they didn’t have the finances to pull it off, was P.J. Fleck. He’s an intriguing energy bolt because he would go in there and make them relevant. He just would, by force of nature and the way he goes. 

“Jedd Fisch’s name will come up. He was the interim coach there when [Jim] Mora got fired. He has ties to Casey Wasserman, who’s the top booster there. And then, look, guys like Dan Mullen—guys who’ve done it. It’ll be an interesting litmus test of the division we have now between the Power Two and everybody else.

“How many Big 12 coaches — does Dave Aranda have interest in going home, because he sees the gap opening. UCLA would be a pretty good cultural fit for him. He’s done fairly well, but he’s not crushing it. So it might just be like a slide back west, go-home type move. So I think those are the prototypes. Mullen obviously just beat them, and he’s a proven winner. I think they’re going to go for that type. That’s not some definitive, reported-out list, but I think that’s the model of guys they’re going to look at.”

Fleck, Fisch, Mullen or Aranda would all send a bit of excitement through the UCLA program. Many in Los Angeles would sign up to hire one of those proven head coaches, and let him work his magic with the Bruins.

Time will tell if they have interest, and which other coaches UCLA tires to court to their cause. The Bruins have the potential to be among the top teams in the Big Ten, and it’s all about realizing that moving forward.