UCLA adds two more commitments to transfer football class
Former Utah safety Tao Johnson and ex-Cal Poly quarterback Ty Dieffenbach are the newest additions to UCLA’s transfer class. They are the 22nd and 23rd commitments for the Bruins.
Johnson, who took a midweek visit to Westwood, announced his commitment Friday via Instagram.
“Yeah them scars hurt ❤️🩹, but I know I bleed blue now 🩵🅿️,” Johnson wrote on a collection of photos from his UCLA trip.
Minutes later, Dieffenbach announced his own commitment on X, formerly Twitter.
Safety Tao Johnson
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder started 34 of 42 career games over years in Salt Lake City. He has 22 starts at safety and 12 at nickel cornerback.
Most recently, Johnson made 48 tackles (2 1/2 for a loss) to go with four pass break-ups and a pair of interceptions while starting 10 of 12 games this past season.
The former high school quarterback arrived at Utah as a wide receiver in 2022. He appeared in five games at receiver and special teams before redshirting and moving to defense the following year.
UCLA builds depth in secondary
Johnson is the Bruins’ fourth defensive back pickup in the transfer portal along with cornerback Dante Lovett Jr. (Virginia Tech), safety Ta’Shawn James (Iowa State) and nickel DJ Barksdale (James Madison). But they also convinced nickel Scooter Jackson and safety Cole Martin, starters from last year’s team, to withdraw from the portal.
In addition, All-Big Ten honorable mention cornerback Rodrick Pleasant decided to return while mulling over his future without formally entering the portal. Then, earlier in the day Friday, the father of freshman cornerback LaRue Zamorano III informed BruinBlitz that his son also re-signed with the program.
Zamorano intended to enter the portal but never formally went through with it as he weighed his options, his father said.
QB Ty Dieffenbach
After spending his first two years at Pittsburgh and not seeing any action, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound signal caller returned to Southern California and played at Cal Poly in 2025.
Dieffenbach, an Agoura High School graduate and Calabasas native, was one of four quarterbacks to see action for the Mustangs. He made the most appearances, completing 56.79% (92 of 162) of his passes for 1,305 yards and nine touchdowns with nine interceptions in 11 games.
Dieffenbach used his redshirt as a freshman in 2023.
UCLA adds experienced QB depth
The Bruins were able to address an area of need after backup quarterback Luke Duncan transferred to Nevada. He was the lone reserve with collegiate experience, starting in place of an injured Nico Iamaleava in a loss at Ohio State this past season.
UCLA also lost reserve Henry Hasselbeck, who committed to Appalachian State earlier in the day.
Iamaleava’s dual-threat ability — he was the team’s top rusher in 2025 — also made him susceptible to taking hard hits while playing behind a porous offensive line. He was sacked 27 times and played through a neck injury in the season finale at crosstown rival USC.
That’s what makes Dieffenbach’s addition significant, as the Bruins now have another reserve with experience who can be called upon, if needed, and push the others for the backup job in spring camp. Other quarterbacks on the roster are Madden Iamaleava, the younger brother of Nico, and Colton Gumino.
Both were freshmen last year, and Madden Iamaleava’s lone action was fourth-quarter mop-up duty for Duncan at Ohio State. Gumino did not see action and was on UCLA’s scout team.
