Report: Former Notre Dame assistant AD for player personnel takes job at UCLA
After leaving South Bend, former Notre Dame assistant athletics director for player personnel Butler Benton has found a new job. Benton will be the general manager at UCLA under first-year head coach DeShaun Foster, according to Doug Samuels of FootballScoop.
At UCLA, per FootballScoop, Benton will oversee player evaluations and recruiting at both the high school level and in the transfer portal. He’ll also manage NIL and help the Bruins’ fundraising operation.
Coincidentally, three former Notre Dame players who were with the Irish while Benton was there are now with the Bruins. Wide receiver Rico Flores Jr., safety Ramon Henderson and offensive tackle Michael Carmody transferred to UCLA over the offseason.
Before arriving at Notre Dame, Benton was the general manager at Arkansas for two seasons. He spent 2020 as the director of player personnel at Georgia Southern, and before that, he was the player personnel coordinator at Michigan State for four years.
Early in his player personnel career, Benton was an assistant athletic director for player development, engagement and academic enhancement under former Irish head coach Brian Kelly. He played at Cincinnati as a running back under Kelly and Mark Dantonio, totaling over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns during his four-year tenure.
Amid Benton’s departure and interest from rival Michigan, Notre Dame promoted Chad Bowden from recruiting director to assistant AD for player personnel. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said Bowden’s new position is functionally similar to the general manager role.
Freeman elevated Dre Brown, who previously served as Notre Dame’s director of high school scouting, to the vacant recruiting director position.
“Chad is elite at what he does,” Freeman said March 7. “The opportunity for him to lead our entire personnel staff is, to me, something that is earned. He’s earned that right and is doing a great job. He does such a good job at what he does. That’s not just connecting with recruits but planning, leading a group of people and evaluations.
“I speak about Dre in the same light. He has done a great job in his role.”
Under Bowden and Brown, the Irish currently hold the fifth-best 2025 recruiting class in the nation, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. The only teams ahead are LSU, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson, respectively.
Notre Dame leads the country in total class of 2025 commits by a significant margin, with 18 pledges so far. LSU, Clemson and Penn State are tied for second with 11, while Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Wisconsin are tied for fifth with nine.
At the time of Benton’s hiring, UCLA — whose recruiting operation suffered under ex-head coach Chip Kelly, now the offensive coordinator at Ohio State — has only two players committed in the 2025 class. San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) San Juan Hills three-star linebacker Weston Port and Temecula (Calif.) Chaparral cornerback Kuron Jabari Jr., who does not have a star rating from the On3 Industry Ranking, headline the Bruins’ group so far.
