UCLA defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe departs days after firing of head coach DeShaun Foster

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — UCLA defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe left the program three days after the firing of head coach DeShaun Foster.

Interim coach Tim Skipper said Wednesday that Malloe and UCLA agreed to part ways as the Bruins make changes following their 0-3 start.

UCLA has allowed at least 30 points in each of its first three games and is tied for 122nd in the FBS in scoring defense (36.0 points per game). The run defense has cratered to third-worst in major college football, giving up 244 yards per game, with New Mexico accounting for 298 yards rushing in a 35-10 loss on Friday that precipitated the dismissal of Foster two days later.

Malloe, 51, had been at UCLA since 2022. After working with the Bruins’ edge rushers and defensive line in his first two seasons, he was promoted to defensive coordinator in January 2024 following the departure of D’Anton Lynn for crosstown rival Southern California.

In his lone full season running the defense, Malloe’s group was one of the best in the country at stopping the run, ranking sixth in the FBS allowing 96.2 yards per game. But significant personnel losses were too much to overcome, one of the causes leading to the Bruins’ earliest in-season coaching change in program history.

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