Report: UCLA Bruins to steal top coach and recruiter from division rival

The UCLA Bruins football program has swiped away a prominent coach from one of their division rivals. Sources have told the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman that UCLA plans to hire Ikaika Malloe of the Washington Huskies as their new outside linebackers coach.

“Malloe recruited and developed a lot of talent in his time on the Washington staff,” wrote Feldman on Twitter.

The Bruins recently lost two defensive coaches in defensive line coach Johnny Nansen and Jason Kaufusi two another rival, the Arizona Wildcats. Kaufusi was UCLA’s outside linebackers coach and is who Malloe will replace. Nansen left to become the Wildcats’ new defensive coordinator earlier in December and brought Kaufusi along for the ride.

Malloe is a Washington graduate and played safety and linebacker for the Huskies from 1993 to 1996. He returned to his alma mater 20 years later, in 2016, as a defensive line coach. And just last year, he was appointed as the co-defensive coordinator. Before that, Malloe spent time at various universities in a multitude of coaching roles. That list of schools includes Western Illinois, UTEP, Hawaii, Yale, Portland State, and Utah State. During that time he coached defensive tackles, defensive linemen, and special teams. Adding Malloe helps UCLA fill one of their two coaching needs.

UCLA’s 2022 Recruiting Class

One of the most exciting prospects head coach Chip Kelly and UCLA have signed was four-star signal-caller, Justyn Martin. One day after he committed to UCLA, Martin threw a mind-boggling 13 touchdown passes for Inglewood High (California) against Inglewood Morningside (California). He set the California high school record for the most touchdown passes in a single game.

The previous record was 10 touchdown passes in a single game, set by David Koral of Palisades High (Pacific Palisades), according to MaxPreps. MaxPreps also reported that Martin’s 13 touchdown passes are the second most in high school football history, behind Arthur Smith, who tossed 15 touchdown passes in 1921 for Cozad (Nebraska).

Martin is currently rated as the 15th best quarterback in America for the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus. Kelly also pulled in a four-star wide receiver for UCLA, Jadyn Marshall out of St. Mary’s (Stockton, California). Not only that, they also pulled in a four-star tight end, Jack Pedersen. Pedersen is out of IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida).

The Bruins currently boast a pretty solid class for the class of 2022. They have seven prospects that are rated as four-stars, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings. Safety Kamari Ramsey is their highest rated signee. He went to Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, California) and is currently rated as the 194th best overall prospect in America, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings.

It’s going to be really exciting to see how the 2022 class develops for UCLA, especially Martin and his offensive weapons. Their 2022 class is currently rated as the 27th rated class in the country, according to the On3 2022 Consensus Team Rankings.