UCLA Bruins fans might be viewing their program’s face-off against the New Mexico Lobos with folded hands. After all, their head coach, DeShaun Foster, has enrolled himself as the head coach whose early-season struggles have microwaved their seat. A recovery win against New Mexico will give UCLA the momentum it needs to pull off a turnaround similar to last season. Foster’s squad is already burdened with two back-to-back losses, one against Utah and the other against UNLV. Not a good time to get their pots stirred, right? But their former player could not choose a better time to clarify the reason behind his Bruins exit.

That’s none other than UCLA’s former safety, Josh Moore. Even though Moore’s exit hoopla occurred in 2022, much before Foster took the head coaching seat in 2024, the athlete chose to expose the cracks in the Bruins squad. The former UCLA football safety entered the transfer portal in February 2022. Back then, he had four years of eligibility remaining. But what made Moore still hold grudges against Foster’s squad?

On September 12, he posted a long video on Instagram, with the caption, “Why I transferred from UCLA🐻🤷🏽‍♂️.” This might be the question a lot of Bruins fans must be seeking an answer to. Moore started, “First off, I felt like I wasn’t appreciated. It felt like nothing I did really mattered to the coaches. Anything good I did was swept under the rug, and any slight mistake would be pointed out ruthlessly. So of course, as a freshman, I was put on the scout team, and once I was there, I was stuck.” Being on the scout team is normal for freshmen, but he believed it became a trap.

Another looming problem at UCLA was that once he was assigned there, he had no path out to real playing reps, which made him feel buried. “Two, I was buried in the depth chart. Class 121, they only brought in one safety, that was me, and I was fifth on the depth chart,” addressed Moore. He thought the UCLA system was stacked against him, regardless of ability, since he believed that he was “bigger” than they were. Then came the heartbreaking admission.

The former UCLA safety claimed, “I honestly just don’t think they wanted a safety that year, but took me just because. And I felt super disrespected, because at the end of the year while we were preparing for the Holiday Bowl against NC State, that’s the time where everybody’s supposed to get reps, including the freshmen…Everybody’s subbing themselves in at this point… I subbed myself in, my coach is yelling, Josh, no, no… get out. Coach is yelling me to get out so he can put in a sixth-year corner at safety.” Not a good time for a former ex-UCLA player to call out Foster’s program.

UCLA Bruins walking on a tight rope 

It exposes the cracks in UCLA’s structure. Instead of being a stepping stone, the scout team became a dead end for Moore. The Bruins coaches followed a blame culture as Moore felt punished whether he failed or succeeded. Another major problem plagued the program, which is favoritism towards seniors or veterans. This came right after UCLA suffered an ugly blow to its reputation.

Thanks to quarterback Pierce Clarkson. The Bruins’ squad QB will now be on the sidelines after being arrested. Tracy McDannald tweeted, “Madden Iamaleava appears to be QB3 for UCLA, with Pierce Clarkson away from the team indefinitely.” Madden Iamaleava, the 6-foot-3, 191-pound phenom, was the No. 22 quarterback and No. 271 overall player in his class, is coming back. He is the brother of Nico. Does that mean favoritism is still prevailing in the UCLA squad?

Already, the Bruins’ QB room has gone through a lot of wear and tear lately. As their QB3, UCLA had signed up 6’6″, 210 lbs star Luke Duncan. He returns to the Bruins after backing up Ethan Garbers last season. Initially, Foster was believed to hand him the QB1 torch. However, the entry of Nico changed the plans.  

Meanwhile, DeShaun Foster knows that his clock is ticking off. As the nagging problem of the lack of urgency in the UCLA Bruins squad is evident, the head coach failed to address it. He sounded upset when he just used one word to share about the situation, “Unacceptable.” Now, the Bruins need a win bold enough to silence the ghosts of their past.