UCLA is in the market for a new defensive coordinator. Their last DC, Jeff Ulbrich, famously left for the Atlanta Falcons as quickly as he could after National Signing Day.
Under the watch of Jim L Mora, the Bruins defense has seen continued improvement. They have risen in the Pac-12 Total Defense rankings every year of Mora’s tenure although the scoring defense did take a hit last season.
Prior to his first promotion to a head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons, Mora coached on the defensive side of the football. No matter who the Bruins hire to replace Ulbrich, expect Mora to have a lot of say in regards to the defense
Despite Mora’s knowledge on defense, it looks like the Bruins are aiming high with their latest target for their defensive coordinator position, former Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley.
Bradley coached in various capacities with Penn State from 1979 to 2011 and ran the defense from 2000 to 2011. At the end of the Paterno tenure, Penn State was no longer a National power but their defense was always solid including leading the league in Total Defense in 2008 and placing second in 2009. They also led the league in 2009 and 2011 in scoring defense allowing just 12.2 and 16.8 in those seasons.
Bradley was a candidate for multiple head coaching positions in 2011 and also stepped in as interim head coach when Joe Paterno was fired. When Bradley was not given the opportunity to become the next Penn State head coach, he resigned and kind of fell off the map until he was hired last year to coach the defensive line for West Virginia.
Now it appears that he has been targeted as the heir apparent to the UCLA defensive keys.
Sources are telling us that UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora has actually submitted Bradley’s name for vetting and approval by the UCLA administration. It still isn’t final, therefore, and Mora could still reconsider, but it’s looking very likely Bradley will be UCLA’s next defensive coordinator.
If Bradley is hired as the defensive coordinator at UCLA it will be a great hire on paper. The biggest question is how Bradley would adapt from the ground and pound oriented Big Ten, especially from Bradley’s tenure there, to the wide open Pac-12 offenses. One things for sure, Mora has the cupboard locked and loaded and Bradley will have a lot of toys to play with if he is offered and accepts the job.
